Supplementary data

1 2 3 4 A
Temperature
32

30

28
C

26

24

22

20
J F M A M J J A S O N D

B
Salinity
42
40

38

36
34
32

30
28
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Dissolved oxygen C

10

8
mg l-1

J F M A M J J A S O N D

Fig. A. Monthly variation ( 1 S.D., p<0.05), of the temperature, C (A); salinity (B); and dissolved
oxygen, mg l-1 (C); for Dzilam de Bravo (1); Progreso (2); Sisal (3); and Celestn (4).
 1 2 3 4 NO
-
2 A
3

2.5

2
-1
mol l

1.5

0.5

0
J F M A M J J A S O N D

-
NO B
3
30

25

20
-1
mol l

15

10

0
J F M A M J J A S O N D

+
NH C
4
25

20

15
-1
mol l

10

0
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Fig. B. Monthly variation ( 1S.D., p<0.05), of nitrite, mol l-1 (A); nitrate, mol l-1 (B); and

ammonium, mol l-1 (C); for Dzilam de Bravo (1); Progreso (2); Sisal (3); and Celestn (4).
 1 2 3 4
SRP A

1.5

-1
mol l
1

0.5

0
J F M A M J J A S O N D

SRSi B
25

20
-1
mol l

15

10

0
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Fig. C. Monthly variation ( 1S.D., p<0.05), of soluble reactive phosphate, mol l-1 (A); and soluble
reactive silicate, mol l-1 (B); for Dzilam de Bravo (1); Progreso (2); Sisal (3); and Celestn (4).
 1 2 3 4 A
Chlorophyll a
25

20
-1

15
g l

10

0
J F M A M J J A S O N D

POM B

14
12
10
-1
mg l

8
6
4
2
0
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Fig. D. Monthly variation ( 1S.D., p<0.05), of Chlorophyll a, g l-1 (A); and suspended organic

matter, mg l-1 (B); for Dzilam de Bravo (1); Progreso (2); Sisal (3); and Celestn (4).
Supplementary Table. Results of Principal Components Analysis (PCA) shown as factor loading for the first principal components, after

VARIMAX rotation, (N=144; Sisal N=132).

Variables Principal
Components

Dzilam de Progreso Sisal Celestn

Bravo
PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC1 PC2 PC3 PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC1 PC2 PC3
T 0.84 0.01 0.30 0.20 -0.84 -0.05 -0.37 -0.82 0.01 -0.10 -0.19 -0.86 -0.24 -0.04
Sal 0.72 -0.35 -0.22 0.19 -0.76 0.03 -0.28 -0.87 -0.13 -0.02 -0.17 -0.85 -0.10 -0.01
POM -0.75 -0.23 -0.15 0.18 0.76 -0.34 0.10 0.81 0.08 0.30 0.18 -0.20 0.46 0.69
DO -0.54 0.20 -0.49 0.16 0.72 -0.05 -0.07 0.76 -0.02 0.17 -0.35 0.12 0.66 -0.08
SRP 0.14 0.80 0.03 0.05 -0.09 0.10 0.83 0.19 -0.01 0.07 0.89 0.61 -0.09 0.04
NO2- -0.11 0.71 -0.01 -0.02 0.31 0.08 0.79 0.07 0.85 0.10 0.30 0.73 -0.15 -0.01
NO3- -0.43 0.50 0.28 -0.24 0.61 0.20 -0.26 0.07 -0.05 0.90 0.08 0.59 0.34 0.07
NH4+ 0.05 0.02 0.78 -0.09 -0.09 0.77 0.09 -0.05 0.76 0.09 -0.33 0.42 -0.31 0.75
SRSi 0.13 0.16 0.73 0.33 0.28 0.75 -0.03 0.13 0.40 0.71 -0.03 -0.16 -0.79 0.04
Chla 0.03 -0.03 0.05 0.92 0.36 -0.61 -0.16 0.69 -0.07 -0.10 0.07 -0.16 0.77 0.28
Percent 26.6 19.4 11.1 10.4 32.4 18.8 13.1 35.3 17.3 11.3 10.2 30.7 21.6 10.6
Total
Variance