Impact of North Brazil Current Rings on Local Circulation and Coral Reef Fish Recruitment to Barbados, West Indies

Further, the flow direction and associated residence time in the vicinity of the island appear to vary depending on the orientation of the rings as they collide with the island. Concurrent biological samples revealed complex responses to the presence of rings in that during some of the events, larval fishes appeared to be rapidly advected away, resulting in a failure of larval settlement, whereas under other conditions larval retention was enhanced and was followed by a settlement pulse.

Impingement by a ring did not alter the concentration of water column chlorophyll a (Chl a), but it did influence the depth of the Chl a maximum. Simultaneous changes were observed in the vertical distribution of fish larvae. Larval fish encountering ring waters exhibited reduced growth rates and longer larval periods, both potentially reducing survival and, ultimately, recruitment success.

Overall, results demonstrate that NBC rings interfere with the island-scale flow dynamics around Barbados and interject considerable variability in the local recruitment signal of coral reef fishes. Contribution to the book, Interhemispheric Water Exchange in the Atlantic Ocean Summary of prior research with descriptions of models developed by C.B. Paris. Primarily written by C.B. Paris, although cited as third author.

Spatial Data Organization Information - Indirect Spatial Reference: Barbados, West Indies; Lesser Antilles; Tobago-Barbados ridge Direct Spatial Reference: Raster Raster Object Type: Grid Cell Spatial Reference Information - Horizontal Coordinate System Definition - Geodetic Model: