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Connectivity in the Meso-American Barrier-Reef System inferred from 1998-2006 satellite ocean color observations

Inia Soto, University of South Florida, isoto@marine.usf.edu
Serge Andrefouet, IRD, France, serge.andrefouet@gmail.com
Chuanmin Hu, University of South Florida, hu@marine.usf.edu (Presenting)
Frank E Muller-Karger, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, fmullerkarger@umassd.edu
Carrie Wall, University of South Florida, cwall@marine.usf.edu
Jinyu Sheng, Dalhousie University, sheng@dal.ca
Bruce G Hatcher, University of British Columbia, bruce_hatcher@cbu.ca

Ocean color images acquired from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) from 1998 to 2006 were used to examine connectivity patterns between land and reefs, and among reefs in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS), located in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Connectivity was inferred by tracking surface features in weekly climatologies and time series of weekly mean chlorophyll-a concentration images. Spatial connections between seventeen pre-defined domains that include the major reefs in the MBRS and river deltas in Honduras and Nicaragua were recorded and compiled in a connectivity matrix. The weekly time series of 466 images provided a clear view of seasonal connectivity patterns including river plumes, and transitions in the aftermath of perturbations such as hurricanes. River plumes leaving Honduras impacted the offshore Bay Islands (Utila, Guanaja, and Roatán) in 70% of the weekly mean images over the 9-year period. Reefs in Belize were affected by riverine discharges every year. Glovers was exposed to river plumes originating in Honduras 104 times during this period. Turneffe, the atoll closest to the Belize coast, was directly impacted 222 times. Plumes from eastern Honduras reached as far as Chinchorro and Cozumel in Mexico. Chinchorro appeared to be more frequently connected to Turneffe reef and Honduras rivers, than from Glovers and Lighthouse reefs. This new satellite data analysis provides long-term quantitative assessments of connectivity in the region. The connectivity matrix could also be used to validate predictions made using other approaches such as numerical modeling.

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