Coupling and de-coupling of the El Nino Southern Oscillation to the supply of larval fishes to benthic populations in the Hawaiian Islands.

ABSTRACT: Several recent high intensity ENSO events have caused strong negative impacts on the adult phases of foundational species in coral reef ecosystems, but comparatively little is known about how climatic variables related to recent ENSOs are impacting the supply of larvae to benthic populations. In marine fishes and invertebrates, reproductive adults and planktonic larvae are generally more sensitive to environmental variability than older, non-reproductive adults. Further, the transport of larvae in ocean currents may also be strongly ENSO dependent. The interactions between the dynamics of larval survivorship and larval transport could lead to population bottlenecks as stronger ENSO events become more common. We tested the predictions of this hypothesis around the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI

SUBMITTER: Carlon DB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11500875 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature