Numerical study of circulation, dispersion, and hydrodynamic connectivity of surface waters on the Belize shelf

Tang, Liqun; Jiang, Sheng; Hatcher, Bruce G.; Sale, Peter F.

doi:10.1029/2005jc002930

Cited by 47 publications

(51 citation statements)

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“…The observed dispersal directions also appear to match model predictions. In 2005 and 2006, dispersal directions reflected the average prevailing currents in this region during the spring months (Tang et al 2006;Soto et al 2009). The variation from this pattern in 2007 likely reflects variability in regional current patterns not captured by models that average current patterns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local retention, dispersal and fluctuating connectivity among populations of a coral reef fish

et al. 2011

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The persistence and resilience of marine populations in the face of disturbances is directly affected by connectivity among populations. Thus, understanding the magnitude and pattern of connections among populations and the temporal variation in these patterns is critical for the effective management and conservation of marine species. Despite recent advances in our understanding of marine connectivity, few empirical studies have directly measured the magnitude or pattern of connections among populations of marine fishes, and none have explicitly investigated temporal variation in demographic connectivity. We use genetic assignment tests to track the dispersal of 456 individual larval fishes to quantify the extent of connectivity, dispersal, self-recruitment and local retention within and among seven populations of a coral reef fish (Stegastes partitus) over a three-year period. We found that some larvae do disperse long distances (*200 km); however, self-recruitment was a regular phenomenon. Importantly, we found that dispersal distances, self-recruitment, local retention and the pattern of connectivity varied significantly among years. Our data highlight the unpredictable nature of connectivity, and underscore the need for more, temporally replicated, empirical measures of connectivity to inform management decisions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local retention, dispersal and fluctuating connectivity among populations of a coral reef fish

et al. 2011

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“…Bathymetric variability and regional variations in wind patterns may create persistent hot spots for larval export and settlement (11,12,27). Two realizations of connectivity for a sinuous coastline patterned after the Central California coast (see Methods) do not show consistent settlement patterns (Fig.…”

Section: Modeling Stochastic Larval Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modeling Stochastic Larval Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 m and n), suggesting that moderate undulations of a straight coastline will not necessarily focus settlement onto particular topographic features. It is expected that topography will have a larger role for regions dominated by concave coastlines, island chains, or enclosed seas (11,12,27).A summary of the processes that help regulate the nature of connectivity is given in Table 1. Overall, we expect highly stochastic settlement patterns in organisms with long pelagic larval durations and short and periodic spawning seasons that coincide during periods of maximum upwelling, with little active larval swimming ability.…”

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The stochastic nature of larval connectivity among nearshore marine populations

Siegel

Mitarai

Costello

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

344

352

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Many nearshore fish and invertebrate populations are overexploited even when apparently coherent management structures are in place. One potential cause of mismanagement may be a poor understanding and accounting of stochasticity, particularly for stock recruitment. Many of the fishes and invertebrates that comprise nearshore fisheries are relatively sedentary as adults but have an obligate larval pelagic stage that is dispersed by ocean currents. Here, we demonstrate that larval connectivity is inherently an intermittent and heterogeneous process on annual time scales. This stochasticity arises from the advection of pelagic larvae by chaotic coastal circulations. This result departs from typical assumptions where larvae simply diffuse from one site to another or where complex connectivity patterns are created by transport within spatially complicated environments. We derive a statistical model for the expected variability in larval settlement patterns and demonstrate how larval connectivity varies as a function of different biological and physical processes. The stochastic nature of larval connectivity creates an unavoidable uncertainty in the assessment of fish recruitment and the resulting forecasts of sustainable yields.coastal oceanography ͉ fisheries ͉ marine ecology N earshore ecosystems host a wide variety of marine organisms and are among the most productive environments on Earth. Yet many species harvested from these ecosystems are overfished (1-3), a problem that is especially acute for those invertebrates and fishes with a relatively sedentary adult life stage. One potential cause of overfishing is mismanagement because of a poor understanding and accounting of stochasticity in these systems (4,5). Stochasticity caused by climate variations has long been known to influence the dynamics of ocean ecosystems and the fisheries they support (6). Climate variation affects rates of fecundity and recruitment by altering water temperature, coastal circulation patterns, or the availability of spawning grounds (7,8); such effects can be understood and, given sufficient data, may be predictable. Here, we introduce a mechanism that generates stochasticity in spatial and temporal patterns of larval transport on annual time scales. This stochasticity is inherently unpredictable because of the chaotic nature of coastal circulations and the relatively short larval time scales.Many harvested fish and invertebrates from nearshore ecosystems have a life cycle that includes a pelagic larval stage that can last up to months and a localized benthic adult stage (9, 10). These relatively sedentary adults release hundreds to millions of larvae that are advected and dispersed by ocean currents as they develop competency to settle (9-13). Spawning releases can occur continuously over months or in a few short events. Biotic factors, such as active swimming and vertical migration, also contribute to movement patterns (12,14,15). A small fraction of the larvae settle at suitable sites, and an even smaller fraction recruit to adult...

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“…We follow Tang et al (2006) and define the downstream area as the sum of all subareas to which more than 2% of particles originally released over the surface of a given source area travel within 20 days. Similarly, the upstream area of a designated sink area is defined as the sum of all subareas from which at least 2% of particles in the sink area originated during the previous 20 days.…”

Section: Hydrodynamic Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Circulation, dispersion and hydrodynamic connectivity over the Scotian Shelf and adjacent waters

Sui

Jiang

Ohashi

et al. 2017

som

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Circulation, dispersion and hydrodynamic connectivity over the Scotian Shelf and adjacent waters. © 2017 Yi Sui, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract: A nested-grid ocean circulation modelling system is used in this study to examine the circulation of surface waters over the Scotian Shelf and its adjacent coastal water bodies. The modelling system consists of a coarse-resolution (1/12°) barotropic storm surge (outer) model covering the northwest Atlantic Ocean, and a fine-resolution (1/16°) baroclinic (inner) model covering the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Scotian Shelf, and Gulf of Maine.The three-dimensional model currents are used to track trajectories of particles using a Lagrangian particle-tracking model. The simulated particle movements and distributions are used to examine the dispersion, retention, and hydrodynamic connectivity of surface waters over the study region. The near-surface dispersion is relatively high over western Cabot Strait, the inner Scotian Shelf, and the shelf break of the Scotian Shelf. The dispersion is relatively low in Northumberland Strait. A process study is conducted to examine the physical processes affecting the surface dispersion, including tidal forcing and local wind forcing. The model results show that the tidal currents significantly influence the dispersion of surface waters in the Bay of Fundy. Keywords: circulation model; particle tracking; retention; dispersion; process study

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Numerical study of circulation, dispersion, and hydrodynamic connectivity of surface waters on the Belize shelf

Cited by 47 publications

References 50 publications

Local retention, dispersal and fluctuating connectivity among populations of a coral reef fish

Local retention, dispersal and fluctuating connectivity among populations of a coral reef fish

The stochastic nature of larval connectivity among nearshore marine populations

Circulation, dispersion and hydrodynamic connectivity over the Scotian Shelf and adjacent waters

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