David Mackas

Head, Plankton Productivity

Institute of Ocean Sciences 
9860 West Saanich Road
Sidney, B.C. V8L 4B2 
Canada 

Tel.  (250)-363-6442 
Fax. (250)-363-6690
Email: mackasd@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

I study the ecology of zooplankton and phytoplankton (the small drifting animals and plants that form the base of the ocean food web). Some examples of the kinds of questions we are answering:

• What kinds of plankton are most important in ocean waters off British Columbia

• Where and when they are normally most abundant (spatial and seasonal patterns)

• Extent and cause of variations from these average patterns

• Availability and value as food to harvested fish species and resulting effects on fishery yield

• Sensitivity of productive regions and time periods to environmental change

deYoung, B., R. Harris, F. Carlotti, D. Mackas and J.-C. Poggiale. 2006. Integrating process studies and modeling of marine zooplankton. IGBP Global Change Newsletter. 66:5-8.

Mackas, D.L. 2006. Interdisciplinary oceanography of the western North American continental margin: Vancouver Island to the tip of Baja California. In: Robinson, A. R. and Brink, K. H. [Eds.]. The Sea XIV: The Global Coastal Ocean, Interdisciplinary Regional Studies and Syntheses. (12): 441-501.

Mackas, D.L., W.T. Peterson, M.D. Ohman and B.E. Lavaniegos. 2006. Zooplankton anomalies in the California Current system before and during the warm ocean conditions of 2005. Geophysical Research Letters. 33(L22S07). doi: 10.1029/2006GL027930. 

Harrison, P.J., F.A. Whitney, D.L. Mackas, R.J. Beamish, M. Trudel and I.R. Perry. 2005. Changes in coastal ecosystems in the NE Pacific Ocean. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Long-Term Variations in the Coastal Environments and Ecosystems. 27-28 September, 2005. Matsuyama, Japan . 17-35. 

Mackas, D.L. and K.O. Coyle. 2005. Shelf-offshore exchange processes, and their effects on mesozooplankton biomass and community composition patterns in the Northeast Pacific. Deep-Sea Research II. 52:707-725. 

Mackas, D., M. Tsurumi, M. Galbraith and D. Yelland. 2005. Zooplankton distribution and dynamics in a North Pacific Eddy of coastal origin: II. Mechanisms of eddy colonization by and retention of offshore species. Topical Studies in Oceanography: Haida Eddies: mesoscale transport in the Northeast Pacific. Deep-Sea Research II. 52(7-8):1011-1036. 

Trevorrow, M.V., D.L. Mackas and M.C.Benfield. 2005. Comparison of multifrequency acoustics and in situ measurements of zooplankton abundances in Knight Inlet, British Columbia. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 117(6):3574-3588. 

Tsurumi, M., D. Mackas, F.A.Whitney, C. DiBacco, M. Galbraith and C.S.Wong. 2005. Pteropods, eddies, carbon flus, and climate variability in the Alaska Gyre. Topical Studies in Oceanography: Haida Eddies: mesoscale transport in the Northeast Pacific. Deep-Sea Research II. 52(7-8):1037-1054. 

Mackas, D.L., W.T. Peterson and J.E. Zamon. 2004. Comparisons of interannual biomass anomalies of zooplankton communities along the continental margin of British Columbia. Deep-Sea Research II. 51:875- 896.  

Perry, I.R., H.P. Batchelder, D.L. Mackas, S. Chiba, E. Durbin, W. Greve and H.M.Verheye. 2004. Identifying global synchronies in marine zooplankton populations: Issues and opportunities. ICES Journal of Marine Sciences. 64:445-456. 

Lu, B., D.L. Mackas and D.F. Moore. 2003. Cross-shore separation of adult and juvenile euphausids in a shelf-break alongshore current. Progress in Oceanography. 57: 381-404.

McKinnell, S.M. and Mackas, D.L. 2003. Intercalibrating SCOR, NORPAC & bongo nets and the consequences for decadal-scale variation in zooplankton biomass in the Gulf of Alaska. Fisheries Oceanography. 12:126-133.

Batchelder, H.P., D.L. Mackas and 13 co-authors. 2002. The GLOBEC Northeast Pacific California Current System Program. Oceanography. 15:36-47.

Chavez, F. P., C.A. Collins, A. Huyer and D.L. Mackas. 2002. El Nino along the west coast of North America - Editorial. Progress in Oceanography. 54:1-5.

Mackas, D.L. and M. Galbraith. 2002. Zooplankton community composition along the inner portion of Line P during the 1997-98 El Niño event. Progr. Oceanogr. 54:423-437.

Mackas, D.L. and M. Galbraith. 2002. Zooplankton distribution and dynamics in a North Pacific eddy of coastal origin. I. Transport and loss of continental margin species. J. Oceanography. 58(5):725-738.

Romaine, S., D. Mackas and M. Macaulay. 2002. Comparison of euphausiid population size estimates obtained using replicated acoustic surveys of coastal inlets, and block average vs. geostatistical spatial interpolation methods. Fisheries Oceanogr. 11(2):102-115.

Yamazaki, H, D. Mackas and K. Denman. 2002. Coupling small-scale physical processes to biology: towards a Lagrangian approach, In: A.R. Robinson, J.J. McCarthy and B.J. Rothschild (eds.), The Sea: Biological-Physical Interactions in the Ocean. 12:51-112, John Wiley and Sons.

Allen, S.E., C. Vinderinho, M.G.G. Foreman, D.L. Mackas and R.E. Thomson. 2001. Physics and upwelling event biology over a submarine canyon during an upwelling event. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 58:671-684.

Bertram, D.F., Mackas, D.L. and S. McKinnell. 2001. The seasonal cycle revisited: interannual variation and ecosystem consequences. Progress in Oceanography 49:283-307.

Mackas, D., R.E. Thomson and M. Galbraith. 2001. Covariation of zooplankton community changes and oceanographic conditions on the British Columbia continental margin, 1995-1998. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 58:1-18.

Mackas, D.L. and B. deYoung. 2001. GLOBEC Canada: 1996-2000: a sampler. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.  58:645-646.

Yamazaki, H, D. Mackas and K. Denman. 2000. Coupling small scale physical processes to biology: Towards a Lagrangian approach. In: A.R. Robinson, J.J. McCarthy and B.J. Rothschild (eds.), The Sea: Biological-Physical Interactions in the Ocean. 12:John Wiley and Sons.

Perry, R.I., P.A. Thompson, D.L. Mackas, P.J. Harrison and D.R. Yelland. 1999. Stable carbon isotopes as pelagic food web tracers in adjacent shelf and slope regions off British Columbia, Canada. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56(12):2477-2486

Mackas, D.L. and D.R. Yelland. 1999. Horizontal flux of nutrients and plankton across and along the British Columbia continental margin. Deep-Sea Res II. 46:2941-2968.

Mackas, D.L. and A. Tsuda. 1999. Mesozooplankton in the eastern and western subarctic Pacific: community structure, seasonal life histories, and interannual variability. Progr. Oceanogr. 43:335-363.

Goldblatt, R., D.L. Mackas and A.G. Lewis. 1999. Mesozooplankton community characteristics in the NE subarctic Pacific. Deep-Sea Res. II. 46:2619-2944.

Yamazaki, H., D. Mackas and K. Denman. 1999. Coupling turbulence with planktonic organisms. p. 116-129 in M. Terazaki, K. Ohtani, T. Sugimoto and Y. Watanabe, eds.  Ecosystem dynamics of the Kuroshio-Oyashio Transition Region. Proc. Intern. Mar. Symp. held on 25-28 August 1998 at Mutsu City and Hakodate, Japan. Japan Marine Science Foundation. 273 p.

Mackas, D.L., R. Goldblatt and A.J. Lewis. 1998. Interdecadal variation in developmental timing of Neocalanus plumchrus populations at Ocean Station P in the subarctic North Pacific. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55:1878-1893.

Mackas, D.L., M. Saunders, R. Kieser, R.M. Brown, D.R. Yelland and D.F. Moore. 1997. Aggregation of euphausiids and hake along the outer continental shelf off Vancouver Island. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 54:2080-2096.

McFarlane, G.A., D.M. Ware, R.E. Thomson, D.L. Mackas and C.L.K. Robinson. 1997. Physical, biological and fisheries oceanography of a large ecosystem ( west coast of Vancouver Island) and implications for management. Oceanologica Acta. 20:191-200.

Mackas, D.L. and P.J. Harrison. 1997. Nitrogenous nutrient sources and sinks in the Juan de Fuca Strait, Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound estuarine system: Assessing the potential for eutrophication. Estuar. Coastal Shelf Sci. 44:1-21.

Dower, J.F. and D.L. Mackas. 1996. Seamount effects in the zooplankton community near Cobb Seamount. Deep-Sea. Res. 43:838-858.

Perry, R.I., N.B. Hargreaves, B.J. Waddell and D.L. Mackas. 1996. Spatial variations in feeding and condition of juvenile pink and chum salmon off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Fisheries Oceanogr. 5:73-88.

Mackas, D.L., S.J. Romaine, M.C. Macaulay and D.J. Saxby. 1996. Comparisons of repeat acoustic surveys of the euphausiid stock in Jervis Inlet, British Columbia, 1991-1995. PSARC Working Paper. I96-04.

Mackas, D.L. 1995. Interannual variability of the zooplankton community off southern Vancouver Island. in R. Beamish, ed., Climate change and northern fish populations. Can. Spec. Pub. Fisheries and Aquatic Sci. 121:77-89.

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