Table 7.
Questions to Address the Scientific Issues Relevant to Retrospective Analysis (4)

• In the Bering Sea ecosystem, what are the coherences among spatial and temporal variability in the biology and its forcing functions, the physics of the ocean and atmosphere?
• Is there evidence that any (key, important) Bering Sea population has approached or exceeded its carrying capacity? For example, are population vital rates (birth, death or fecundity) or individual (growth) rates a function of population size?
• The Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean experienced a ³regime shift² in the 1970s. Is there any evidence that this has occurred more than once? What changes in the abiotic system were associated with historical regime shifts?
• Have changes in atmospheric forcing affected the physical structure and location of the three Bering Sea shelf domains? Were there concurrent changes in the structure or function of food webs associated with the shelf domains?
• Is shelf ecosystem productivity affected by variability in heat, salt, and nutrient fluxes into and out of the Bering Sea?
• Is there evidence for historical changes in the carrying capacity for (key, important) species or species assemblages of the Bering Sea shelf ecosystem? Are these changes related to changes in the structure of the ecosystem?
• Have historical changes in species or species assemblage composition of the Bering Sea ecosystem affected system productivity?
• Is there evidence for historical changes in species or species assemblage distributions in the Bering Sea ecosystem? What biotic or abiotic changes were associated with these distribution shifts?