The U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Program is a large multidisciplinary multi-year
oceanographic effort. The proximate goal is to understand the population dynamics
of key species on the Bank - Cod, Haddock, and two species of zooplankton - in
terms of their coupling to the physical environment and in terms of their predators
and prey. The ultimate goal is to be able to predict changes in the distribution
and abundance of these species as a result of changes in their physical and biotic
environment as well as to anticipate how their populations might respond to climate
change.
The effort is substantial, requiring:
broad-scale surveys of the entire Bank, and
process studies which focus both on
the links between the target species and their physical environment, and
the determination of fundamental aspects of these species' life
history (birth rates, growth rates, death rates, etc).
Equally important are the modelling efforts that are ongoing
which seek to provide realistic predictions of the flow field and which utilize
the life history information to produce an integrated view of the dynamics of
the populations
