This special issue summarizes the major achievements of the US Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC) program and celebrates its accomplishments. The articles grew out of a final symposium held in October 2009 under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Studies Board (http://usglobec.org/Symposium). This special issue updates the US GLOBEC “mid-life” Oceanography issue (Vol. 15, No. 2, 2002, http://tos.org/oceanography/archive/15-2.html), which put forward many of the goals and activities of the program, but was published while field work was still being conducted and results had yet to be synthesized across regional programs. The present special issue highlights the advances in understanding achieved through the synthesis of regional studies and pan-regional comparisons.

Turner, E., D.B. Haidvogel, E.E. Hofmann, H.P. Batchelder, M.J. Fogarty, and T. Powell. 2013. US GLOBEC: Program goals, approaches, and advances. Oceanography 26(4):12–21, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.72.

Baker, K.S., and C.L. Chandler. 2009. Enabling long-term oceanographic research: Changing data practices, information management strategies and informatics. Deep Sea Research Part II 55:2,132–2,142, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.05.009.

Batchelder, H.P., K.L. Daly, C.S. Davis, R. Ji, M.D. Ohman, W.T. Peterson, and J.A. Runge. 2013. Climate impacts on zooplankton population dynamics in coastal marine ecosystems. Oceanography 26(4):34–51, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.74.

Benfield, M.C., C.S. Davis, P.H. Wiebe, S.M. Gallager, R.G. Lough and N.J. Copley. 1996. Video Plankton Recorder estimates of copepod, pteropod and larvacean distributions from a stratified region of Georges Bank with comparative measurements from a MOCNESS sampler. Deep-Sea Research Part II 43:1,925–1,945, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(96)00044-6.

Benfield, M.C., P.H. Wiebe, T.K. Stanton, C.S. Davis, S.M. Gallager and C.H. Greene. 1998. Estimating the spatial distribution of zooplankton biomass by combining Video Plankton Recorder and single-frequency acoustic data. Deep-Sea Research Part II 45:1,175–1,199, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(98)00026-5.

Bisagni, J.J., R.C. Beardsley, C.M. Ruhsam, J.P. Manning, and W.J. Williams. 1996. Historical and recent evidence of Scotian Shelf water on Southern Georges Bank. Deep Sea Research Part II 43:1,439–1,471, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(96)00041-0.

Bisagni, J.J., K.W. Seeman, and T.P. Mavor. 2001. High resolution satellite-derived sea surface temperature variability over the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank region, 1993–1996. Deep-Sea Research Part II 48:71–94, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(00)00115-6.

Botsford, L.W., C.L. Moloney, A. Hastings, J.L. Largier, T.M. Powell, K. Higgins, and J.F. Quinn. 1994. The influence of spatially and temporally varying oceanographic conditions on meroplanktonic metapopulations. Deep Sea Research Part II 41:107–145, https://doi.org/10.1016/0967-0645(94)90064-7.

Brickley, P.J., and A.C. Thomas. 2004. Satellite-measured seasonal and inter-annual chlorophyll variability in the northeast Pacific and coastal Gulf of Alaska. Deep Sea Research Part II 51:229–245, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2003.06.003.

Brink, K. 1988. Coastal Physical Oceanography: (CoPO) Towards a National Plan. Report of a meeting of the coastal oceanography community, January 23–26, Gulf Park, Mississippi. National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, 118 pp.

Brodeur, R.D., B.W. Frost, S.R. Hare, R.C. Francis, and W.J. Ingraham Jr. 1996. Interannual variations in zooplankton biomass in the Gulf of Alaska, and covariation with California Current zooplankton biomass. CalCOFI Report 37:80–99.

Carr, M.E., P.T. Strub, A. Thomas, and J.L. Blanco. 2002. Evolution of 1996–1999 La Niña and El Niño conditions off the western coast of South America: A remote sensing perspective. Journal of Geophysical Research 107(C2), 3236, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JC001183.

Chan, F., J.A. Barth, J. Lubchenco, A. Kirincich, H. Weeks, W.T. Peterson, and B.A. Menge. 2008. Emergence of anoxia in the California Current large marine ecosystem. Science 319:920, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1149016.

Chandler, C.L., R. Groman, M.D. Allison, P.H. Wiebe, D.M. Glover, and S.R. Gegg. 2012. Effective management of ocean biogeochemistry and ecological data: The BCO-DMO story. Geophysical Research Abstracts 14:EGU2012-1258. Available online at: http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2012/EGU2012-1258.pdf (accessed December 21, 2103).

Conversi, A., S. Piontkovski, and S. Hameed. 2001. Seasonal and interannual dynamics of Calanus finmarchicus in the Gulf of Maine (Northeastern US shelf) with reference to the North Atlantic Oscillation. Deep Sea Research Part II 48:519–530, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(00)00088-6.

Curchitser, E.N., H.P. Batchelder, D.B. Haidvogel, J. Fiechter, and J. Runge. 2013. Advances in physical, biological, and coupled ocean models during the US GLOBEC program. Oceanography 26(4):52–67, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.75.

Cushing, D.H. 1990. Plankton production and year-class strength in fish populations: An update of the match/mismatch hypothesis. Advances in Marine Biology 26:249–293, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2881(08)60202-3.

Di Lorenzo, E., V. Combes, J.E. Keister, P.T. Strub, A.C. Thomas, P.J.S. Franks, M.D. Ohman, J.C. Furtado, A. Bracco, S.J. Bograd, and others. 2013b. Synthesis of Pacific Ocean climate and ecosystem dynamics. Oceanography 26(4):68–81, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.76.

Di Lorenzo, E., D. Mountain, H.P. Batchelder, N. Bond, and E.E. Hofmann. 2013a. Advances in marine ecosystem dynamics from US GLOBEC: The horizontal-advection bottom-up forcing paradigm. Oceanography 26(4):22–33, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.73.

Drinkwater, K.F., G. Beaugrand, M. Kaeriyama, S. Kim, G. Ottersen, R.I. Perry, H.-O. Portner, J.J. Polivina, and A. Takasuka. 2010. On the processes linking climate to ecosystem changes. Journal of Marine Systems 79:374–388, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2008.12.014.

Fiechter, J., G. Broquet, A.M. Moore, and H.G. Arango, 2011. A data assimilative, coupled physical–biological model for the Coastal Gulf of Alaska. Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans 52:95–118, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dynatmoce.2011.01.002.

Field, D.B., T.R. Baumgartner, C.D. Charles, V. Ferreira-Bartrina, and M.D. Ohman. 2006. Planktonic foraminifera of the California Current reflect 20th-century warming. Science 311:63–66, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1116220.

Finney, B., I. Gregory-Eaves, M.S.V. Douglas, and J.P. Smol. 2002. Fisheries productivity in the northeastern Pacific over the past 2000 years. Nature 419:729–733.

Finney, B., I. Gregory-Eaves, J. Sweetman, M.S.V. Douglas, and J.P. Smol. 2000. Impacts of climatic change and fishing on Pacific salmon abundance over the last 300 years. Science 290:795-799, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.290.5492.795.

Fogarty, M.J., and S.A. Murawski. 1998. Large-scale disturbance and the structure of marine systems: Fishery impacts on Georges Bank. Ecological Applications 8:S6–S22, https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(1998)8[S6:LDATSO]2.0.CO;2.

Fogarty, M.J., and T.M. Powell. 2002. An overview of the US GLOBEC program. Oceanography 15(2):4–12, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2002.17.

Fogarty, M.J., L.W. Botsford, and F.E. Werner. 2013. Legacy of the US GLOBEC program: Current and potential contributions to marine ecosystem-based management. Oceanography 26(4):116–127, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.79.

Grantham, B.A., F. Chan, K.J. Nielsen, D.S. Fox, J.A. Barth, A. Huyer, J. Lubchenco, and B.A. Menge. 2004. Upwelling-driven nearshore hypoxia signals ecosystem and oceanographic changes in the Northeast Pacific. Nature 429:749–754, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02605.

Greene, C.H., B.C. Monger, L.P. McGarry, M.D. Connely, N.R. Schnepf, A.J. Pershing, I.M. Belkin, P.A. Fratantoni, D.G. Mountain, R.S. Pickart, and others. 2012. Recent Arctic climate change and its remote forcing of Northwest Atlantic shelf ecosystems. Oceanography 25(3):208–213, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2012.64.

Greene, C.H, A.J. Pershing, T.M. Cronin, and N. Cecci. 2008. Arctic climate change and its impacts on the ecology of the North Atlantic. Ecology 89:S24–S38, https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0550.1.

Greene, C.H., P.H. Wiebe, A.J. Pershing, G. Gal, J.M. Popp, N.J. Copley, T.C. Austin, A.M. Bradley, R.G. Goldsborough, J. Dawson, and R. Hendershott. 1998. Assessing the distribution and abundance of zooplankton: A comparison of acoustic and net-sampling methods with D-BAD MOCNESS. Deep Sea Research Part II 45:1,219–1,237, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(98)00033-2.

Hare, S.R., N.J. Mantua, and R.C. Francis. 1999. Inverse production regimes: Alaskan and West Coast salmon. Fisheries 24:6–14, https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8446(1999)024<0006:IPR>2.0.CO;2.

Hermann, A.J., S. Hinckley, E.L. Dobbins, D.B. Haidvogel, N.A. Bond, C. Mordy, N. Kachel, and P.J. Stabeno. 2009. Quantifying cross-shelf and vertical nutrient flux in the Coastal Gulf of Alaska with a spatially nested, coupled biophysical model. Deep Sea Research Part II 56:2,474–2,486, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.02.008.

Hofmann, E.E., and T.M. Powell. 1998. Environmental variability effects on marine fisheries: Four case histories. Ecological Applications 8:S23–S32, https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(1998)8[S23:EVEOMF]2.0.CO;2.

Hofmann, E.E., P.H. Wiebe, D.P. Costa, and J.J. Torres. 2004. An overview of the Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics Program. Deep Sea Research Part II 51:1,921–1,924, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2004.08.007.

Hooff, R.C., and W.T. Peterson. 2006. Copepod biodiversity as an indicator of changes in ocean and climate conditions of the Northern California Current ecosystem. Limnology & Oceanography 51(6):2,607–2,620, https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2006.51.6.2607.

Huyer, A. 2003. Preface to special section on enhanced subarctic influence in the California Current, 2002. Geophysical Research Letters 30, 8019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL017724.

Huyer, A., P.A. Wheeler, P.T. Strub, R.L. Smith, R. Letelier, and P.M. Kosro. 2007. The Newport line off Oregon: Studies in the North East Pacific. Progress in Oceanography 75:126–160, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2007.08.003.

Ji, R., C. Davis, C. Chen, and R. Beardsley. 2008a. Influence of local and external processes on the annual nitrogen cycle and primary productivity on Georges Bank: A 3-D biological-physical modeling study. Journal of Marine Systems 73:31–47, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2007.08.002.

Ji, R., C. Davis, C. Chen, D.W. Townsend, D.G. Mountain, and R. Beardsley. 2008b. Modeling the influence of low-salinity water inflow on winter-spring phytoplankton dynamics in the Nova Scotian Shelf-Gulf of Maine region. Journal of Plankton Research 30:1,399–1,416, https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbn091.

Ji, R., M. Edwards, D.L. Mackas, J.A. Runge, and A.C. Thomas. 2010. Marine plankton phenology and life history in a changing climate: Current research and future directions. Journal of Plankton Research 32:1,355–1,368, https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbq062.

Keister, J.E., and W.T. Peterson. 2003. Zonal and seasonal variations in zooplankton community structure off the central Oregon coast, 1998–2000. Progress in Oceanography 57:341–361, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611(03)00105-8.

Lawson, G.L., P.H. Wiebe, C.J. Ashjian, S.M. Gallager, C.S. Davis, and J.D. Warren. 2004. Acoustically-inferred zooplankton distribution in relation to hydrography west of the Antarctic Peninsula. Deep Sea Research Part II 51:2,041–2,072, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2004.07.022.

Lynch, D.R., D.J. McGillicuddy Jr., and F.E. Werner, eds. 2009. Skill assessment for coupled biological/physical models of marine systems. Journal of Marine Systems 76:1–250.

Lynch, D.R., C.E. Naimie, J.T. Ip, C.V. Lewis, F.E. Werner, R.A. Luettich Jr., B.O. Blanton, J. Quinlan, D.J. McGillicuddy Jr., J.R. Ledwell, and others. 2001. Real-time data assimilative modeling on Georges Bank. Oceanography 14(1):65–77, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2001.50.

McGillicuddy, D.J., D.R. Lynch, A.M. Moore, W.C. Gentleman, C.S. Davis, and C.J. Meise. 1998. An adjoint data assimilation approach to diagnosis of physical and biological controls on Pseudocalanus spp. in the Gulf of Maine–Georges Bank region. Fisheries Oceanography 7:205–218, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2419.1998.00066.x.

McGillicuddy, D.J. Jr., D.R. Lynch, P. Wiebe, J. Runge, E.G. Durbin, W.C. Gentleman, and C.S. Davis. 2001. Evaluating the synopticity of the US GLOBEC Georges Bank broad-scale sampling pattern with observational system simulation experiments. Deep Sea Research Part II 48:483–499, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(00)00126-0.

Meise, C.J., and J.E. O’Reilly. 1996. Spatial and seasonal patterns in abundance and age-composition of Calanus finmarchicus in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank: 1977–1987. Deep Sea Research Part II 43:1,473–1,495, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(96)00048-3.

Milliff, R.F., J. Fiechter, W.B. Leeds, R. Herbei, C.K. Wikle, M.B. Hooten, A.M. Moore, T.M. Powell, and J. Brown. 2013. Uncertainty management in coupled physical-biological lower trophic level ocean ecosystem models. Oceanography 26(4):98–115, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.78.

NRC (National Research Council). 1987. Recruitment Processes and Ecosystem Structure in the Sea: Report of a Workshop. Ocean Studies Board, Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources, National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 44 pp.

Pershing, A.J., C.H. Greene, J.W. Jossi, L. O’Brien, J.K.T. Brodziak, and B.A. Bailey. 2005. Interdecadal variability in the Gulf of Maine zooplankton community with potential impacts on fish recruitment. ICES Journal of Marine Science 62:1,511–1,523, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icesjms.2005.04.025.

Pierce, S.D., J.A. Barth, R.E. Thomas, and G.W. Fleischer. 2006. Anomalously warm July 2005 in the northern California Current: Historical context and the significance of cumulative wind stress. Geophysical Research Letters 33, L22S04, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027149.

Piñones, A., E.E. Hofmann, K.L. Daly, M.S. Dinniman, and J.M. Klinck. 2013. Modeling the remote and local connectivity of Antarctic krill populations along the western Antarctic Peninsula. Marine Ecology Progress Series 481:69–92, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10256.

Piñones, A., E.E. Hofmann, M.S. Dinniman, and J.M. Klinck. 2011. Lagrangian simulation of transport pathways and residence times along the western Antarctic Peninsula. Deep Sea Research Part II 58:1,524–1,539, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.07.001.

Powell, T.M., C.V.W. Lewis, E.N. Curchitser, D.B. Haidvogel, A.J. Hermann, and E.L. Dobbins. 2006. Results from a three-dimensional, nested biological-physical model of the California Current System and comparisons with statistics from satellite imagery. Journal of Geophysical Research 111, C07018, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JC002506.

Runge, J.A., A.I. Kovach, J.H. Churchill, L.A. Kerr, J.R. Morrison, R.C. Beardsley, D.L. Berlinsky, C. Chen, S.X. Cadrin, C.S. Davis, and others. 2010. Understanding climate impacts on recruitment and spatial dynamics of Atlantic cod in the Gulf of Maine: Integration of observations and modeling. Progress in Oceanography 87:251–263, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2010.09.016.

Ruzicka, J.J., J.H. Steele, S.K. Gaichas, T. Ballerini, D.J. Gifford, R.D. Brodeur, and E.E. Hofmann. 2013. Analysis of energy flow in US GLOBEC ecosystems using end-to-end models. Oceanography 26(4):82–97, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.77.

Stenseth, N., G. Ottersen, J.W. Hurrell, and A. Belgrano, eds. 2004. Marine Ecosystems and Climate Variation: The North Atlantic, A Comparative Perspective. Oxford University Press, 252 pp.

Turner, E., and D.B. Haidvogel. 2009. Taking ocean research results to applications: Examples and lessons learned from US GLOBEC. Oceanography 22(4):232–241, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2009.111.

US GLOBEC. 1991. Initial Science Plan. US GLOBEC Report #1, 68 pp. Available online at: http://usglobec.org/reports/isp/isp.contents.html (accessed December 10, 2013).

US GLOBEC. 1995. Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics and Climate Change: A Long Range Science Plan. US GLOBEC Report #12, 26 pp. Available online at: http://usglobec.org/reports/lrp/lrp.contents.html (accessed December 10, 2013).

US GLOBEC. 2009. Strategies for Pan-Regional Synthesis in US GLOBEC. US GLOBEC Report #21, 50 pp. Available online at: http://usglobec.org/reports/pdf/rep21.pdf (accessed December 10, 2013).

Wiebe, P., R. Beardsley, D. Mountain, and A. Bucklin. 2002. US GLOBEC Northwest Atlantic/Georges Bank Program. Oceanography 15(2):13–29, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2002.18.

Worden, L., L.W. Botsford, A. Hastings, and M.D. Holland. 2010. Frequency responses of age-structured populations: Pacific salmon as an example. Theoretical Population Biology 78(4):239–249, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tpb.2010.07.004.

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.