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Ecoregional analysis of nearshore sea-surface temperature in the North Pacific
Citation:
PAYNE, M. C., D. REUSSER, C. A. BROWN, AND H. LEE, II. Ecoregional analysis of nearshore sea-surface temperature in the North Pacific. PLOS ONE . Public Library of Science, San Francisco, CA, 7(1):12 pages, (2012).
Impact/Purpose:
Aim Sea surface temperature (SST) has been a parameter widely-identified to be useful to the investigation of marine species distribution, migration, and invasion, especially as SSTs are predicted to be affected by climate change. Here we use a remotely-sensed dataset to focus on the nearshore environment of the North Pacific, identifying and describing broad-scale SST patterns. We performed our analyses within the established structure of biogeographic ecoregions.
Description:
Aim Sea surface temperature (SST) has been a parameter widely-identified to be useful to the investigation of marine species distribution, migration, and invasion, especially as SSTs are predicted to be affected by climate change. Here we use a remotely-sensed dataset to focus on the nearshore environment of the North Pacific, identifying and describing broad-scale SST patterns. We performed our analyses within the established structure of biogeographic ecoregions. Location North Pacific Ocean Methods Satellite remotely-sensed mean, monthly sea surface temperature (SST) data derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument were used to create a 29-year nearshore (< 20 km offshore) time series of SST along the North Pacific coastline. We used clustering analyses to examine nearshore SST patterns among 16 North Pacific ecoregions delineated by the Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) schema. Results Northwestern Pacific SSTs have a greater range and variability in the annual cycle, while the Northeastern Pacific SSTs fluctuate far less because they are mediated by the upwelling generated by the wind stress along the California Current’s eastern boundary. The percent of variance in SST explained by the annual cycle varies from 31% to 94% in the ecoregions studied. Main conclusions Our clustering results shared some similarities with previous biogeographic classifications achieved using different methods. In general, our clustering results conformed with a MEOW division partitioning the “Warm Temperate” and “Cold Temperate” provinces of the North Pacific. The scalable nature of our clustering methodology is useful to both broader-scale and more focused analyses, and puts an environmental factor of primary importance (SST) into the hands of researchers studying nearshore environments by providing web-based access to it.
