Schematic of processes and 18-year time series analyses (1989–2007) through the oceanic water column to the sea floor at the Northeast Pacific study site (Station M). (A) Schematic illustrating the simplified process by which climate can influence deep-sea ecology and biogeochemistry. (B) NOI (www.pfeg.noaa.gov/products/PFEL/modeled/indices/NOIX/noix.html), an indicator of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variation in the Northeast Pacific (70), is shown. Monthly data (black lines) and anomalies (positive in blue bars and negative in red bars) are from the Northeast Pacific. (C) Upwelling Index (71) for the California coastline in the vicinity of the Northeast Pacific study site (Station M). (D) Net primary production computed by using the carbon-based production model (72) applied to satellite data collected over monthly periods at a radius of 50 km around the study site. (E) Export flux calculated from net primary production and sea-surface temperature (73). (F and G) POCF to 600 m above bottom (mab) (3,500-m depth) (F) and 50 mab (4,050-m depth) (G). (H) Visibly detectable aggregate fluxes to the seafloor measured by using empirically calibrated time-lapse photography (21). Overlying the time series plots are light blue and light pink shading indicating time periods dominated by positive and negative NOI conditions, respectively. La Niña conditions are associated with the higher peaks in the NOI, as in early 1997 and late 1998, whereas El Niño conditions are associated with lower values of the NOI, as in early 1995 and early 1998. These conditions are then ultimately related to either higher than (light blue) or lower than average (light pink) food supplies. Darker blue and pink bars indicate similar associations on monthly time scales. The slant of the bars from the top to bottom panels is indicative of the time lags linking climate phenomena to seafloor processes.

The NAO climate index compared with food supply and benthic community components in the Northeast Atlantic. (A) Monthly (positive in blue bars and negative in red bars) and winter (December, January, February, March; open bar) NAO index (www.cpc.noaa.gov/data/teledoc/nao.shtml). (B) POC flux (black line) to 3,000-m depth and visually detectable phytodetritus aggregate cover (green line) on the seafloor at 4,850-m depth. (C–G) Density (blue circles) and biomass (red open circles) of A. rosea (C), E. molle (D), P. aemulatus (E), O. mutabilis (F), and total megafauna (G). Three strongly negative NAO winters in 1996, 2001, and 2006 are indicated as gray-shaded vertical bars. No faunal data are available during or after the negative value in 2006.

Food supply and benthic community components in the Northeast Pacific. (A) Black, green, orange, and blue time-series lines representing a composite of POCF estimates from 50 mab (black) and 600 mab (green) sediment traps and model-estimated flux using the vertically generalized production model (74) (orange) and the carbon-based production model (72) (blue) where possible. The red dashed line is unincorporated model data (16). The difference between the red dashed line and the black line indicates how well the model estimates correspond to measured POC flux values at 50 mab. (B) Density of Coryphaenoides spp. fishes (blue circles). (C and D) Density (blue circles) and median body size (red open circles) for E. minutissima (C) and E. rostrata (D). (E) Total mobile epibenthic megafauna density (blue circles). (F–H) Monthly density (blue circles) and biomass (open red circles) for Nematoda (F), Arthropoda (G), and Annelida (H). (I) Total metazoan macrofauna abundance (blue circles) and biomass (red open circles).