Variability and sustainability of the Southern Subarea of the Caribbean Sea large marine ecosystem

Villamizar, Y G Estrella; Cervigón, Fernando

doi:10.1016/j.envdev.2017.02.005

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Over the past two decades, a weak decreasing trend has been observed in the coastal wind stress and upwelling strength (Campbell et al, 2011;Lima and Wethey, 2012;Torres and Tsimplis, 2013). Not only did this have severe ecological impacts (Villamizar G. and Cervigón, 2017), it also impacts the mesoscale variability. Weaker upwelling will lead to less westward intensification of Caribbean anticyclones and less mesoscale variability in the interior of the basin.…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Upwelling on the Intensification of Anticyclonic Ocean Eddies in the Caribbean Sea

Boog¹,

Pietrzak²,

Dijkstra³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Abstract. The mesoscale variability in the Caribbean Sea is dominated by anticyclonic eddies that are formed in the eastern part of the basin. These anticyclones intensify on their path westward while they pass the coastal upwelling region along the Venezuelan and Colombian coast. In this study, we used a regional model to show that this westward intensification of Caribbean anticyclones is driven by the advection of cold upwelling filaments. These dense filaments are advected by the anticyclones, leading to an increase of the horizontal density gradients at the western side of the anticyclones. Following the thermal wind balance, the increased density gradients result in an increase of the vertical shear of the anticyclones and to their westward intensification. To assess the impact of variations in upwelling on the anticyclones, several simulations were performed in which the northward Ekman transport (and thus the upwelling strength) is altered. As expected, stronger (weaker) upwelling is associated with more stronger (weaker) offshore cooling and a more (less) westward intensification of the anticyclones. The simulations with weaker upwelling show farther advection of the Amazon and Orinoco River plumes into the basin. The dispersion of the river plumes affects the formation process of the anticyclones, where the horizontal density gradients were mainly determined by the salinity gradients of the river plume and not by temperature gradients that were associated with upwelling.

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Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Upwelling on the Intensification of Anticyclonic Ocean Eddies in the Caribbean Sea

Boog¹,

Pietrzak²,

Dijkstra³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…As is also the case in the Caribbean and worldwide, diverse factors such as diseases and climate change have been causing the decline of reefs from Los Roques National Park (Villamizar 2014). The area has also been found to be vulnerable to changes in regional oceanographic processes, in particular changes in wind-induced upwelling (Villamizar & Cervigón 2017). Cróquer et al (2016) present evidence that the coral Acropora palmata has lost almost 50% of its original distribution in Los Roques in recent decades.…”

Section: Marine Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 96%

Los Roques and Las Aves Archipelagos, Venezuela: A Marine Ecological and Conservation Reconnaissance of Two Little-Known Southeastern Caribbean Oceanic Archipelagos

Debrot

Yranzo

Arocha

2019

Atoll Research Bulletin

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The Los Roques and Las Aves oceanic coral reef archipelagos of Venezuela lie in a biogeographically unique and biologically diverse area of the Caribbean and possess extensive coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves and shallow macroalgae meadows. The geographic location of these archipelagos safeguards them from most Western Atlantic hurricane damage as well as the most severe Caribbean coral bleaching episodes. While the Aves islands remain uninhabited and are an area of low accessibility, Los Roques has been a managed national park since 1972. We here present an updated synthesis of recent research for these archipelagos as an aid to scientists and conservationists interested in these island groups for which no recent ecological reviews are available. Los Roques has been much better documented than Las Aves and is the largest coral reef marine protected area of Venezuela. It has about 1,500 inhabitants living principally from tourism and fisheries. Studies show that Los Roques possesses fish populations that suffer comparatively less fishing pressure and may serve as a rare benchmark for pristine fish communities elsewhere in the Caribbean. It has also successfully maintained its importance to seabird colonies for the last five decades, notwithstanding serious marine park funding and staffing shortages. A new baseline biological inventory for Las Aves is particulary critical considering the fragmentary information available for this archipelago. The relatively intact and resilient oceanic coral reef systems of Los Roques and Las Aves are of regionally significant conservation value and deserve much more conservation and biodiversity attention than so far accorded.

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“…The greatest diversity of marine copepods species in the Atlantic is found in the tropical and subtropical latitudes (Piontkovski & Landry, 2003;Rombouts et al, 2009;Wilson, 1942), a pattern also valid for other pelagic groups like: fish, ostracods, decapods and euphausiids (Angel, 1993). The SCA is considered the area with the highest nutrient input in the TNWA because of the widespread upwelling processes along its coastline (Castellanos et al, 2002;Correa-Ramírez et al, 2020;Okolodkov, 2003;Rueda-Roa et al, 2018;Villamizar & Cervigón, 2017), which adds to the huge nutrient input from the Orinoco and Amazon rivers (Muller-Karger & Varela, 1990;Rueda-Roa et al, 2018). This condition may promote species diversity because of the increased energy flow of these ecosystems (Saiz et al, 2007).…”

Section: Diversity Of Pelagic Copepods In the Southern Caribbean (Sca)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Venezuela's EEZ is about 58% of the total area of the ecoregion, which extends to 16º44'49" N, because of Isla de Aves position (Flanders Marine Institute, 2021). The main physical and bioecological characteristics of the ecoregion were described by Villamizar and Cervigón (2017) and Correa-Ramírez et al (2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pelagic copepod diversity (Crustacea: Copepoda) in the southern Caribbean: evidence of a pending assignment

Scott-Frías

Cervigón²,

Roa

et al. 2023

Rev.Mex.Biodiv.

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The Southern Caribbean (SCA) represents the most productive ecoregion of the Tropical Northwestern Atlantic (TNWA) province. In order to assess the diversity of pelagic copepods in the ecoregion, we present an inventory based on unpublished data obtained from several oceanographic cruises made in oceanic and neritic waters of Venezuela (1967-1968). We complement this information with previous regional surveys to obtain a revised systematic checklist of the pelagic copepod species in the SCA. We included in our list a total of 346 species and 2 subspecies; up to 11 species represent new records. This study allowed us to: 1) expand the distributional range of some species within the TNWA, 2) record the occurrence, in the SCA, of all species known to 12 of 42 families to occur in the TNWA, 3) determine that the number of species of Corycaeidae and Paracalanidae in the SCA is greater than previously documented for the TNWA. Overall, the species accumulation curve resulting from our data analysis allowed us to determine that the diversity of pelagic copepods is underestimated; our estimations suggest that the potential species number that can be recorded in the SCA is 12 to 48% above the figure herein established.

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Variability and sustainability of the Southern Subarea of the Caribbean Sea large marine ecosystem

Cited by 9 publications

References 11 publications

The Impact of Upwelling on the Intensification of Anticyclonic Ocean Eddies in the Caribbean Sea

The Impact of Upwelling on the Intensification of Anticyclonic Ocean Eddies in the Caribbean Sea

Los Roques and Las Aves Archipelagos, Venezuela: A Marine Ecological and Conservation Reconnaissance of Two Little-Known Southeastern Caribbean Oceanic Archipelagos

Pelagic copepod diversity (Crustacea: Copepoda) in the southern Caribbean: evidence of a pending assignment

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