Physical Indicators and their influence

From Daly and Smith, 2003
Influence of temperature
1. may constrain the maximum growth rate of phytoplankton
2. suggested that temperature, rather than food limitation, drive zooplankton production in temperate coastal regions
3. may be an important determinant of trophic structure
4. effect of temperature may be more important as a covariate with other factors than as a direct control of productivity.
...influence of temperature on marine productivity remains equivocal.

Hydrodynamic processe are believed to control primary productivity in the ocean by governing irradiance and nutrients. (see below, keep in mind that marine ecology is being discussed - and therefore processes are very different than at an estuarine systm)
... the scale at which vertical mixing is a function of wind velocity, duration of wind event, and fetch, and is generally confined to the upper 100m of the ocean.

Nutrient uptake and phytoplankton