Classifying the seascape of eastern tropical pacific based on physicochemical variables

The Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) is a highly environmentally heterogeneous ocean with high biological richness and endemism. Capturing and structuring this variability through a classification into seascapes is essential to support ecological research and ecosystem-based marine management. Here, we present an objective seascape classification for the ETP based on 20 years of satellite- and model-derived data using seven Essential Climate Variables (ECVs), including sea surface temperature, salinity, pH, turbidity, and current velocity. We compared four unsupervised clustering methods, three Fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithms and Self-Organizing Maps combined with Partitioning Around Medoids (SOM-PAM) to classify the ETP seascape. As a result, the ETP was divided into thirteen and fifteen seascapes, respectively. The SOM-PAM approach provided finer spatial resolution and more ecologically interpretable patterns and was thus selected for the final classification. The fifteen seascapes (SS) delineated consistent environmental structures, including those with high salinity and thermal variability (SS-1-SS-3); peripheral ones influenced by subtropical water masses (SS-4, SS-14); dominated by strong current velocities (SS-12, SS-13); characterized by thermal stability (SS-7-SS-10); transitional conditions (SS-5, SS-6, SS-11); and low salinity associated with freshwater input (SS-15). The classification reflects key oceanographic features with several seascapes showing spatial congruence with existing biogeographic frameworks. Additionally, the analysis revealed previously unrecognized seascapes that represent important oceanographic processes within the ETP. This classification offers a step forward for the understanding of the spatially explicit environmental framework to inform marine spatial planning, biodiversity studies, and assessments of eco-evolutionary processes in the ETP.