The perfect storm: Match-mismatch of bio-physical events drives larval reef fish connectivity between Pulley Ridge mesophotic reef and the Florida Keys

Vaz, Ana C.; Paris, Claire B.; Olascoaga, M. J.; Kourafalou, Vassiliki H.; Kang, Hee-Sook; Reed, John K.

doi:10.1016/j.csr.2016.06.012

Cited by 53 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(84 reference statements)

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“…Nevertheless, our results from SS and immediately adjacent DS reefs suggest that habitat variation associated with depth can influence habitat suitability across distances of only a few kilometers. Additionally, reefs in the Florida Keys are oceanographically connected to MP reefs at Pulley Ridge and connectivity is likely for S. partitus populations (Vaz et al 2016), suggesting that some processes that vary over geographic distances may confound the influence of depth on S. partitus populations while others such as connectivity and isolation can be excluded. Energetic trade-offs of demersal reef fishes are influenced by processes that can vary monotonically with depth such as temperature (Goldstein et al 2016a) or oceanographically driven diet and food availability (Leichter et al 1998), yet are likely mediated by patchy and less spatially predictable parameters such as predation risk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fitness consequences of habitat variability, trophic position, and energy allocation across the depth distribution of a coral-reef fish

2017

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Environmental clines such as latitude and depth that limit species' distributions may be associated with gradients in habitat suitability that can affect the fitness of an organism. With the global loss of shallow-water photosynthetic coral reefs, mesophotic coral ecosystems (*30-150 m) may be buffered from some environmental stressors, thereby serving as refuges for a range of organisms including mobile obligate reef dwellers. Yet habitat suitability may be diminished at the depth boundary of photosynthetic coral reefs. We assessed the suitability of coral-reef habitats across the majority of the depth distribution of a common demersal reef fish (Stegastes partitus) ranging from shallow shelf (SS, \10 m) and deep shelf (DS, 20-30 m) habitats in the Florida Keys to mesophotic depths (MP, 60-70 m) at Pulley Ridge on the west Florida Shelf. Diet, behavior, and potential energetic trade-offs differed across study sites, but did not always have a monotonic relationship with depth, suggesting that some drivers of habitat suitability are decoupled from depth and may be linked with geographic location or the local environment. Feeding and diet composition differed among depths with the highest consumption of annelids, lowest ingestion of appendicularians, and the lowest gut fullness in DS habitats where predator densities were highest and fish exhibited riskaverse behavior that may restrict foraging. Fish in MP environments had a broader diet niche, higher trophic position, and higher muscle C:N ratios compared to shallower environments. High C:N ratios suggest increased tissue lipid content in fish in MP habitats that coincided with higher investment in reproduction based on gonado-somatic index. These results suggest that peripheral MP reefs are suitable habitats for demersal reef fish and may be important refuges for organisms common on declining shallow coral reefs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…S1). MP sites are geographically separated from SS and DS locations by *200 km, but oceanographic currents connect the two regions (Vaz et al 2016). Stegastes partitus is a common territorial demersal reef fish with a small home range, and identifiable feeding, aggression, courtship, and reproductive behaviors (Myrberg 1972).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fitness consequences of habitat variability, trophic position, and energy allocation across the depth distribution of a coral-reef fish

2017

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“…Recent biophysical modeling work by Vaz et al () has provided a positive test for the above hypothesis by finding mesophotic–shallow coral reef connections by sporadic pulses of bicolor damselfish larvae settling in the Dry Tortugas and the Florida Keys, which supports the idea that Pulley Ridge can serve as a refugium for coral reef fauna and flora.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Despite the advancement of the understanding of how physical mechanisms drive the connections between Pulley Ridge and other reefs (Vaz et al, ), this knowledge is restricted to studies using hydrodynamic models, and there is a lack of direct measurements of connection pathways at large scales. The surface ocean circulation exerts first‐order constraints on surface tracer transport, and in order to understand how different habitats are connected within the GoM, it is important to better understand the surface Lagrangian transport.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Connectivity of Pulley Ridge With Remote Locations as Inferred From Satellite‐Tracked Drifter Trajectories

et al. 2018

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Using historical (1994–2017) satellite‐tracked surface drifter trajectory data, we conduct a probabilistic Lagrangian circulation study which sheds light on the connectivity of Pulley Ridge with other locations in the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent areas. The analysis reveals that Pulley Ridge is connected with the North Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, and most of the Gulf of Mexico. Preferred connecting pathways are identified and arrival times to potential reef sites computed. The study demonstrates the importance of Pulley Ridge as a source for neighboring regions like the Dry Tortugasa, the Florida Keys, Campeche Bank, and the east Florida coast as well as a self‐recruitment area for species with short competence time. The study further suggests that the reefs in the Caribbean Sea, the Dry Tortugas, the western Florida Keys, and the West Florida Shelf can act as sources for Pulley Ridge, indicating the importance of Pulley Ridge as a central refugium for species in the Gulf of Mexico.

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“…Further, reef fish are sensitive to extraction and loss of reef structure and adjacent habitats, including the coral-seagrass-mangrove complex. In Florida, eddies associated with coastal currents transport larval invertebrates, including coral, shrimp, and fish from local spawning grounds (e.g., Tortugas, Pulley Ridge Reefs) to Florida Reef Tracts (Lee and Williams 1999;Sponaugle et al 2005;Ault et al 2014;Shulzitski et al 2016;Vaz et al 2016) and local estuaries (e.g., Florida Bay pink shrimp; Criales et al 2007). Thus, predictions of a slowing AMOC and Gulf Stream system under climate change that reduce the Florida and Loop currents by 25% and weaken accompanying gyres are likely to have wideranging consequences for population dynamics, fisheries management, and overall secondary productivity of Florida's coral reefs and associated estuary, bay, and lagoon ecosystems.…”

Section: Reef Fisheriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Florida’s Oceans and Marine Habitats in a Changing Climate

Morey¹,

Koch²,

Liu³

et al. 2017

Florida’s Climate: Changes, Variations, &Amp; Impacts

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Florida's peninsula extending ~700 km north-to-south, extensive shoreline (2,100 km), and broad carbonate platform create a diversity of marine habitats (estuaries, lagoons, bays, beach, reef, shelf, pelagic) Key Messages• Florida has a unique peninsular geography that creates an extensive shoreline with a diversity of marine habitats along the coast, shelf, and deep ocean influenced by continental, oceanographic, and atmospheric processes all predicted to shift with a rapidly changing climate.• Climate projections affecting Florida's oceans include rise in sea level, warmer sea surface temperatures, changes in coastal circulation impacting larval and nutrient transport, changes in marine biogeochemistry including ocean acidification, and loss of coastal wetlands and reefs that protect Florida's coastline.• Downscaled ocean models have proven successful for understanding future changes for the region given climate projections, and their continued revision and improvement will result in a more complete understanding of complex changes in air-sea interaction, large-scale currents, and the rates of climate change impacts, a critical research need over the next few decades to prepare and protect the state of Florida.

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The perfect storm: Match-mismatch of bio-physical events drives larval reef fish connectivity between Pulley Ridge mesophotic reef and the Florida Keys

Cited by 53 publications

References 44 publications

Fitness consequences of habitat variability, trophic position, and energy allocation across the depth distribution of a coral-reef fish

Fitness consequences of habitat variability, trophic position, and energy allocation across the depth distribution of a coral-reef fish

Connectivity of Pulley Ridge With Remote Locations as Inferred From Satellite‐Tracked Drifter Trajectories

Florida’s Oceans and Marine Habitats in a Changing Climate

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