Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve

18 Jul, 12 PM - 19 Jul, 04 AM

Genetic diversity and species diversity are theoretically consequences of parallel processes affected by habitat area, environmental heterogeneity, species? attributes (e.g. physiology, fecundity), population growth, and immigration rate. In marine environments, immigration is a function of abundance, fecundity, and dispersal of species in source locations and oceanographic connections and environmental differences between source and recipient locations. Interplay between immigration and self-recruitment affects local adaptation, local population dynamics, and the scale at which migration from MPAs into surrounding unprotected areas provides resources for exploitation. Functional MPA networks ? like natural metapopulations ? therefore must balance habitat size and spacing with the scales of self-recruitment and dispersal. None of these critical parameters has been easy to estimate for most marine species. We will examine the relationship between patterns of genetic diversity (in 9 species, comprising 6 invertebrates and 3 macrophytes) and species diversity at 31 mainland and island sites (including MPAs) in California and Baja California, and explicitly link these patterns to physical oceanography (including small- and large-scale phenomena that affect how propagules enter/leave the plankton and disperse). We will estimate gene flow among, and genetic diversity within, populations of 9 species with different colonization potential at sites within or adjacent to existing or proposed conservation areas monitored by Coastal Biodiversity Surveys (CBS) since 2000. These genetic data will be compared with [1] patterns of community similarity calculated from CBS data and [2] predicted patterns of biological connectivity based on the routes, strengths, timing, and durations of currents, i.e. potential dispersal corridors, documented using various oceanographic tools such as High Frequency (HF) radar and regional ocean circulation model (ROMS). We will do this from two different perspectives: [1] by using oceanographic patterns to predict gene flow and species distributions, and [2] by using observed genetic and species patterns to infer which oceanographic patterns have historically been most influential.

Visit #15852 @Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 10351 | Research

COMMUNITY GENETICS AND MARINE PROTECTED AREAS OF THE CALIFORNIA AND BAJA CALIFORNIA MAINLAND AND ISLAND ARRAY

graduate_student - University of California, Santa Cruz

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Kristen Kusic Jul 18 - 19, 2008 (2 days)

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