Coastal fronts set recruitment and connectivity patterns across multiple taxa

Woodson, C. Brock; McManus, Margaret A.; Tyburczy, Joe; Barth, John A.; Washburn, Libe; Caselle, Jennifer E.; Carr, Mark H.; Malone, Daniel P.; Raimondi, Peter T.; Menge, Bruce A.; Palumbi, Stephen R.

doi:10.4319/lo.2012.57.2.0582

Cited by 100 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…3). Front probability is defined as the probability of a front at a pixel and computed using a probabilistic method from satellite-derived sea surface temperature (28). The front probability index (FPI) is then the first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) of the front probability and represents the frequency of frontal occurrence on the continental shelf (Fig.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean fronts drive marine fishery production and biogeochemical cycling

Woodson

Litvin

2015

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

147

128

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Long-term changes in nutrient supply and primary production reportedly foreshadow substantial declines in global marine fishery production. These declines combined with current overfishing, habitat degradation, and pollution paint a grim picture for the future of marine fisheries and ecosystems. However, current models forecasting such declines do not account for the effects of ocean fronts as biogeochemical hotspots. Here we apply a fundamental technique from fluid dynamics to an ecosystem model to show how fronts increase total ecosystem biomass, explain fishery production, cause regime shifts, and contribute significantly to global biogeochemical budgets by channeling nutrients through alternate trophic pathways. We then illustrate how ocean fronts affect fishery abundance and yield, using long-term records of anchovy-sardine regimes and salmon abundances in the California Current. These results elucidate the fundamental importance of biophysical coupling as a driver of bottom-up vs. top-down regulation and high productivity in marine ecosystems.fronts | aggregation | trophic interactions | Reynolds decomposition G lobally, marine primary production is considered to set the limits of fishery production (1), drive ecosystem functioning (2), and contribute substantially to biogeochemical cycles (3). Recent evidence of increased ocean temperatures (4, 5) and declines in global nutrient supply and primary production (6), combined with overfishing and other increasing human demands on the ocean (7-9), therefore raises significant concerns about fishery sustainability, ecosystem health, and maintaining global biogeochemical cycles (10). However, the degree of patchiness, instead of total biomass, may be the primary regulator of marine production and food web structure (11-16). Fronts in the ocean are boundaries between distinct water masses with sharp gradients in temperature or salinity (density) that can increase patchiness through flow convergence and, for density fronts, increase vertical mixing and nutrient supply (11,17). Due to flow convergence at fronts, the spatiotemporal overlap of prey and predators can be immense, leading to a cascade of impacts across multiple scales from local prey size structure to global biogeochemical fluxes (11-13). However, the effects of fronts as fishery productivity and biogeochemical cycling hotspots have not been included in models that assess fisheries production and ecosystem health (18) or addressed at scales (tens to hundreds of kilometers) relevant to climate change (19).Here we use an ecosystem model to explore why fronts appear to have a strong influence on marine fishery production and biogeochemical cycling. Existing ecosystem models currently account only for the mean concentration of predator and prey with relatively large grid cells (20). In a simple case of a single autotrophic prey (A) and a single heterotrophic predator (B) the governing equations are[1]These equations describe the change in biomass of predator and prey relative to nutrient supply (N), intrins...

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Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean fronts drive marine fishery production and biogeochemical cycling

Woodson

Litvin

2015

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

147

128

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“…5), thus their role in recruitment may be important. Although post-settlement processes entailing high mortality rates may affect population dynamics to a greater extent and thus may conceal potential inputs of new recruits provided by the slicks (Largier 2003), mesoscale studies along the Eastern Pacific coast successfully link slick occurrence with high recruitment rates for different species (Lagos et al 2008, Woodson et al 2012.…”

Section: Stage-specific Frontal Effects and Potential Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of nearshore surface slicks on meroplankton distribution: role of larval behaviour

Weidberg¹,

Lobón²,

López³

et al. 2014

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…During the planktonic phase, vertical position is relevant as its regulation can permit larvae to accumulate in, or escape from, vertically sheared flows or fronts. Such flows may facilitate larval transport to nearshore settlement environments [17,18,19,20], or under different conditions, act as a barrier [21,22]. When larvae are preparing to settle, vertical position can be especially important in permitting them to identify and investigate suitable settlement sites (e.g., [23,24,4]).…”

Section: Contentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vertical position can be especially important for larvae accumulating in vertically sheared flows or fronts, as such flows may facilitate larval transport to nearshore settlement environments (e.g. [17,18,19,20]), or under different conditions, act as a barrier (e.g. [21,22] [46] reported downward swimming in eight-armed sand dollar plutei in strong shear flows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral responses of invertebrate larvae to water column cues

Wheeler¹

2016

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Many benthic marine invertebrates have two-phase life histories, relying on planktonic larval stages for dispersal and exchange of individuals between adult populations. Historically, larvae were considered passive drifters in prevailing ocean currents. More recently, however, the paradigm has shifted toward active larval behavior mediating transport in the water column. Larvae in the plankton encounter a variety of physical, chemical, and biological cues, and their behavioral responses to these cues may directly impact transport, survival, settlement, and successful recruitment.In this thesis, I investigated the effects of turbulence, light, and conspecific adult exudates on larval swimming behavior. I focused on two invertebrate species of distinct morphologies: the purple urchin Arbacia punctulata, which was studied in pre-settlement planktonic stages, and the Eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica, which was studied in the competent-to-settle larval stage. From this work, I developed a conceptual framework within which larval behavior is understood as being driven simultaneously by external environmental cues and by larval age.As no a priori theory for larval behavior is derivable from first principles, it is only through experimental work that we are able to access behaviors and tie them back to specific environmental triggers. In this work, I studied the behavioral responses of larvae at the individual level, but those dynamics are likely playing out at larger scales in the ocean, impacting population connectivity, community structure, and resilience. In this way, my work represents progress in understanding how the ocean environment and larval behavior couple to influence marine ecological processes.

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Coastal fronts set recruitment and connectivity patterns across multiple taxa

Cited by 100 publications

References 39 publications

Ocean fronts drive marine fishery production and biogeochemical cycling

Ocean fronts drive marine fishery production and biogeochemical cycling

Effect of nearshore surface slicks on meroplankton distribution: role of larval behaviour

Behavioral responses of invertebrate larvae to water column cues

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