Atmospheric-ocean coupling drives prevailing and synchronic dispersal patterns of marine species with long pelagic durations.

ABSTRACT: Dispersal shapes population connectivity and plays a critical role in marine metacommunities. Prominent species for coastal socioecological systems, such as jellyfish and spiny lobsters, feature long pelagic dispersal phases (LPDPs), which have long been overlooked. Here, we use a cross-scale approach combining field surveys of these species with a high-resolution hydrodynamic model to decipher the underlying mechanisms of LPDP patterns in northwestern Mediterranean shores. We identified basin-scale prevailing dispersal routes and synchronic year-to-year patterns tightly linked to prominent circulation features typical of marginal seas and semienclosed basins, with an outstanding role of a retentive source area replenishing shores and potentially acting as a pelagic nursery area. We show h

SUBMITTER: Ramirez-Romero E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9911598 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature