Abstract: Satellite data analysis has showed that the environment of the open ocean – uniform and homogeneous to our naked eyes – is in fact populated by strongly contrasted physical features, whose lifetime occurs on ecologically relevant spatial and temporal scales. This dynamical landscape has a primary structuring role on marine ecosystems in particular in the pelagic regions. Pinpointing which physical features are the most ecologically relevant, tracking them, and estimating their lifetime and inter-annual variability are a major challenge for ecologists. Here, we combine bio-logging data and advanced multi-satellite diagnostic tools to track pelagic ecological hotspots in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. By clustering predator foraging sites according to diet, we identify five regional hotspots. We interpret these regions by pathways of iron and ageing of the ecosystem from primary production to higher trophic organisms. These results are a first step for the scientific basis of a marine protected area (MPA) proposal to the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
(PDF) . Available from: TrackingecologicalhotspotsintheSouthernOceanAntarcticCircumpolarCurrentasaspace-time-trophicconveyerbelt”>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320510489TrackingecologicalhotspotsintheSouthernOceanAntarcticCircumpolarCurrentasaspace-time-trophicconveyerbelt [accessed Sep 01 2018].