Estimating dispersal potential for marine larvae: dynamic models applied to scleractinian corals

Area of Science:

• Marine Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Biogeography

Background:

• Larval dispersal models often use simplifying assumptions about mortality and settlement competence.
• These assumptions may inaccurately represent temporal dynamics, impacting ecological and evolutionary predictions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and test improved models of marine larval dispersal potential.
• To incorporate variable larval mortality and settlement competence dynamics.
• To estimate dispersal potential in scleractinian corals using empirical data.

Main Methods:

• Developed novel dispersal models incorporating time-varying mortality and settlement competence.
• Fitted these models to empirical survival and competence data for five coral species.
• Analyzed model fits to characterize empirical patterns and estimate dispersal potential.

Main Results:

• Models successfully captured empirical survival and competence patterns, outperforming traditional approaches.
• High within-cohort variation in settlement competence duration was observed across species.
• This variation was found to increase both self-recruitment and long-distance dispersal.

Conclusions:

• Variable competence dynamics significantly impact marine dispersal potential and metapopulation connectivity.
• The findings help resolve the paradox of high genetic structure despite large ranges in some coral species.
• The approach offers a parsimonious method to account for competence variation in future dispersal models.