Spatio-temporal patterns of stratification on the Northwest Atlantic shelf

Li, Yun; Fratantoni, Paula S.; Chen, Changsheng; Hare, Jonathan A.; Sun, Yunfang; Beardsley, Robert C.; Ji, Rubao

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2015.01.003

Cited by 53 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…To the extent that the warm period is also associated with increased stratification, this change implies a longer stratified period and shifts in the timing of spring and fall phytoplankton blooms that result from the onset and breakdown of stratification (Song et al, 2010). Recent work (Li et al, 2015) shows that temperature dominates salinity in controlling stratification over the entire study area during summer and also in spring for the MAB. At the beginning and end of the warm period, however, they show that salinity increases in importance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Timing of the peak in seasonal stratification varies from late July over the MAB, to early August in the Gulf of Maine, and late August over the Scotian Shelf (Li et al, 2015). Analysis of the competing influence of salinity and temperature on stratification shows temperature dominates stratification in mid-summer, but early-season development of stratification is driven primarily by salinity buoyancy (Li et al, 2015) with a northward progression of the dates when this switch occurs. The northeastern shelf has one of the strongest latitudinal gradients in amplitude of SST seasonal cycles of any continental shelf (Townsend et al, 2006).…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Gulf of Maine, the amplitude of the SST seasonal cycle is largest over the deeper basins and western portion of the Gulf, and weakest over the strongly tidally-mixed regions of the eastern Gulf and southern Scotian Shelf (Mountain and Manning, 1994). Timing of the peak in seasonal stratification varies from late July over the MAB, to early August in the Gulf of Maine, and late August over the Scotian Shelf (Li et al, 2015). Analysis of the competing influence of salinity and temperature on stratification shows temperature dominates stratification in mid-summer, but early-season development of stratification is driven primarily by salinity buoyancy (Li et al, 2015) with a northward progression of the dates when this switch occurs.…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Seasonal trends and phenology shifts in sea surface temperature on the North American northeastern continental shelf

Thomas

Pershing

Friedland

et al. 2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Thomas, AC, et al 2017 Seasonal trends and phenology shifts in sea surface temperature on the North American northeastern continental shelf. Elem Sci Anth, 5: 48, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.240 Introduction Sea surface temperatures (SST) on the North American continental shelf from Cape Hatteras to Nova Scotia (Figure 1) (hereinafter referred to as the northeastern shelf) exhibit one of the strongest warming trends of the global ocean (Burrows et al., 2011;Pershing et al., 2015; Saba et al., 2015), and the region has recently been subjected to a strong heat wave (Mills et al., 2013; Scannell et al., 2016). The warming trend has been implicated in shifts in the distribution of marine species (Lucey and Nye, 2010;Pinsky et al., 2013), many of which are of commercial importance (Nye et al., 2009;Pinsky and Fogarty, 2012), and some of which are invasive species able to exploit new ranges (e.g. Maynard et al., 2016; Stephenson et al., 2009). Such trends impose serious challenges for fisheries and fisheries management (e.g. Pinsky and Fogarty, 2012;Pershing et al., 2015). However, temperature interactions with species distributions and behaviors occur not only through trends in temperatures, latitudinal shifts in isotherms, or even in episodic events such as heat waves, but also through shifts in phenology, the timing within temperature seasonal cycles (Asch, 2015;Burrows et al., 2011). Friedland and Hare (2007) ). Winter (January-April) trends are relatively weak, and even negative in some areas; early summer (May-June) trends are positive everywhere, and later summer (July-September) trends are strongest (~1.0°C decade -1). These seasonal differences shift the phenology of many metrics of the SST cycle. The yearday on which specific temperature thresholds (8° and 12°C) are reached in spring trends earlier, most strongly over the Scotian Shelf and Gulf of Maine (~ -0.5 days year ). Three metrics defining the warmest summer period show significant trends towards earlier summer starts, later summer ends and longer summer duration over the entire study region. Trends in start and end dates are strongest (~1 day year -1 ) over the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf. Trends in increased summer duration are >2.0 days year -1 in parts of the Gulf of Maine. Regression analyses show that phenology trends have regionally varying links to the North Atlantic Oscillation, to local spring and summer atmospheric pressure and air temperature and to Gulf Stream position. For effective monitoring and management of dynamically heterogeneous shelf regions, the results highlight the need to quantify spatial and seasonal differences in SST trends as well as trends in SST phenology, each of which likely has implications for the ecological functioning of the shelf.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Seasonal trends and phenology shifts in sea surface temperature on the North American northeastern continental shelf

Thomas

Pershing

Friedland

et al. 2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Over the 35‐year study period, the stratification onset day has fluctuated 1–3 weeks, with distinct patterns in the eastern and western GoM. In the eastern GoM, stratification onset shifted one week earlier in the most recent decade relative to its 35‐year mean date, compared to a 1‐ to 2‐week delay in the late 1980s and 1990s (Li et al, ). In the western GoM, stratification onset follows 1–2 week interannual variations with no significant trend over either the entire period or the most recent decade.…”

Section: Evidence For Shifting Phenology In the Gommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All SST and salinity Li et al (2015) 2. Hydrography A. Ice-affected stream flows (Ice break-up) Earlier last dates in 75% of rivers studied by 11 days on average, mostly since the 1960s.…”

Section: -2013mentioning

confidence: 99%

It’s about time: A synthesis of changing phenology in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem

Staudinger

Mills

Stamieszkin

et al. 2019

Fisheries Oceanography

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The timing of recurring biological and seasonal environmental events is changing on a global scale relative to temperature and other climate drivers. This study considers the Gulf of Maine ecosystem, a region of high social and ecological importance in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and synthesizes current knowledge of (a) key seasonal processes, patterns, and events; (b) direct evidence for shifts in timing; (c) implications of phenological responses for linked ecological‐human systems; and (d) potential phenology‐focused adaptation strategies and actions. Twenty studies demonstrated shifts in timing of regional marine organisms and seasonal environmental events. The most common response was earlier timing, observed in spring onset, spring and winter hydrology, zooplankton abundance, occurrence of several larval fishes, and diadromous fish migrations. Later timing was documented for fall onset, reproduction and fledging in Atlantic puffins, spring and fall phytoplankton blooms, and occurrence of additional larval fishes. Changes in event duration generally increased and were detected in zooplankton peak abundance, early life history periods of macro‐invertebrates, and lobster fishery landings. Reduced duration was observed in winter–spring ice‐affected stream flows. Two studies projected phenological changes, both finding diapause duration would decrease in zooplankton under future climate scenarios. Phenological responses were species‐specific and varied depending on the environmental driver, spatial, and temporal scales evaluated. Overall, a wide range of baseline phenology and relevant modeling studies exist, yet surprisingly few document long‐term shifts. Results reveal a need for increased emphasis on phenological shifts in the Gulf of Maine and identify opportunities for future research and consideration of phenological changes in adaptation efforts.

show abstract

Surface and subsurface oceanographic features drive forage fish distributions and aggregations: Implications for prey availability to top predators in the US Northeast Shelf ecosystem

Goetsch

Gulka

Friedland

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Forage fishes are a critical food web link in marine ecosystems, aggregating in a hierarchical patch structure over multiple spatial and temporal scales. Surface-level forage fish aggregations (FFAs) represent a concentrated source of prey available to surface-and shallow-foraging marine predators. Existing survey and analysis methods are often imperfect for studying forage fishes at scales appropriate to foraging predators, making it difficult to quantify predator-prey interactions. In many cases, general distributions of forage fish species are known; however, these may not represent surface-level prey availability to predators. Likewise, we lack an understanding of the oceanographic drivers of spatial patterns of prey aggregation and availability or forage fish community patterns. Specifically, we applied Bayesian joint species distribution models to bottom trawl survey data to assess species-and community-level forage fish distribution patterns across the US Northeast Continental Shelf (NES) ecosystem.Aerial digital surveys gathered data on surface FFAs at two project sites within the NES, which we used in a spatially explicit hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate the abundance and size of surface FFAs. We used these models to examine the oceanographic drivers of forage fish distributions and aggregations. Our results suggest that, in the NES, regions of high community species richness are spatially consistent with regions of high surface FFA abundance. Bathymetric depth drove both patterns, while subsurface features, such as mixed layer depth, primarily influenced aggregation behavior and surface features, such as sea surface temperature, sub-mesoscale eddies, and fronts influenced forage fish diversity. In combination, these models help quantify the availability of forage fishes to marine predators and represent a novel application of spatial models to aerial digital survey data.

show abstract

Spatio-temporal patterns of stratification on the Northwest Atlantic shelf

Cited by 53 publications

References 56 publications

Seasonal trends and phenology shifts in sea surface temperature on the North American northeastern continental shelf

Seasonal trends and phenology shifts in sea surface temperature on the North American northeastern continental shelf

It’s about time: A synthesis of changing phenology in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem

Surface and subsurface oceanographic features drive forage fish distributions and aggregations: Implications for prey availability to top predators in the US Northeast Shelf ecosystem

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About