Influence of mesoscale processes in the phytoplankton community on the chlorophyll maximum in the southern Gulf of California

Influence of mesoscale processes in the phytoplankton community on the chlorophyll maximum in the southern Gulf of California | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Influence of mesoscale processes in the phytoplankton community on the chlorophyll maximum in the southern Gulf of California Perla G. Silva-Herrera, Teresa Leticia Espinosa-Carreón, Rosalba Alonso-Rodríguez, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7610826/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We hypothesized that mesoscale physical processes, specifically anticyclonic eddies and coastal upwelling, generate distinct vertical phytoplankton community structures at the chlorophyll maximum in the southern Gulf of California. From November 5th to 21st, 2020, an oceanographic cruise was carried out aboard the RV "Dr. Jorge Carranza Fraser" of the Instituto Mexicano de Investigación en Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentable, in the southern Gulf of California. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll variables were measured at 54 stations using a conductivity, temperature and depth instrument. We identified the depth of the chlorophyll maximum and obtained an aliquot of water was obtained for phytoplankton identification. We processed satellite images of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll, obtained with the MODIS Aqua sensor (L3 level) with a five-day resolution and 1 km per pixel. Images of geostrophic flux and absolute sea level height were obtained to identify the mesoscale physical processes present in the study area that influence the structure of the phytoplankton community. We analyzed phytoplankton diversity and abundance using standard ecological indices, evaluating the influence of mesoscale features on community structure. We observed surface chlorophyll maxima (less than 10 m) and high abundances of Thalassiosira , Thalassionema , and Chaetoceros at upwelling-influenced coastal stations. Meanwhile, we observed deeper maxima (more than 40 m) and the dominance of Thalassionema and Chaetoceros in oceanic anticyclonic eddies. These niche differentiations of the dominant phytoplankton species provide essential fundamental for applying predictive models of fishery productivity under mesoscale regimes in changing ocean environments due to global warming. Mesoscale processes chlorophyll maximum phytoplankton community anticyclonic eddies coastal upwelling Gulf of California Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7610826","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":520212862,"identity":"fed7ea92-8392-43aa-a2ed-e3091547aa7b","order_by":0,"name":"Perla G. 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From November 5th to 21st, 2020, an oceanographic cruise was carried out aboard the RV \"Dr. Jorge Carranza Fraser\" of the Instituto Mexicano de Investigaci\u0026oacute;n en Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentable, in the southern Gulf of California. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll variables were measured at 54 stations using a conductivity, temperature and depth instrument. We identified the depth of the chlorophyll maximum and obtained an aliquot of water was obtained for phytoplankton identification. We processed satellite images of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll, obtained with the MODIS Aqua sensor (L3 level) with a five-day resolution and 1 km per pixel. Images of geostrophic flux and absolute sea level height were obtained to identify the mesoscale physical processes present in the study area that influence the structure of the phytoplankton community. We analyzed phytoplankton diversity and abundance using standard ecological indices, evaluating the influence of mesoscale features on community structure. We observed surface chlorophyll maxima (less than 10 m) and high abundances of \u003cem\u003eThalassiosira\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThalassionema\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eChaetoceros\u003c/em\u003e at upwelling-influenced coastal stations. Meanwhile, we observed deeper maxima (more than 40 m) and the dominance of \u003cem\u003eThalassionema\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eChaetoceros\u003c/em\u003e in oceanic anticyclonic eddies. These niche differentiations of the dominant phytoplankton species provide essential fundamental for applying predictive models of fishery productivity under mesoscale regimes in changing ocean environments due to global warming.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Influence of mesoscale processes in the phytoplankton community on the chlorophyll maximum in the southern Gulf of California","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-24 05:43:35","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7610826/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ce27622e-ac52-4c64-b590-932aee710cd9","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 24th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-19T15:23:14+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-24 05:43:35","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7610826","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7610826","identity":"rs-7610826","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}