Seasonal cycles are common phenomena in all marine ecosystems and lifecycles of marine organisms show marked seasonal patterns in growth, reproduction and abundance. There are several patterns of seasonal dynamics in the water column governed by factors such as photoperiod, light intensity, food availability, oxygen, salinity and temperature, all influencing energy expenditure in marine benthic organisms. Generally, organisms react to their total environment, rather than to any single factor. Therefore, a combination of environmental factors would provide the most successful approach to understanding seasonal patterns in marine communities. It will be a challenge to integrate the effects of multiple factors, as well as their interactive effects, to determine seasonality in the lifecycles of marine organisms at different scales: individual, population and community

10 pages, 1 figure

Peer reviewed