COMPARING MODELS AND OBSERVATIONS OF SHELF PLANKTON

In a previous paper (Solow and Steele, J. Plankton Res., 17, 1995), the differences between variability in zooplankton biomass and in copepod stage structure were demonstrated using data from the northern North Sea. Here, a model is used to describe the underlying demographic processes and the effects of interannual physical variability. Comparison of output with observations can test the theory and so help to reconcile the apparent contradiction between great variability and persistence in these populations.