@article{fdi:010052919,
  title = {{F}luid dynamical niches of phytoplankton types},
  author = {{D}'{O}vidio, {F}. and {D}e {M}ontec, {S}. and {A}lvain, {S}. and {D}andonneau, {Y}ves and {L}{\'e}vy, {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he biogeochemical role of phytoplanktonic organisms strongly varies from one plankton type to another, and their relative abundance and distribution have fundamental consequences at the global and climatological scales. {I}n situ observations find dominant types often associated to specific physical and chemical water properties. {H}owever, the mechanisms and spatiotemporal scales by which marine ecosystems are organized are largely not known. {H}ere we investigate the spatiotemporal organization of phytoplankton communities by combining multisatellite data, notably high-resolution ocean-color maps of dominant types and altimetry-derived {L}agrangian diagnostics of the surface transport. {W}e find that the phytoplanktonic landscape is organized in (sub-)mesoscale patches (10-100 km) of dominant types separated by physical fronts induced by horizontal stirring. {T}hese physical fronts delimit niches supported by water masses of similar history and whose lifetimes are comparable with the timescale of the bloom onset (few weeks). {T}he resonance between biological activity and physical processes suggest that the spatiotemporal (sub-)mesoscales associated to stirring are determinant in the observation and modeling of marine ecosystems.},
  keywords = {biogeochemical cycles ; chaotic stirring ; marine biogeography ; marine ; ecology ; phytoplankton functional types},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}roceedings of the {N}ational {A}cademy of {S}ciences of the {U}nited {S}tates of {A}merica},
  volume = {107},
  numero = {43},
  pages = {18366--18370},
  ISSN = {0027-8424},
  year = {2010},
  DOI = {10.1073/pnas.1004620107},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010052919},
}