Seascape genetics along a steep cline: using genetic patterns to test predictions of marine larval dispersal

A detailed understanding of the genetic structure of populations and an accurate interpretation of processes driving contemporary patterns of gene flow are fundamental to successful spatial conservation management. The field of seascape genetics seeks to incorporate environmental variables and processes into analyses of population genetic data to improve our understanding of forces driving genetic divergence in the marine environment. Information about barriers to gene flow (such as ocean currents) is used to define a resistance surface to predict the spatial genetic structure of populations and explain deviations from the widely applied isolation-by-distance model. The majority of seascape approaches to date have been applied to linear coastal systems or at large spatial scales (more than 250 km), with very few applied to complex systems at regional spatial scales (less than 100 km). Here, we apply a seascape genetics approach to a peripheral population of the broadcast-spawning coral Acropora spicifera across the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, a high-latitude complex coral reef system off the central coast of Western Australia. We coupled population genetic data from a panel of microsatellite DNA markers with a biophysical dispersal model to test whether oceanographic processes could explain patterns of genetic divergence. We identified significant variation in allele frequencies over distances of less than 10 km, with significant differentiation occurring between adjacent sites but not between the most geographically distant ones. Recruitment probabilities between sites based on simulated larval dispersal were projected into a measure of resistance to connectivity that was significantly correlated with patterns of genetic divergence, demonstrating that patterns of spatial genetic structure are a function of restrictions to gene flow imposed by oceanographic currents. This study advances our understanding of the role of larval dispersal on the fine-scale genetic structure of coral populations across a complex island system and applies a methodological framework that can be tailored to suit a variety of marine organisms with a range of life-history characteristics.

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Modelled larval dispersal and measured gene flow: seascape genetics of the common cockle Cerastoderma edule in the southern Irish Sea

Conservation Genetics ◽

10.1007/s10592-012-0404-4 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 451-466 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Ilaria Coscia ◽

Peter E. Robins ◽

Joanne S. Porter ◽

Shelagh K. Malham ◽

Joseph E. Ironside

Keyword(s):

Gene Flow ◽

Larval Dispersal ◽

Irish Sea ◽

Cerastoderma Edule ◽

The Common ◽

Seascape Genetics ◽

Common Cockle

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Are genes faster than crabs? Mitochondrial introgression exceeds larval dispersal during population expansion of the invasive crab Carcinus maenas

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.140202 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 140202 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

John A. Darling ◽

Yi-Hsin Erica Tsai ◽

April M. H. Blakeslee ◽

Joe Roman

Keyword(s):

Dna Sequences ◽

Larval Dispersal ◽

Evolutionary Dynamics ◽

Carcinus Maenas ◽

Population Expansion ◽

Nuclear Data ◽

Genetic Patterns ◽

Demographic Processes ◽

European Green Crab ◽

Genetic Cline

Biological invasions offer unique opportunities to investigate evolutionary dynamics at the peripheries of expanding populations. Here, we examine genetic patterns associated with admixture between two distinct invasive lineages of the European green crab, Carcinus maenas L., independently introduced to the northwest Atlantic. Previous investigations based on mitochondrial DNA sequences demonstrated that larval dispersal driven by advective currents could explain observed southward displacement of an admixture zone between the two invasions. Comparison of published mitochondrial results with new nuclear data from nine microsatellite loci, however, reveals striking discordance in their introgression patterns. Specifically, introgression of mitochondrial genomes relative to nuclear background suggests that demographic processes such as sex-biased reproductive dynamics and population size imbalances—and not solely larval dispersal—play an important role in driving the evolution of the genetic cline. In particular, the unpredicted introgression of mitochondrial alleles against the direction of mean larval dispersal in the region is consistent with recent models invoking similar demographic processes to explain movements of genes into invading populations. These observations have important implications for understanding historical shifts in C. maenas range limits, and more generally for inferences of larval dispersal based on genetic data.

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Taking the chaos out of genetic patchiness: seascape genetics reveals ecological and oceanographic drivers of genetic patterns in three temperate reef species

Molecular Ecology ◽

10.1111/j.1365-294x.2010.04658.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 19 (17) ◽

pp. 3708-3726 ◽

Cited By ~ 212

Author(s):

KIMBERLY A. SELKOE ◽

JAMES R. WATSON ◽

CROW WHITE ◽

TAL BEN HORIN ◽

MATTHEW IACCHEI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Temperate Reef ◽

Genetic Patterns ◽

Seascape Genetics ◽

Genetic Patchiness

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Geographic isolation and larval dispersal shape seascape genetic patterns differently according to spatial scale

Evolutionary Applications ◽

10.1111/eva.12638 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 1437-1447 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Alicia Dalongeville ◽

Marco Andrello ◽

David Mouillot ◽

Stéphane Lobreaux ◽

Marie-Josée Fortin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Scale ◽

Larval Dispersal ◽

Geographic Isolation ◽

Genetic Patterns

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607: Different Genetic Patterns of Bladder Cancer in Young Patients?

The Journal of Urology ◽

10.1016/s0022-5347(18)32853-2 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 175 (4S) ◽

pp. 196-196

Author(s):

Kerstin Junker ◽

lnes Kania ◽

Arndt Hartmann ◽

Robert Stoehr ◽

Ellen Zwarthoff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bladder Cancer ◽

Young Patients ◽

Genetic Patterns

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Response to Antidepressants Linked to Genetic Patterns

Clinical Psychiatry News ◽

10.1016/s0270-6644(06)71960-9 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 34 (12) ◽

pp. 23

Author(s):

MARY ANN MOON

Keyword(s):

Genetic Patterns

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Comparative phylogeography to test for predictions of marine larval dispersal in three amphidromous shrimps

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps11911 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 560 ◽

pp. 105-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

J Fujita ◽

K Zenimoto ◽

A Iguchi ◽

Y Kai ◽

M Ueno ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Larval Dispersal ◽

Comparative Phylogeography

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Larval dispersal of Pocillopora damicornis at high latitude coral communities

AQUATIC SCIENCE & MANAGEMENT ◽

10.35800/jasm.1.1.2013.1963 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 3

Author(s):

Hanny Tioho

Keyword(s):

Larval Dispersal ◽

Scleractinian Coral ◽

Pocillopora Damicornis ◽

Northern Limit ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Coral Communities ◽

Limited Dispersal ◽

Dispersal Distances ◽

Latitudinal Range ◽

Outer Area

In order to elucidate the patterns of dispersal in scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis near the northern limit of its latitudinal range, a total of 50 colonies (15-25 cm in diameter) of this coral were collected from Ooshima Island, Japan, and transplanted within one hour to the area of Satsuki, where they were not present before. Three concentric areas were established such as; the parental area (PA), intermediate area (IA) and outer area (OA). A total of 831 new corals were found in 1997 while 54.3% of these occurred in PA, 30.5% in IA and 15.1% in OA. In 1998, 52.3% of recruits settled in PA, 30.5% in IA and 17.2% in OA. A significant difference in the density of recruits was found among three areas, but recruit density was not significantly different between years and there was no interaction between area and year. There was no significant difference in the number of recruits among different directions, indicating no tendency for larvae to be concentrated in one particular direction. The present study suggests that the planulae of P. damicornis have limited dispersal distances at high-latitudes© Untuk menjelaskan pola penyebaran karang scleractinia Pocillopora damicornis yang berada di batas Utara penyebarannya, total 50 koloni (15-25 cm) dari karang ini dikumpulkan dari Pulau Ooshima, Jepang, dan di transplantasikan dalam waktu satu jam ke daerah Satsuki yang tidak ditemukan jenis ini. Tiga daerah ditetapkan yaitu, Daerah Induk (PA), Daerah Tengah (IA), dan Daerah Luar (OA). Sebanyak 831 karang baru ditemukan pada tahun 1997, sementara 54,3% ditemukan di PA, 30,5% di IA dan 15,1% di OA. Pada tahun 1998, 52,3% ditemukan di PA, 30,5% di IA, dan 17,2% di OA. Ditemukan perbedaan yang signifikan untuk kepadatan antara ketiga daerah tersebut, tetapi tidak ada perbedaan yang signifikan antar tahun dan tidak ada interaksi antara daerah dan tahun. Tidak ada perbedaan yang signifikan dalam jumlah pada arah yang berbeda sehingga hal ini menunjukkan tidak ada kecenderungan bagi larva untuk terkonsentrasi pada satu arah tertentu. Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa planula P.

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