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Integration of population genetics with oceanographic models reveals strong connectivity among coral reefs across Seychelles.

ABSTRACT: Many countries with tropical reef systems face hard choices preserving coral reefs in the face of climate change on limited budgets. One approach to maximising regional reef resilience is targeting management efforts and resources at reefs that export large numbers of larvae to other reefs. However, this requires reef connectivity to be quantified. To map coral connectivity in the Seychelles reef system we carried out a population genomic study of the Porites lutea species complex using 241 sequenced colonies from multiple islands. To identify oceanographic drivers of this connectivity and quantify variability, we further used a 2 km resolution regional ocean simulation coupled with a larval dispersal model to predict the flow of coral larvae between reef sites. Patterns of admixture and gene flow are broadly supported by model predictions, but the realised connectivity is greater than that predicted from model simulations. Both methods detected a biogeographic dispersal barrier between the Inner and Outer Islands of Seychelles. However, this barrier is permeable and substantial larval transport is possible across Seychelles, particularly for one of two putative species found in our genomic study. The broad agreement between predicted connectivity and observed genetic patterns supports the use of such larval dispersal simulations in reef system management in Seychelles and the wider region.

SUBMITTER: Burt AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10933301 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Integration of population genetics with oceanographic models reveals strong connectivity among coral reefs across Seychelles.

Burt April J AJ Vogt-Vincent Noam N Johnson Helen H Sendell-Price Ashley A Kelly Steve S Clegg Sonya M SM Head Catherine C Bunbury Nancy N Fleischer-Dogley Frauke F Jeremie Marie-May MM Khan Nasreen N Baxter Richard R Gendron Gilberte G Mason-Parker Christophe C Walton Rowana R Turnbull Lindsay A LA

Scientific reports 20240312 1

Many countries with tropical reef systems face hard choices preserving coral reefs in the face of climate change on limited budgets. One approach to maximising regional reef resilience is targeting management efforts and resources at reefs that export large numbers of larvae to other reefs. However, this requires reef connectivity to be quantified. To map coral connectivity in the Seychelles reef system we carried out a population genomic study of the Porites lutea species complex using 241 sequ ...[more]

PMID: 38472289

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Project description:Coral reefs of the North Indo-West Pacific provide important ecosystem services to the region but are subjected to multiple local and global threats. Strengthening management measures necessitate understanding the variability of larval connectivity and bridging global connectivity models to local scales. An individual-based Lagrangian biophysical model was used to simulate connectivity between coral reefs for three organisms with different early life history characteristics: a coral (Acropora millepora), a sea urchin (Tripneustes gratilla), and a reef fish (Epinephelus sp). Connectivity metrics and reef clusters were computed from the settlement probability matrices. Fitted power law functions derived from the dispersal kernels provided relative probabilities of connection given only the distance between reefs, and demonstrated that 95% of the larvae across organisms settled within a third of their maximum settlement distances. The magnitude of the connectivity metric values of reef cells were sensitive to differences both in the type of organism and temporal variability. Seasonal variability of connections was more dominant than interannual variability. However, despite these differences, the moderate to high correlation of metrics between organisms and seasonal matrices suggest that the spatial patterns are relatively similar between reefs. A cluster analysis based on the Bray-Curtis Dissimilarity of sink and source connections synthesized the inherent variability of these multiple large connectivity matrices. Through this, similarities in regional connectivity patterns were determined at various cluster sizes depending on the scale of interest. The validity of the model is supported by 1) the simulated dispersal kernels being within the range of reported parentage analysis estimates; and, 2) the clusters that emerged reflect the dispersal barriers implied by previously published population genetics studies. The tools presented here (dispersal kernels, temporal variability maps and reef clustering) can be used to include regional patterns of connectivity into the spatial management of coral reefs.

Dataset Information

Integration of population genetics with oceanographic models reveals strong connectivity among coral reefs across Seychelles.

Publications

Integration of population genetics with oceanographic models reveals strong connectivity among coral reefs across Seychelles.

Similar Datasets

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