Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways in the Florida Reef Tract: Implications for Conservation and Restoration
Connectivity between coral reefs is critical to ensure their resilience and persistence against disturbances. It is driven by ocean currents, which often have very complex patterns within reef systems. Only biophysical models that simulate both the fine-scale details of ocean currents and the life-h...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-05-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00312/full |
| _version_ | 1818237171103956992 |
|---|---|
| author | Charles Frys Antoine Saint-Amand Matthieu Le Hénaff Matthieu Le Hénaff Joana Figueiredo Alyson Kuba Brian Walker Jonathan Lambrechts Valentin Vallaeys David Vincent Emmanuel Hanert Emmanuel Hanert |
| author_facet | Charles Frys Antoine Saint-Amand Matthieu Le Hénaff Matthieu Le Hénaff Joana Figueiredo Alyson Kuba Brian Walker Jonathan Lambrechts Valentin Vallaeys David Vincent Emmanuel Hanert Emmanuel Hanert |
| author_sort | Charles Frys |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Connectivity between coral reefs is critical to ensure their resilience and persistence against disturbances. It is driven by ocean currents, which often have very complex patterns within reef systems. Only biophysical models that simulate both the fine-scale details of ocean currents and the life-history traits of larvae transported by these currents can help to estimate connectivity in large reef systems. Here we use the unstructured-mesh coastal ocean model SLIM that locally achieves a spatial resolution of ~100 m, 10 times finer than existing models, over the entire Florida Reef Tract (FRT). It allows us to simulate larval dispersal between the ~1,000 reefs composing the FRT. By using different connectivity measures and clustering methods, we have identified two major connectivity pathways, one originating on the westernmost end of the outer shelf and the other originating on the inner shelf, North of the Lower Keys. We introduce new connectivity indicators, based on the PageRank algorithm, to show that protection efforts should be focused on the most upstream reefs of each pathway, while reefs best suited for restoration are more evenly spread between the Lower and Upper Keys. We identify one particular reef, North of Vaca Key, that is a major stepping stone in the connectivity network. Our results are the first reef-scale connectivity estimates for the entire FRT. Such fine-scale information can provide knowledge-based decision support to allocate conservation and restoration resources optimally. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T12:21:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5eebbecdc8ce465cbbf3a51d433508c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T12:21:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-5eebbecdc8ce465cbbf3a51d433508c52022-12-22T00:24:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452020-05-01710.3389/fmars.2020.00312523222Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways in the Florida Reef Tract: Implications for Conservation and RestorationCharles Frys0Antoine Saint-Amand1Matthieu Le Hénaff2Matthieu Le Hénaff3Joana Figueiredo4Alyson Kuba5Brian Walker6Jonathan Lambrechts7Valentin Vallaeys8David Vincent9Emmanuel Hanert10Emmanuel Hanert11Earth and Life Institute (ELI), UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumEarth and Life Institute (ELI), UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumCooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), University of Miami, Miami, FL, United StatesAtlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), NOAA, Miami, FL, United StatesHalmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, United StatesHalmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, United StatesHalmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, United StatesInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumEarth and Life Institute (ELI), UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumEarth and Life Institute (ELI), UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumConnectivity between coral reefs is critical to ensure their resilience and persistence against disturbances. It is driven by ocean currents, which often have very complex patterns within reef systems. Only biophysical models that simulate both the fine-scale details of ocean currents and the life-history traits of larvae transported by these currents can help to estimate connectivity in large reef systems. Here we use the unstructured-mesh coastal ocean model SLIM that locally achieves a spatial resolution of ~100 m, 10 times finer than existing models, over the entire Florida Reef Tract (FRT). It allows us to simulate larval dispersal between the ~1,000 reefs composing the FRT. By using different connectivity measures and clustering methods, we have identified two major connectivity pathways, one originating on the westernmost end of the outer shelf and the other originating on the inner shelf, North of the Lower Keys. We introduce new connectivity indicators, based on the PageRank algorithm, to show that protection efforts should be focused on the most upstream reefs of each pathway, while reefs best suited for restoration are more evenly spread between the Lower and Upper Keys. We identify one particular reef, North of Vaca Key, that is a major stepping stone in the connectivity network. Our results are the first reef-scale connectivity estimates for the entire FRT. Such fine-scale information can provide knowledge-based decision support to allocate conservation and restoration resources optimally.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00312/fullFlorida reef tractcoral connectivitybiophysical modelingPageRankcommunity detectionreef management |
| spellingShingle | Charles Frys Antoine Saint-Amand Matthieu Le Hénaff Matthieu Le Hénaff Joana Figueiredo Alyson Kuba Brian Walker Jonathan Lambrechts Valentin Vallaeys David Vincent Emmanuel Hanert Emmanuel Hanert Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways in the Florida Reef Tract: Implications for Conservation and Restoration Frontiers in Marine Science Florida reef tract coral connectivity biophysical modeling PageRank community detection reef management |
| title | Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways in the Florida Reef Tract: Implications for Conservation and Restoration |
| title_full | Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways in the Florida Reef Tract: Implications for Conservation and Restoration |
| title_fullStr | Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways in the Florida Reef Tract: Implications for Conservation and Restoration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways in the Florida Reef Tract: Implications for Conservation and Restoration |
| title_short | Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways in the Florida Reef Tract: Implications for Conservation and Restoration |
| title_sort | fine scale coral connectivity pathways in the florida reef tract implications for conservation and restoration |
| topic | Florida reef tract coral connectivity biophysical modeling PageRank community detection reef management |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00312/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT charlesfrys finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT antoinesaintamand finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT matthieulehenaff finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT matthieulehenaff finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT joanafigueiredo finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT alysonkuba finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT brianwalker finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT jonathanlambrechts finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT valentinvallaeys finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT davidvincent finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT emmanuelhanert finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration AT emmanuelhanert finescalecoralconnectivitypathwaysinthefloridareeftractimplicationsforconservationandrestoration |