Physical oceanographic mechanisms associated with recent ecological responses in the California Current Ecosystem

Abstract The California Current System (CCS) is an upwelling eastern boundary ocean current that supports a productive ecosystem through a multitude of physical processes. The fundamental aspects of the ocean circulation are highlighted here and connected to their roles in driving and modulating various components of the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) in the context of pulse and press disturbances. Recent short-term climate events (pulses), such as marine heat waves, that generated highly anomalous responses in the ecology are identified and explained in terms of physical process drivers. The long-term vulnerability of the ecosystem to long-term climate changes (presses) is also discussed. The need for ecologists to collaborate with physical scientists to unravel the press versus pulse impacts on the CCE through sustained physical–ecological observations and high-resolution modeling is emphasized.