ATLAS Deliverable 1.1 Lagrangian connectivity of North Atlantic ecosystems

One of the overarching goals of ATLAS is to investigate the sensitivity of North Atlantic Ocean ecosystems to the temporal variability of basin-scale physical processes. The export pathways of North Atlantic waters, embedded within temporally-varying, large-scale circulation features described by indexes such as the Subpolar Gyre Index (SPGI) and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), set the connectivity between ocean regions. This connectivity has impacts on the dispersal of larvae from benthic communities which are one of the primary considerations for setting the spatial domains for Marine Protected Areas.