A number of hypotheses have attempted to explain
the synchronous low-frequency fluctuations in sardine populations
off California and Japan. One hypothesis proposes that since the
Kuroshio Current (subtropical western boundary current) and California
Current (subtropical eastern boundary current) are driven mainly
by wind stress, their variability should be closely related through
basin-scale atmospheric teleconnections. However, basin-scale climate
signals may be modulated by regional meso-scale processes, and both
systems are impacted by a range of variability from decadal (e.g.,
regime shifts), to interannual (e.g., ENSO), to seasonal and shorter
time scales. This variable forcing may lead to divergent and asynchronous
ecosystem responses. This session will provide a comparative review
of the physical and ecosystem variability of the boundary currents,
discuss the degree of synchronicity of this variability, and facilitate
understanding of the connectivity between North Pacific boundary
current systems. A more comprehensive understanding of the boundary
current systems requires modeling approaches, although the data
for model validation is often limited. This session will also provide
consideration of observing system requirements and techniques for
monitoring boundary current circulation and ecosystems, in particular
the necessary combination of data and models.
Invited speakers: Andy Bakun (University of Miami,
U.S.A.) Masami Nonaka (Frontier Research Center for Global Change (FRCGC), Japan), Igor Zhabin (Pacific Oceanological Institute,
Russia) and Bo Qiu (University of Hawaii at Manoa, U.S.A.)