Assessing spatial structure in marine populations using network theory: A case study of Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) connectivity.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge of the geographic distribution and connectivity of marine populations is essential for ecological understanding and informing management. Previous works have assessed spatial structure by quantifying exchange using Lagrangian particle-tracking simulations, but their scope of analysis is limited by their use of predefined subpopulations. To instead delineate subpopulations emerging naturally from marine population connectivity, we interpret this connectivity as a network, enabling the use of powerful analytic tools from the field of network theory. The modelling approach presented here uses particle-tracking to construct a transport network, and then applies the community detection algorithm Infomap to identify subpopulations that exhibit high internal connectivity and sparse conn

SUBMITTER: Economou KN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11559974 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature