[Coral-List] Connectivity and Lion Fish (Eugene Shinn) - journal article from NCRI

[Matthew Johnston]

Hi Gene,
 
My name is Matthew Johnston and I am a researcher/software developer with
the National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI) at the Nova Southeastern University
Oceanographic Center.  A colleague and I recently completed a lionfish fish
study that performed the precise analysis you are suggesting.  The resulting
article based on the results is currently available online in the journal
Marine Pollution Bulletin.
 
The basis for the study was straightforward; examine the temporal sequence
of historical lionfish captures/sightings and try to determine what factors
contributed to the pattern of invasion recorded in the records.  For this
study, we chose to use lionfish sighting/capture records from the USGS-NAS
(non-indigenous aquatic species) database which is the most complete
historical set of lionfish data currently available.  We then investigated
prevailing physical parameters at the locations where lionfish were found
(we used temperature, water depth, salinity, and ocean current, all obtained
from public record sets) and used a simple mathematical (cellular automata)
model to determine which of these factors had the most influence on the
spread of lionfish.  The resulting model output is a synthetic
representation of the current invasion which can then be used to predict
future invasions, or in the case of the current invasion, their eventual
trek into and throughout the Gulf of Mexico.  Our study also demonstrates
through a series of animations what would have likely occurred had the
invasion started in a different location such as the Gulf of Mexico or off
the coast of Colombia, South America.  Overall the results from our analysis
show that current was the overall largest parameter influencing the
distribution and eventual setting of lionfish.  
 
For more information about the study, the full article can be accessed at
the following DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.03.028 .  The
article can also be cited as follows:

Johnston, M.W., Purkis, S.J. Spatial analysis of the invasion of lionfish in
the western Atlantic and Caribbean. Mar. Pollut. Bull. (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.03.028
 
Additionally, please feel free to email me at johnmatt at nova.edu with any
questions about the study or for a copy of the .pdf.
 
-Matthew Johnston
Programmer/Application Developer
National Coral Reef Institute
Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center
8000 N. Ocean Drive, Dania, FL 33004 USA
johnmatt at nova.edu
954.262.3641 (office)
 

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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 13:22:04 -0400
From: Eugene Shinn <eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
Subject: [Coral-List] Connectivity and Lion Fish
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Message-ID: <a0623092dca004728f970@[131.247.137.127]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

There has been a lot of talk about connectivity lately. It was the
centerpiece of of the recent "Horizons Beyond" meeting at Mote Marine Lab.
Has anyone considered collecting all the Lion fish sightings data to use as
a metric for demonstrating connectivity? The larvae do follow the currents.
Just a thought. Gene
-- 


No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
Marine Science Center (room 204)
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158----------------------------------
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