Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2022 |
Outros Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/18540 |
Resumo: | Population connectivity influences the distribution of genetic diversity and divergence along a species range, as the likelihood of extinction or differentiation increases in isolated populations. However, there is still poor understanding of the processes mediating inter-population dispersal in marine species that are sessile and lack planktonic life stages. One such case is the seagrass species Halodule wrightii, which produces basal seeds, although detached plants can drift. Along the tropical western coast of Africa, this species occurs in distant discontinuous habitats, raising the question of how interpopulation dispersal is mediated. The species is a key source of ecosystem functions including feeding large migratory grazers. This study aims to infer whether genetic differentiation of the seagrass H. wrightii along the western coast of Africa supports a hypothesis of predominant transportation of rafting seagrass by ocean currents, versus the hypothesis of biotic vectors of dispersal. Additional hypotheses were addressed concerning range-wide clonality and genetic diversity, assessed with microsatellite markers on populations of the west coast of Africa from Mauritania to Angola. Population genetic diversity and structure were compared with predictions from biophysical models of dispersal by oceanographic currents. The genetic data revealed low divergence among most populations, in strong contrast with predictions of very low probability of connectivity mediated by currents along the western African coastline. Moderate to high genotypic diversity showed important seed recruitment, but genetic and genotypic diversities were lower at range edges. Populations north and south of the equator were differentiated, and remarkably, so were neighboring equatorial populations despite their proximity. These results reveal independent sources of colonization of meadows in these islands, which are major habitat for migratory grazing green turtles, also supporting the hypothesis of biotically mediated seed transport. The importance of seagrass for conservation of endangered macrofauna has been widely reported; here we report evidence supporting the reciprocal role, that macrofauna protection can also plays a role in long-term survival and reproductive success of seagrass. |
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Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed DispersalWestern AfricaSeagrassHalodule wrightiiPopulation connectivityDispersalPopulation connectivity influences the distribution of genetic diversity and divergence along a species range, as the likelihood of extinction or differentiation increases in isolated populations. However, there is still poor understanding of the processes mediating inter-population dispersal in marine species that are sessile and lack planktonic life stages. One such case is the seagrass species Halodule wrightii, which produces basal seeds, although detached plants can drift. Along the tropical western coast of Africa, this species occurs in distant discontinuous habitats, raising the question of how interpopulation dispersal is mediated. The species is a key source of ecosystem functions including feeding large migratory grazers. This study aims to infer whether genetic differentiation of the seagrass H. wrightii along the western coast of Africa supports a hypothesis of predominant transportation of rafting seagrass by ocean currents, versus the hypothesis of biotic vectors of dispersal. Additional hypotheses were addressed concerning range-wide clonality and genetic diversity, assessed with microsatellite markers on populations of the west coast of Africa from Mauritania to Angola. Population genetic diversity and structure were compared with predictions from biophysical models of dispersal by oceanographic currents. The genetic data revealed low divergence among most populations, in strong contrast with predictions of very low probability of connectivity mediated by currents along the western African coastline. Moderate to high genotypic diversity showed important seed recruitment, but genetic and genotypic diversities were lower at range edges. Populations north and south of the equator were differentiated, and remarkably, so were neighboring equatorial populations despite their proximity. These results reveal independent sources of colonization of meadows in these islands, which are major habitat for migratory grazing green turtles, also supporting the hypothesis of biotically mediated seed transport. The importance of seagrass for conservation of endangered macrofauna has been widely reported; here we report evidence supporting the reciprocal role, that macrofauna protection can also plays a role in long-term survival and reproductive success of seagrass.LA/P/0101/2020; DL57/2016/CP1361/CT0035Frontiers MediaSapientiaTavares, Ana IAssis, JorgePatrício, A. R.Ferreira, RogérioCheikh, Mohamed Ahmed SidiBandeira, SalomãoRegalla, AissaSantos, IderlindoPotouroglou, MariaNicolau, SuzanaTeodosio, MariaAlmada, CarmenSantos, RuiPearson, GarethSerrao, Ester2022-11-25T13:24:01Z20222022-01-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/18540eng10.3389/fmars.2022.8097212296-7745info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-07-24T10:30:48Zoai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/18540Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T20:08:17.561519Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal |
title |
Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal |
spellingShingle |
Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal Tavares, Ana I Western Africa Seagrass Halodule wrightii Population connectivity Dispersal |
title_short |
Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal |
title_full |
Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal |
title_fullStr |
Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal |
title_sort |
Seagrass connectivity on the West Coast of Africa supports the Hypothesis of Grazer-Mediated Seed Dispersal |
author |
Tavares, Ana I |
author_facet |
Tavares, Ana I Assis, Jorge Patrício, A. R. Ferreira, Rogério Cheikh, Mohamed Ahmed Sidi Bandeira, Salomão Regalla, Aissa Santos, Iderlindo Potouroglou, Maria Nicolau, Suzana Teodosio, Maria Almada, Carmen Santos, Rui Pearson, Gareth Serrao, Ester |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Assis, Jorge Patrício, A. R. Ferreira, Rogério Cheikh, Mohamed Ahmed Sidi Bandeira, Salomão Regalla, Aissa Santos, Iderlindo Potouroglou, Maria Nicolau, Suzana Teodosio, Maria Almada, Carmen Santos, Rui Pearson, Gareth Serrao, Ester |
author2_role |
author author author author author author author author author author author author author author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Sapientia |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Tavares, Ana I Assis, Jorge Patrício, A. R. Ferreira, Rogério Cheikh, Mohamed Ahmed Sidi Bandeira, Salomão Regalla, Aissa Santos, Iderlindo Potouroglou, Maria Nicolau, Suzana Teodosio, Maria Almada, Carmen Santos, Rui Pearson, Gareth Serrao, Ester |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Western Africa Seagrass Halodule wrightii Population connectivity Dispersal |
topic |
Western Africa Seagrass Halodule wrightii Population connectivity Dispersal |
description |
Population connectivity influences the distribution of genetic diversity and divergence along a species range, as the likelihood of extinction or differentiation increases in isolated populations. However, there is still poor understanding of the processes mediating inter-population dispersal in marine species that are sessile and lack planktonic life stages. One such case is the seagrass species Halodule wrightii, which produces basal seeds, although detached plants can drift. Along the tropical western coast of Africa, this species occurs in distant discontinuous habitats, raising the question of how interpopulation dispersal is mediated. The species is a key source of ecosystem functions including feeding large migratory grazers. This study aims to infer whether genetic differentiation of the seagrass H. wrightii along the western coast of Africa supports a hypothesis of predominant transportation of rafting seagrass by ocean currents, versus the hypothesis of biotic vectors of dispersal. Additional hypotheses were addressed concerning range-wide clonality and genetic diversity, assessed with microsatellite markers on populations of the west coast of Africa from Mauritania to Angola. Population genetic diversity and structure were compared with predictions from biophysical models of dispersal by oceanographic currents. The genetic data revealed low divergence among most populations, in strong contrast with predictions of very low probability of connectivity mediated by currents along the western African coastline. Moderate to high genotypic diversity showed important seed recruitment, but genetic and genotypic diversities were lower at range edges. Populations north and south of the equator were differentiated, and remarkably, so were neighboring equatorial populations despite their proximity. These results reveal independent sources of colonization of meadows in these islands, which are major habitat for migratory grazing green turtles, also supporting the hypothesis of biotically mediated seed transport. The importance of seagrass for conservation of endangered macrofauna has been widely reported; here we report evidence supporting the reciprocal role, that macrofauna protection can also plays a role in long-term survival and reproductive success of seagrass. |
publishDate |
2022 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2022-11-25T13:24:01Z 2022 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/18540 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/18540 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
10.3389/fmars.2022.809721 2296-7745 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Frontiers Media |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Frontiers Media |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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1799133329300127744 |