Understanding biological impacts of ENSO on the eastern Pacific: an evolving scenario Online publication date: Thu, 05-Jun-2008
by Patricio A. Camus
International Journal of Environment and Health (IJENVH), Vol. 2, No. 1, 2008
Abstract: The understanding of the physical nature of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon has gone through significant and progressive changes during the last decades. Such advances lead biologists to deal with an increasingly complex view of the impacts of ENSO events on coastal marine systems, facing an ever-evolving perspective of the physical setting in which natural populations and communities develop and persist. This paper discusses how the increasing understanding of ENSO has changed our perception of its nature as a biological disturbance regime, and therefore, our way of conceptualising and studying its impacts under different ecological contexts. The analysis emphasises common problems derived from the misuse of before–after and correlational approaches, and stresses the need for proper and more accurate information to improve our perspective of ENSO impacts, providing study cases from rocky intertidal communities in northern Chile.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Environment and Health (IJENVH):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com