Range-wide population genetic structure of the Caribbean sea fan coral, Gorgonia ventalina

The population structure of benthic marine organisms is of central relevance to the conservation and management of these often threatened species, as well as to the accurate understanding of their ecological and evolutionary dynamics. A growing body of evidence suggests that marine populations can b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology 2013-01, Vol.22 (1), p.56-73
Main Authors: Andras, Jason P., Rypien, Krystal L., Harvell, Catherine D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Distribution
Animals
Anthozoa - genetics
Bayes Theorem
Biological and medical sciences
Caribbean
Caribbean Region
Cluster Analysis
Cnidaria. Ctenaria
coral
Coral reefs
Dinoflagellida - genetics
Evolution
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gene Flow
Genetic diversity
Genetic Variation
Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution
Genetics, Population
Genotype & phenotype
Geography
Gorgonia ventalina
Invertebrata
Invertebrates
Marine
Marine biology
Microsatellite Repeats
Population genetics
Population genetics, reproduction patterns
seascape genetics
Symbiodinium
Symbiosis
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Summary:The population structure of benthic marine organisms is of central relevance to the conservation and management of these often threatened species, as well as to the accurate understanding of their ecological and evolutionary dynamics. A growing body of evidence suggests that marine populations can be structured over short distances despite theoretically high dispersal potential. Yet the proposed mechanisms governing this structure vary, and existing empirical population genetic evidence is of insufficient taxonomic and geographic scope to allow for strong general inferences. Here, we describe the range‐wide population genetic structure of an ecologically important Caribbean octocoral, Gorgonia ventalina. Genetic differentiation was positively correlated with geographic distance and negatively correlated with oceanographically modelled dispersal probability throughout the range. Although we observed admixture across hundreds of kilometres, estimated dispersal was low, and populations were differentiated across distances
ISSN:0962-1083
1365-294X
DOI:10.1111/mec.12104