Marine stepping-stones: Connectivity of Mytilus edulis populations between offshore energy installations.

ABSTRACT: Recent papers have suggested that epifaunal organisms use artificial structures as stepping-stones to spread to areas that are too distant to reach in a single generation. With thousands of artificial structures present in the North Sea, we test the hypothesis that these structures are connected by water currents and act as an interconnected reef. Population genetic structure of the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, was expected to follow a pattern predicted by a particle tracking model (PTM). Correlation between population genetic differentiation, based on microsatellite markers, and particle exchange was tested. Specimens of M. edulis were found at each location, although the PTM indicated that locations >85 km offshore were isolated from coastal subpopulations. The fixation coefficient F

SUBMITTER: Coolen JWP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7065051 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature