Document of bibliographic reference 324088

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Genetic diversity and local connectivity in the Mediterranean red gorgonian coral after mass mortality events

Abstract

Estimating the patterns of connectivity in marine taxa with planktonic dispersive stages is a challenging but crucial task because of its conservation implications. The red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata is a habitat forming species, characterized by short larval dispersal and high reproductive output, but low recruitment. In the recent past, the species was impacted by mass mortality events caused by increased water temperatures in summer. In the present study, we used 9 microsatellites to investigate the genetic structure and connectivity in the highly threatened populations from the Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean). No evidence for a recent bottleneck neither decreased genetic diversity in sites impacted by mass mortality events were found. Significant IBD pattern and high global F_ST confirmed low larval dispersal capability in the red gorgonian. The maximum dispersal distance was estimated at 20–60 km. Larval exchange between sites separated by hundreds of meters and between different depths was detected at each site, supporting the hypothesis that deeper subpopulations unaffected by surface warming peaks may provide larvae for shallower ones, enabling recovery after climatically induced mortality events.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000372574900045

Bibliographic citation

Pilczynska, J.; Cocito, S.; Boavida, J.; Serrão, E.; Queiroga, H. (2016). Genetic diversity and local connectivity in the Mediterranean red gorgonian coral after mass mortality events. PLoS One 11(3): e0150590. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150590

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true