How far do marine larvae disperse in the ocean? Decades of population genetic studies have revealed generally low levels of genetic structure at large spatial scales (hundreds of kilometres). Yet this result, typically based on discrete sampling designs, does not necessarily imply extensive dispersal. Here, we adopt a continuous sampling strategy along 950 km of coast in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea to address this question in four species. In line with expectations, we observe weak genetic structure at a large spatial scale. Nevertheless, our continuous sampling strategy uncovers a pattern of isolation by distance at small spatial scales (few tens of kilometres) in two species. Individual-based simulations indicate that this signal is an expected signature of restricted dispersal. At the other extreme of the connectivity spectrum, two pairs of individuals that are closely related genetically were found more than 290 km apart, indicating long-distance dispersal. Such a combination of restricted dispersal with rare long-distance dispersal events is supported by a high-resolution biophysical model of larval dispersal in the study area, and we posit that it may be common in marine species. Our results bridge population genetic studies with direct dispersal studies and have implications for the design of marine reserve networks.
Benestan L., Fietz K., Loiseau N., Guerin P., Trofimenko E., Rühs S., Schmidt C., Rath W., Biastoch A., Perez-Ruzafa A., Baixauli P., Forcada A., Arcas E., Lenfant P., Mallol S., Goñi R., Velez L., Höppner M., Kininmonth S., Mouillot D., Puebla O. and Manel S. (2021) Restricted dispersal in a sea of gene flow. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 288(1951): 20210458. 10.1098/rspb.2021.0458
@article{Benestan2021,
Title = {Restricted dispersal in a sea of gene flow},
Author = {Benestan, L and Fietz, K and Loiseau, N and Guerin, PE and Trofimenko, E and Rühs, S and Schmidt, Christiane and Rath, W and Biastoch, A and Perez-Ruzafa, A and Baixauli, P and Forcada, A and Arcas, E and Lenfant, P and Mallol, S and Goñi, R and Velez, L and Höppner, M and Kininmonth, S and Mouillot, D and Puebla, O and Manel, S},
Editor = {},
Journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences},
Year = {2021},
Pages = {20210458},
Volume = {288},
Doi = {10.1098/rspb.2021.0458},
Abstract = {How far do marine larvae disperse in the ocean? Decades of population genetic studies have revealed generally low levels of genetic structure at large spatial scales (hundreds of kilometres). Yet this result, typically based on discrete sampling designs, does not necessarily imply extensive dispersal. Here, we adopt a continuous sampling strategy along 950 km of coast in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea to address this question in four species. In line with expectations, we observe weak genetic structure at a large spatial scale. Nevertheless, our continuous sampling strategy uncovers a pattern of isolation by distance at small spatial scales (few tens of kilometres) in two species. Individual-based simulations indicate that this signal is an expected signature of restricted dispersal. At the other extreme of the connectivity spectrum, two pairs of individuals that are closely related genetically were found more than 290 km apart, indicating long-distance dispersal. Such a combination of restricted dispersal with rare long-distance dispersal events is supported by a high-resolution biophysical model of larval dispersal in the study area, and we posit that it may be common in marine species. Our results bridge population genetic studies with direct dispersal studies and have implications for the design of marine reserve networks.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Benestan, L
AU - Fietz, K
AU - Loiseau, N
AU - Guerin, PE
AU - Trofimenko, E
AU - Rühs, S
AU - Schmidt, Christiane
AU - Rath, W
AU - Biastoch, A
AU - Perez-Ruzafa, A
AU - Baixauli, P
AU - Forcada, A
AU - Arcas, E
AU - Lenfant, P
AU - Mallol, S
AU - Goñi, R
AU - Velez, L
AU - Höppner, M
AU - Kininmonth, S
AU - Mouillot, D
AU - Puebla, O
AU - Manel, S
TI - Restricted dispersal in a sea of gene flow
T2 - Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
PY - 2021
SP - 20210458
VL - 288
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2021.0458
AB - How far do marine larvae disperse in the ocean? Decades of population genetic studies have revealed generally low levels of genetic structure at large spatial scales (hundreds of kilometres). Yet this result, typically based on discrete sampling designs, does not necessarily imply extensive dispersal. Here, we adopt a continuous sampling strategy along 950 km of coast in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea to address this question in four species. In line with expectations, we observe weak genetic structure at a large spatial scale. Nevertheless, our continuous sampling strategy uncovers a pattern of isolation by distance at small spatial scales (few tens of kilometres) in two species. Individual-based simulations indicate that this signal is an expected signature of restricted dispersal. At the other extreme of the connectivity spectrum, two pairs of individuals that are closely related genetically were found more than 290 km apart, indicating long-distance dispersal. Such a combination of restricted dispersal with rare long-distance dispersal events is supported by a high-resolution biophysical model of larval dispersal in the study area, and we posit that it may be common in marine species. Our results bridge population genetic studies with direct dispersal studies and have implications for the design of marine reserve networks.
ER -
