Spatial and temporal variability in the pelagic ecosystem of the East Sea (Sea of Japan): A review

Abstract The East Sea (Sea of Japan) is a unique marginal sea because it exhibits features of oceanic dynamics of much larger ocean basins. This semi-enclosed basin may be considered as a model or microcosm for understanding of how biological processes and distributions in pelagic ecosystem are interacting with physical processes in highly dynamic ocean regions. This overview summarizes the recent progresses concerning spatial and temporal variability of pelagic ecosystem components form an interdisciplinary point of view. Spatial characteristics of physical environments and biogeography in the region are distinguished mainly by the subpolar front. It was also found that long-term changes in biomass and community structure as well as those in the physical and biological environments are associated with climate variability in the region. We conclude by identifying main needs for the information and researches, particularly regular and long-term sampling, and permanent monitoring if possible.

[1]  Keiko Yamada,et al.  Seasonal and interannual variability of sea surface chlorophyll a concentration in the Japan/East Sea (JES) , 2004 .

[2]  Kyung-Ae Park,et al.  Asian dust initiated early spring bloom in the northern East/Japan Sea , 2007 .

[3]  Kang Chang-Keun,et al.  Community Structure and Spatial Distribution of Phytoplankton in the Polar Front Region off the East Coast of Korea in Summer , 1991 .

[4]  K. Kim.  New findings from CREAMS observations : Water masses and eddies in the East Sea , 1996 .

[5]  Craig M. Lee,et al.  Circulation and currents in the southwestern East/Japan Sea: Overview and review , 2004 .

[6]  Y. Isoda.  Interannual SST variations to the north and south of the polar front in the Japan Sea (Proceedings of the Seventh Japan and East China Seas Study Workshop) , 1994 .

[7]  L. Talley,et al.  Atlas of Japan (East) Sea hydrographic properties in summer, 1999 , 2004 .

[8]  W. Teague,et al.  Low-Frequency Current Observations in the Korea/Tsushima Strait , 2002 .

[9]  Jae Bong Lee,et al.  Climatic regime shifts and their impacts on marine ecosystem and fisheries resources in Korean waters , 2000 .

[10]  Steven R. Hare,et al.  Effects of interdecadal climate variability on the oceanic ecosystems of the NE Pacific , 1998 .

[11]  Hyun‐cheol Kim,et al.  Suppression and enhancement of the spring bloom in the southwestern East Sea/Japan Sea , 2004 .

[12]  J. Yoon,et al.  A Numerical Modeling of the Upper and the Intermediate Layer Circulation in the East Sea , 1999 .

[13]  C. Chen,et al.  An anoxic Sea of Japan by the year 2200 , 1999 .

[14]  Jae Bong Lee,et al.  Variations in the abundance of fisheries resources and ecosystem structure in the Japan/East Sea , 2004 .

[15]  Kuh Kim,et al.  Absolute transport from the sea level difference across the Korea Strait , 2003 .

[16]  S. Saitoh,et al.  The northward intruding eddy along the East coast of Korea , 1993 .

[17]  Kuh Kim,et al.  A sudden bottom‐water formation during the severe winter 2000–2001: The case of the East/Japan Sea , 2002 .

[18]  Jing Zhang,et al.  Nutrient gradients from the eutrophic Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary to the oligotrophic Kuroshio waters and re-evaluation of budgets for the East China Sea Shelf , 2007 .

[19]  L. Talley,et al.  Japan/East Sea Water Masses and Their Relation to the Sea's Circulation , 2006 .

[20]  D. Mitchell,et al.  Upper Circulation Patterns in the Ulleung Basin , 2005 .

[21]  R. Brodeur,et al.  Long-term variability in zooplankton biomass in the subarctic Pacific Ocean , 1992 .

[22]  J. Yoon,et al.  The effects of wind-stress curl on the Japan/East Sea circulation , 2005 .

[23]  A. Morimoto,et al.  Variability of Sea Surface Circulation in the Japan Sea , 2001 .

[24]  H. Nagata.  Seasonal changes and vertical distributions of chlorogphyll a and primary procuctivity at the Yamato Rise, central Japan Sea , 1998 .

[25]  Comparisons between observations and numerical simulations of Japan (East) Sea flow and mass fields in 1999 through 2001 , 2005 .

[26]  T. Yanagi.  Water, Salt, Phosphorus and Nitrogen Budgets of the Japan Sea , 2002 .

[27]  P. Boyd,et al.  Does planktonic community structure determine downward particulate organic carbon flux in different oceanic provinces , 1999 .

[28]  Hyuncheol Kim,et al.  Relationship between phytoplankton bloom and wind stress in the sub-polar frontal area of the Japan/East Sea , 2007 .

[29]  Y. Hirota,et al.  The zooplankton biomass in the Sea of Japan , 1999 .

[30]  N. Iguchi.  Spatial/temporal variations in zooplankton biomass and ecological characteristics of major species in the southern part of the Japan Sea: a review , 2004 .

[31]  Jong Gyu Park,et al.  Primary Production System in the Southern Waters of the East Sea, Korea I. Biomass and Productivity , 1992 .

[32]  Kuh Kim,et al.  Observations on the Coastal Ocean Response to Typhoon Maemi at the East Sea Real-time Ocean Buoy , 2004 .

[33]  A. Navarra.  Beyond El Nino: decadal and interdecadal climate variability. , 1999 .

[34]  H. Nagata,et al.  Spatial and Temporal Variability of Satellite Primary Production in the Japan Sea from 1998 to 2002 , 2005 .

[35]  D. Kang,et al.  Implications of Deep Nitrite in the Ulleung Basin , 2007 .

[36]  T. Senjyu.  The Japan Sea Intermediate Water; Its Characteristics and Circulation , 1999 .

[37]  Kyung-Ae Park,et al.  Sea surface temperature fronts in the East (Japan) Sea and temporal variations , 2004 .

[38]  J. Yoon,et al.  Some features of winter convection in the Japan Sea , 1995 .

[39]  Kyung-Ae Park,et al.  Spatial and temporal variability of satellite-observed Subpolar Front in the East/Japan Sea , 2007 .

[40]  T. Gamo,et al.  Abyssal circulation in the Japan Sea , 1983 .

[41]  Jorge L. Sarmiento,et al.  Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamics , 2006 .

[42]  H. Sakai,et al.  Spacial and temporal variations of water characteristics in the Japan Sea bottom layer , 1986 .

[43]  Ginger A. Rebstock,et al.  A comparison of three marine ecosystems surrounding the Korean peninsula: Responses to climate change [review article] , 2003 .

[44]  Y. Sorokin.  The heterotrophic phase of plankton succession in the Japan Sea , 1977 .

[45]  Y. Zuenko,et al.  Seasonal and inter-annual dynamics of mesoplankton in the northwestern Japan Sea , 2004 .

[46]  T. Senjyu,et al.  Interannual variation of the upper portion of the Japan Sea Proper Water and its probable cause , 1996 .

[47]  Dong-Ha Min,et al.  Basin-wide circulation and ventilation study in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) using chlorofluorocarbon tracers , 2005 .

[48]  Y. Isoda.  Warm eddy movements in the eastern Japan Sea , 1994 .

[49]  Jong Hwan Yoon,et al.  Warming and structural changes in the east (Japan) Sea: A clue to future changes in global oceans? , 2001 .

[50]  S. Watanabe,et al.  CFC Indicating Renewal of the Japan Sea Deep Water in Winter 2000–2001 , 2003 .

[51]  J. Yoon,et al.  Volume Transport through the Tsushima Straits Estimated from Sea Level Difference , 2005 .

[52]  Peter Cornillon,et al.  SST fronts of the Pacific coastal and marginal seas , 2003 .

[53]  D. Kang,et al.  Will the East/Japan Sea become an anoxic sea in the next century? , 2004 .

[54]  S. Chiba,et al.  Variation in mesozooplankton community structure in the Japan/East Sea (1991–1999) with possible influence of the ENSO scale climatic variability , 2003 .

[55]  S. Chiba,et al.  Interdecadal change in the upper water column environment and spring diatom community structure in the Japan Sea: an early summer hypothesis , 2002 .

[56]  S. Saitoh,et al.  Temporal and Spatial Variability of Phytoplankton Pigment Concentrations in the Japan Sea Derived from CZCS Images , 2000 .

[57]  Yongjun Tian,et al.  Long-term changes in the fish community structure from the Tsushima warm current region of the Japan/East Sea with an emphasis on the impacts of fishing and climate regime shift over the last four decades , 2006 .

[58]  T. Yamagata,et al.  Recent Decadal SST Variability in the Northwestern Pacific and Associated Atmospheric Anomalies , 1999 .

[59]  Cheolsoo Kim,et al.  Movement and structural variation of warm eddy WE92 for three years in the Western East/Japan Sea , 2005 .

[60]  J. Y. Kim,et al.  Long-term changes in zooplankton and its relationship with squid, Todarodes pacificus, catch in Japan/East Sea , 2002 .

[61]  P. Boyd,et al.  Evidence of the potential influence of planktonic community structure on the interannual variability of particulate organic carbon flux , 1995 .

[62]  T. Senjyu,et al.  Renewal of the bottom water after the winter 2000–2001 may spin‐up the thermohaline circulation in the Japan Sea , 2002 .

[63]  P. Niiler,et al.  The energetic surface circulation patterns of the Japan/East Sea , 2005 .

[64]  Kyu-Dae Cho,et al.  The relationship between ENSO events and sea surface temperature in the East (Japan) Sea , 2001 .

[65]  Joji Ishizaka,et al.  Size-Fractionated Primary Production Estimated by a Two-Phytoplankton Community Model Applicable to Ocean Color Remote Sensing , 2005 .

[66]  Sukyung K. Kang,et al.  Changes in ecosystem components induced by climate variability off the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula during 1960-1990 , 2000 .

[67]  Akira Tomosada,et al.  Generation and decay of Kuroshio warm-core rings , 1986 .

[68]  E. Rohling,et al.  A tracer study of ventilation in the Japan/East Sea , 2005 .

[69]  H. Bouman,et al.  Satellite observation of chlorophyll and nutrients increase induced by Typhoon Megi in the Japan/East Sea , 2006 .

[70]  D. Kang,et al.  The past, present and future of the East/Japan sea in change: a simple moving-boundary box model approach , 2004 .

[71]  Jong Hwan Yoon,et al.  The Tsushima Warm Current through Tsushima Straits Estimated from Ferryboat ADCP Data , 2005 .

[72]  T. Gamo.  Global warming may have slowed down the deep conveyor belt of a marginal sea of the northwestern Pacific: Japan Sea , 1999 .

[73]  Steven R. Hare,et al.  Decadal-scale regime shifts in the large marine ecosystems of the North-east Pacific: a case for historical science , 1994 .

[74]  Sunyoung Park,et al.  The East Sea (Japan Sea) in Change: A Story of Dissolved Oxygen , 1999 .

[75]  S. Saitoh,et al.  Stock fluctuations of the Japanese common squid, Todarodes pacificus, related to recent climate changes , 2002 .

[76]  D. Kang,et al.  Water masses and decadal variability in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) , 2004 .

[77]  Jong Soo Park,et al.  Different interrelationships among phytoplankton, bacterial and environmental variables in dumping and reference areas in the East Sea , 2005 .

[78]  D. Kang,et al.  A moving‐boundary box model (MBBM) for oceans in change: An application to the East/Japan Sea , 2003 .

[79]  K. Kim.  What is happening in the East Sea (Japan Sea)? : Recent chemical observations during CREAMS 93-96 , 1996 .

[80]  N. Mantua,et al.  Interdecadal modulation of interannual atmospheric and oceanic variability over the North Pacific , 1999 .

[81]  Kuh Kim,et al.  Characteristics of Physical Properties in the Ulleung Basin , 1991 .

[82]  C. Davis,et al.  Characterization of the zooplankton community, size composition, and distribution in relation to hydrography in the Japan/East Sea , 2005 .