Abstract:

The dataset contains matrices describing the relationship between six provinces in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) in terms of the Lagrangian dynamical geography of the GoM regions, the community structure of demersal fish, the potential for larval connectivity, and geographic distance. The six provinces are West Florida Shelf (WSF), North Central (NC) North West (NW), South West (SW), Yucatan Peninsula (YP), and Cuba (CUB). The similarity in community structure was computed for marine demersal fish based on the gulf-wide bottom longline survey is archived in GRIIDC Unique Dataset Identifier (UDI) R4.x267.000:0039 (DOI: 10.7266/N7G73C4N). Connectivity matrices were computed for larval tuna, red snapper, red grouper, and tilefish. The 6x6 connectivity matrices for each of the four species include biophysical larval connectivity using the Connectivity Modeling System (CMS) and Oceanic Surface Connectivity (OCE), based on satellite-tracked Lagrangian surface drifters deployed from 1994-2016.

Suggested Citation:

Paris, Claire B. and Igal Berenshtein. 2020. Matrices of connectivity, community structure, and geographic distance, between six provinces in the Gulf of Mexico. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/P3K5PAAW

Purpose:

To study the connectivity of the continental shelf demersal fish population in the Gulf of Mexico.

Data Parameters and Units:

Community similarity (based on the Bray-Curtis index, [unitless]), distance matrix [km], connectivity matrices (proportions normalized to the source, i.e. rows sum,[unitless]), mutual species [unltless].

Methods:

Connectivity Modeling System (CMS) is described in Paris eta al (2013). Hydrodynamic flow, temperature, and salinity were provided to the modules by the Gulf of Mexico Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (GoM-HYCOM) nested within the global HYCOm model. GoM-HYCOM is forced at the surface by the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) winds and surface fluxes, at the Atlantic boundary by large-scale model fields, and by data assimilation with the Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation (NCODA) system. The Lagrangian drifter trajectories, 3207 in total, were obtained from (1) LAgrangian Submesoscale ExpeRiment (LASER), (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Drifter Program (GDP), (3) the Surface Current Lagrangian-Drift Program (SCULP), (4) the Horizon Marine Inc.’s Eddy Watch program, (5) the Centro de Investigación Cientfica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE)–Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) “Caracterización Metoceánica del Golfo de México”, (6) the Grand LAgrangian Experiment (GLAD), (7) the NOAA/Atlantic Oceanic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) South Florida Program (SFP), (8) the U.S. Coast Guard (UCSC) during LASER experiment – of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI).

Provenance and Historical References:

Paris, C.B., J. Helgers, E. van Sebille, and A. Srinivasan (2013). Connectivity Modeling System: A probabilistic modeling tool for the multi-scale tracking of biotic and abiotic variability in the ocean. Environmental Modelling & Software 47, 47-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2012.12.006.

Individual Files: