Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing Cold-Snap and Mortality Events in South Florida Coastal Ecosystems: Development of a Biological Cold Stress Index Using Satellite SST and Weather Pattern Forcing

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Water temperature is considered both a controlling and lethal factor in coastal ecosystems, influencing behavioral and physiological responses in marine organisms. Abrupt weather events such as severe cold front passages and accompanied changes in weather conditions have led to sharp decreases in water temperatures, metabolic stress, and incidences of mortality in marine organisms. In this paper, we assess the weather-related factors associated with physical and biological response in South Florida systems through historical sea surface temperature (SST) from satellites and the use of a synoptic climatology spanning over 30 years. We utilize previous categorizations of sea-level pressure and newly developed categorizations of 850-mb temperature reanalysis data to define circulation and temperature patterns across the southeastern US and adjacent Gulf of Mexico. Systematic connections are seen between particular circulation and temperature patterns characteristic of enhanced north-to-south circulation and cold air outbreaks, SST, and turtle strandings data over the Florida Panhandle region for the period 2006–2013. Identified weather forcing variables associated with sharp SST decreases and turtle stuns are presented and assist in the formulation of a moving cold-stress index for South Florida coastal ecosystems. Results demonstrate the potential of using synoptic climatological analysis and derived indices for tracking and modeling changes in SST and other indicators related to biological health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. It should also be noted that SSTA, as well as the SST variables in this paper, were computed for each pixel. We have omitted subscripts that would denote location (such as x, y) to keep the formulas readable.

References

  • Avens, L., C. Harms, E. Anderson, L. Goshe, A. Goodman, W. Cluse, M. Godfrey, J. Braun-McNeill, and B. Stacy. 2012. 448 Turtles in the freezer: and population assessment of green sea turtles stranded dead in St. Joseph Bay, Florida, USA, during the January 2010 mass cold-stunning. Proceedings of the thirty-first annual symposium on sea turtle biology and conservation, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-631.

  • Barlas, M.E., C.J. Deutsch, M. Witt, and L.I. Ward-Geiger. 2011. Florida manatee cold-related unusual mortality event, January–April 2010. Final report to USFWS (grant 40181AG037). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, St. Petersburg, FL.

  • Bretherton, C.S., M. Widmann, V.P. Dymnikov, J.M. Wallace, and I. BladéI. 1999. The effective number of spatial degrees of freedom in a time-varying field. Journal of Climate 12: 1990–2009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruno, J.F., E.R. Selig, K.S. Casey, C.A. Page, B.L. Willis, C.D. Harvell, H. Sweatman, and A.M. Melendy. 2007. Thermal stress and coral cover as drivers of coral disease outbreaks. PLoS Biology 5(6): e124. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, K.E., M. Abrar, G. Aeby, R.B. Aronson, S. Banks, A. Bruckner, A. Chiriboga, J. Cortes, J.C. Delbeek, L. DeVantier, G.J. Edgar, A.J. Edwards, D. Fenner, H.M. Guzman, B.W. Hoeksema, G. Hodgson, O. Johan, W.Y. Licuanan, S.R. Livingstone, E.R. Lovell, J.A. Moore, D.O. Obura, D. Ochavillo, B.A. Polidoro, W.F. Precht, M.C. Quibilan, C. Reboton, Z.T. Richards, A.D. Rogers, J. Sanciangco, A. Sheppard, C. Sheppard, J. Smith, S. Stuart, E. Turak, J.E.N. Veron, C. Wallace, E. Weil, and E. Wood. 2008. One-third of reef-building corals face elevated extinction risk from climate change and local impacts. Science 321(5888): 560–563.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Casey, K.S., and P. Cornillon. 2001. Global and regional sea surface temperature trends. Journal of Geophysical Research 14(18): 3801–3818.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colella, M.A., R.R. Ruzicka, J.A. Kidney, J.M. Morrison, and V.B. Brinkhuis. 2012. Cold-water event of January 2010 results in catastrophic benthic mortality on patch reefs in the Florida Keys. Coral Reefs 10: 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demuzere, M., M. Werner, N.P.M. van Lipzig, and E. Roeckner. 2009. An analysis of present and future ECHAM5 pressure fields using a classification of circulation patterns. International Journal of Climatology 29(12): 1796–1810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley, A.M., D. Bagley, R. Bailey, L. Belskis, B. Brost, N. Evou, R. Hardy, S. Hirama, A. Hoffman, M. Koperski, A. Meylan, K. Minch, L. Patrick, J. Provancha, S. Schaf, B. Schroeder, B. Stacy, W. Teas, R. Trindeli, and B. Witherington. 2012. Report on a massive hypothermic stunning event of sea turtles in Florida during January 2010. Proceedings of the thirty-first annual symposium on sea turtle biology and conservation, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-631.

  • Francis, J.A., and S.J. Vavrus. 2012. Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid-latitudes. Geophysical Research Letters 39, L06801. doi:10.1029/2012GL051000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fry, F.E.J. 1971. The effect of environmental factors on the physiology of fish. In Fish physiology, ed. W.S. Hoar and D.J. Randall, 1–98. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gentemann, C.L., F.J. Wentz, C.A. Mears, and D.K. Smith. 2004. In situ validation of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission microwave sea surface temperatures. Journal of Geophysical Research 109, C04021. doi:10.1029/2003JC002092.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gentemann, C.L., T. Meissner, and F.J. Wentz. 2010. Accuracy of satellite sea surface temperatures at 7 and 11 GHz. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 48: 1009–1018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gramer, L. J. 2013. Dynamics of sea temperature variability on Florida's reef tract. Open Access Dissertations. Paper 1083.

  • Halpern, B.S., S. Walbridge, K.A. Selkoe, C.V. Kappel, F. Micheli, C. D’Agrosa, J.F. Bruno, K.S. Casey, C. Ebert, H.E. Fox, R. Fujita, D. Heinemann, H.S. Lenihan, E.M.P. Madin, M.T. Perry, E.R. Selig, M. Spalding, R. Steneck, and R. Watson. 2008. A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science 319(5865): 948–952. doi:10.1126/science.1149345.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hare, J.A., M.J. Wuenschel, and M.E. Kimball. 2012. Projecting range limits with coupled thermal tolerance—climate change models: an example based on gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) along the U.S. East Coast. PLoS ONE 7(12): e52294. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052294.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, C., F.E. Muller-Karger, B. Murch, D. Myhre, J. Taylor, R. Luerssen, C. Moses, C. Zhang, L. Gramer, and J. Hendee. 2009. Building an automated integrated observing system to detect sea surface temperature anomaly events in the Florida Keys. IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing 47: 1607–1620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, T.P., A.H. Baird, D.R. Bellwood, M. Card, S.R. Connolly, C. Folke, R. Grosberg, O. Hoegh-Guldberg, J.B.C. Jackson, J. Kleypas, J.M. Lough, P. Marshall, M. Nyström, S.R. Palumbi, J.M. Pandolfi, B. Rosen, and J. Roughgarden. 2003. Climate change, human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs. Science 301(5635): 929–933. doi:10.1126/science.1085046.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huth, R., C. Beck, A. Philipp, M. Demuzere, Z. Ustrnul, M. Cahynová, J. Kysely, and O.E. Tveito. 2008. Classifications of atmospheric circulation patterns. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1146(1): 105–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joyce, T.M. 2002. One hundred plus years of wintertime climate variability in the eastern United States. Journal of Climate 15: 1076–1086.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, K.A., G.P. Podestfi, and R. Evans. 2001. Overview of the NOAA/NASA advanced very high resolution radiometer Pathfinder algorithm for sea surface temperature and associated matchup database. Journal of Geophysical Research 106: 9179–9197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, D.G., W.D. Miller, L.W. Harding, E.D. Houde, and M.R. Roman. 2009. Estuarine ecosystem response captured using a synoptic climatology. Estuaries and Coasts 32: 403–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lirman, D., S. Schopmeyer, D. Manzello, L.J. Gramer, W.F. Precht, F. Muller-Karger, K. Banks, B. Barnes, E. Bartels, A. Bourque, J. Byrne, S. Donahue, J. Duquesnel, L. Fisher, D. Gilliam, J. Hendee, M. Johnson, K. Maxwell, E. McDevitt, J. Monty, D. Rueda, R. Ruzicka, and S. Thanner. 2011. Severe 2010 cold-water event caused unprecedented mortality to corals of the Florida Reef tract and reversed previous survivorship patterns. PLoS ONE 6: e23047.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Y., and R.H. Weisberg. 2007. Ocean currents and sea surface heights estimated across the west Florida shelf. Journal of Physical Oceanography 37: 1697–1713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzello, D.P., R. Berkelmans, and J.C. Hendee. 2007. Coral bleaching indices and thresholds for the Florida Reef tract, Bahamas, and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. Marine Pollution Bulletin 54: 1923–1931.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mesinger, F., G. DiMego, E. Kalnay, K. Mitchell, P.C. Shafran, W. Ebisuzaki, D. Jovic, J. Woollen, E. Rogers, E.H. Berbery, M.B. Ek, Y. Fan, R. Grumbine, W. Higgins, H. Li, Y. Lin, G. Manikin, D. Parrish, and W. Shi. 2006. North American regional reanalysis. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 87: 343–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monaldo, F., T. Sikora, S. Babin, and R. Sterner. 1997. Satellite imagery of sea surface temperature cooling in the wake of 1996 Hurricane Edouard. Monthly Weather Review 125(10): 2716–2721.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morey, S.L., M.A. Bourassa, D.S. Dukhovskoy, and J.J. O’Brien. 2006. Modeling studies of the upper ocean response to a tropical cyclone. Ocean Dynamics. doi:10.1007/s10236-006-0085-y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirhalla, D., V. Ransibrahmanakul, and R. Clark. 2009: An oceanographic characterization of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and Pacific Northwest: interpretive summary of ocean climate and regional processes through satellite remote sensing. NOAA Tech. Memo. NOS NCCOS 90, 69 pp.

  • Pörtner, H.O. 2002. Climate variations and the physiological basis of temperature dependent biogeography: systemic to molecular hierarchy of thermal tolerance in animals. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology-Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology 132: 739–761.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, R.W., N.A. Rayner, T.M. Smith, D.C. Stokes, and W. Wang. 2002. An improved in situ and satellite SST analysis for climate. Journal of Climate 15: 1609–1625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, R.W., T.M. Smith, C. Liu, D.B. Chelton, K.S. Casey, and M.G. Schlax. 2007. Daily high-resolution-blended analyses for sea surface temperature. Journal of Climate 20: 5473–5496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, K., J.M. Collins, C. Paxton, R. Hardy, and J. Downs. 2014. Weather patterns associated with green turtle hypothermic stunning events in St. Joseph Bay and Mosquito Lagoon, FL. Physical Geography 35: 2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, S.C., and L.S. Kalkstein. 2004. Progress in heat watch-warning system technology. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 85: 1931–1941.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, S.C., C.C. Lee, M.J. Allen, and L.S. Kalkstein. 2012. Future heat vulnerability in California part I: projecting future weather types and heat events. Climatic Change 115: 291–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, S.C., D.E. Pirhalla, C.C. Lee, and V. Ransibrahmanakul. 2013. Evaluating linkages of weather patterns and water quality responses in South Florida using a synoptic climatological approach. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 52(2): 425–438. doi:10.1175/JAMC-D-12-0126.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SPSS Inc. 2001. The SPSS two-step cluster component: a scalable component to segment your customers more effectively. Illinois: White paper, technical report, SPSS: Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stenseth, N.C., G. Ottersen, J.W. Hurrell, A. Mysterud, M. Lima, K.S. Chan, N.G. Yoccoz, and B. Adlandsvik. 2003. Studying climate effects on ecology through the use of climate indices: the North Atlantic Oscillation, El Nino Southern Oscillation and beyond. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 270: 2087–2096.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisberg, R.H., R. He, G. Kirkpatrick, F. Muller-Karger, and J.J. Walsh. 2004. A West Florida Shelf study: coastal ocean circulation influences on remotely sensed optical properties. Oceanography 17: 68–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wentz, F.J., C.L. Gentemann, D.K. Smith, and D.B. Chelton. 2000. Satellite measurements of sea surface temperature through clouds. Science 288(5467): 847–850.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman, W., and W. Sturges. 1999. The physical oceanography of the Gulf of Mexico: processes that regulate its biology. In The Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem, ed. H. Kumpf, K. Steidinger, and K. Sherman. Malden: Blackwell Science, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yarnal, B. 1993. Synoptic climatology in environmental analysis: a primer. London: Bellhaven Press. 195 pp.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the personnel at the Remote Sensing Systems, Inc., data processing group, for making the blended microwave-infrared SST products available; NOAAs National Oceanographic Data Center Satellite Oceanography Team for providing consistent Pathfinder SST data products; and NOAAs Earth System Research Laboratory, Physical Sciences Division, for providing up-to-date gridded NCEP North American Regional Reanalysis products. We thank Karsten Shein of the National Climatic Data Center for providing up-to-date in situ climatological data for multiple South Florida stations. We acknowledge and appreciate the input of Kelsey Roberts of the University of South Florida during manuscript development. Funding support for the study was provided by NOAA’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Science. Last of all, we would like to pay kind tribute and dedication to Doug Pirhalla’s father, Joseph William Pirhalla, who passed away on November 3, 2013, for providing Doug with strength and inspiration during the entire writing process, and throughout life. His hugs and kind-hearted words are within his loved ones hearts, now and forever.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA

    Douglas E. Pirhalla & Varis Ransibrahmanakul

  2. Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA

    Scott C. Sheridan & Cameron C. Lee

Authors
  1. Douglas E. Pirhalla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Scott C. Sheridan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Varis Ransibrahmanakul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cameron C. Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Douglas E. Pirhalla.

Additional information

Communicated by Mark J. Brush

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pirhalla, D.E., Sheridan, S.C., Ransibrahmanakul, V. et al. Assessing Cold-Snap and Mortality Events in South Florida Coastal Ecosystems: Development of a Biological Cold Stress Index Using Satellite SST and Weather Pattern Forcing. Estuaries and Coasts 38, 2310–2322 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-014-9918-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-014-9918-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation