A Metapopulation Model for Pelagic Sargassum Blooms Events with Action of Hurricanes
Résumé
A new marine hazard called golden tide caused by brown macro-algae sargassum occurred in the equatorial Atlantic. These golden tides cause successive mass strandings that impact the islands of the Caribbean. The damage caused is significant, whether economic, social or environmental. We propose a metapopulation model with differential equations to study the impact of hurricanes on the Pelagic Sargassum blooms events. The model considers 2 connected regions with the explicit movement of sargassum: the first region (considered as an area source) is located off the northeast of Brazil, the second region is theMartinican coasts. The model takes into account the amount of nutrients available in the source area andthe amount of sargassum within each area. The impact of hurricanes in the transport and movement of Sargassum in the Atlantic is considered. We show that the action of hurricanes influences the strandings of sargassum on the Martinican coasts. The model developed in this paper could be used to forecast the presence and quantity of sargassum that would strand on the coasts of Martinique in the aftermath of a hurricanein the Atlantic and,thus, constitutes a real tool for local authorities in the field of environmental management.