Dynamics of Biophysical Characteristics of the Northern Black Sea Pelagic Ecosystem in the First Decades of the 21st Century

Abstract

The wind speed, the sea surface temperature, the chlorophyll a concentration (MODIS-Aqua/Terra satellite data), the bioluminescence intensity and biomass of zooplankton (data collected onboard a research vessel), the primary productivity, and the indices of lower-than-normal atmospheric pressure and water mass transfer (model calculations) were used to assess the current state and functional characteristics of a pelagic ecosystem of the northern open areas of the Black Sea. The ecosystem was found to have reached a state of relative stability in its structure and function in the past two decades (2000–2020), after natural cataclysms associated with eutrophication and trophic pressure from invasive plankton species in the 1990s. The state is characterized by the absence of trends in the interannual variability of its identifying parameters. The problem of regional differences in long-term trends of physical factors and biological interactions is discussed on a broader (global) scale.