Temporal genetic structure in a poecilogonous polychaete: the interplay of developmental mode and environmental stochasticity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Temporal variation in the genetic structure of populations can be caused by multiple factors, including natural selection, stochastic environmental variation, migration, or genetic drift. In benthic marine species, the developmental mode of larvae may indicate a possibility for temporal genetic variation: species with dispersive planktonic larvae are expected to be more likely to show temporal genetic variation than species with benthic or brooded non-dispersive larvae, due to differences in larval mortality and dispersal ability. We examined temporal genetic structure in populations of Pygospio elegans, a poecilogonous polychaete with within-species variation in developmental mode. P. elegans produces either planktonic, benthic, or intermediate larvae, varying both amon

SUBMITTER: Kesaniemi JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3905951 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature