Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west Australia
Management strategies designed to conserve coral reefs threatened by climate change need to incorporate knowledge of the spatial distribution of inter- and intra-specific genetic diversity. We characterized patterns of genetic diversity and connectivity using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) i...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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WILEY
2020
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160101508 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90694 |
| _version_ | 1848765412005642240 |
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| author | Underwood, J.N. Richards, Zoe Berry, O. Oades, D. Howard, A. Gilmour, J.P. |
| author_facet | Underwood, J.N. Richards, Zoe Berry, O. Oades, D. Howard, A. Gilmour, J.P. |
| author_sort | Underwood, J.N. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Management strategies designed to conserve coral reefs threatened by climate change need to incorporate knowledge of the spatial distribution of inter- and intra-specific genetic diversity. We characterized patterns of genetic diversity and connectivity using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in two reef-building corals to explore the eco-evolutionary processes that sustain populations in north-west Australia. Our sampling focused on the unique reefs of the Kimberley; we collected the broadcast spawning coral Acropora aspera (n = 534) and the brooding coral Isopora brueggemanni (n = 612) across inter-archipelago (tens to hundreds of kilometres), inter-reef (kilometres to tens of kilometres) and within-reef (tens of metres to a few kilometres) scales. Initial analysis of A. aspera identified four highly divergent lineages that were co-occurring but morphologically similar. Subsequent population analyses focused on the most abundant and widespread lineage, Acropora asp-c. Although the overall level of geographic subdivision was greater in the brooder than in the spawner, fundamental similarities in patterns of genetic structure were evident. Most notably, limits to gene flow were observed at scales '35 kilometres. Further, we observed four discrete clusters and a semi-permeable barrier to dispersal that were geographically consistent between species. Finally, sites experiencing bigger tides were more connected to the metapopulation and had greater gene diversity than those experiencing smaller tides. Our data indicate that the inshore reefs of the Kimberley are genetically isolated from neighbouring oceanic bioregions, but occasional dispersal between inshore archipelagos is important for the redistribution of evolutionarily important genetic diversity. Additionally, these results suggest that networks of marine reserves that effectively protect reefs from local pressures should be spaced within a few tens of kilometres to conserve the existing patterns of demographic and genetic connectivity. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:34:50Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90694 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:34:50Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | WILEY |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-906942023-03-31T07:08:15Z Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west Australia Underwood, J.N. Richards, Zoe Berry, O. Oades, D. Howard, A. Gilmour, J.P. Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Evolutionary Biology Acropora aspera conservation genomics Isopora brueggemanni marine reserve networks population connectivity single nucleotide polymorphism SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION ANALYSIS GREAT-BARRIER-REEF POPULATION-GENETICS LARVAL DISPERSAL CLIMATE-CHANGE R-PACKAGE INTEGRATING CONNECTIVITY REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION SPECIES BOUNDARIES NINGALOO REEF Management strategies designed to conserve coral reefs threatened by climate change need to incorporate knowledge of the spatial distribution of inter- and intra-specific genetic diversity. We characterized patterns of genetic diversity and connectivity using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in two reef-building corals to explore the eco-evolutionary processes that sustain populations in north-west Australia. Our sampling focused on the unique reefs of the Kimberley; we collected the broadcast spawning coral Acropora aspera (n = 534) and the brooding coral Isopora brueggemanni (n = 612) across inter-archipelago (tens to hundreds of kilometres), inter-reef (kilometres to tens of kilometres) and within-reef (tens of metres to a few kilometres) scales. Initial analysis of A. aspera identified four highly divergent lineages that were co-occurring but morphologically similar. Subsequent population analyses focused on the most abundant and widespread lineage, Acropora asp-c. Although the overall level of geographic subdivision was greater in the brooder than in the spawner, fundamental similarities in patterns of genetic structure were evident. Most notably, limits to gene flow were observed at scales '35 kilometres. Further, we observed four discrete clusters and a semi-permeable barrier to dispersal that were geographically consistent between species. Finally, sites experiencing bigger tides were more connected to the metapopulation and had greater gene diversity than those experiencing smaller tides. Our data indicate that the inshore reefs of the Kimberley are genetically isolated from neighbouring oceanic bioregions, but occasional dispersal between inshore archipelagos is important for the redistribution of evolutionarily important genetic diversity. Additionally, these results suggest that networks of marine reserves that effectively protect reefs from local pressures should be spaced within a few tens of kilometres to conserve the existing patterns of demographic and genetic connectivity. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90694 10.1111/eva.13033 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160101508 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ WILEY fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Evolutionary Biology Acropora aspera conservation genomics Isopora brueggemanni marine reserve networks population connectivity single nucleotide polymorphism SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION ANALYSIS GREAT-BARRIER-REEF POPULATION-GENETICS LARVAL DISPERSAL CLIMATE-CHANGE R-PACKAGE INTEGRATING CONNECTIVITY REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION SPECIES BOUNDARIES NINGALOO REEF Underwood, J.N. Richards, Zoe Berry, O. Oades, D. Howard, A. Gilmour, J.P. Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west Australia |
| title | Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west Australia |
| title_full | Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west Australia |
| title_fullStr | Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west Australia |
| title_short | Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west Australia |
| title_sort | extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawning corals in remote north-west australia |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Evolutionary Biology Acropora aspera conservation genomics Isopora brueggemanni marine reserve networks population connectivity single nucleotide polymorphism SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION ANALYSIS GREAT-BARRIER-REEF POPULATION-GENETICS LARVAL DISPERSAL CLIMATE-CHANGE R-PACKAGE INTEGRATING CONNECTIVITY REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION SPECIES BOUNDARIES NINGALOO REEF |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160101508 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90694 |