Abstract
The dispersal of marine organisms is a critical process for the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across a seascape. Understanding the patterns of habitat connectivity that arise from the movement of multiple species can highlight the role of regional processes in maintaining local community structure. However, quantifying the probability and scale of dispersal for marine organisms remains a challenge. Here, we use a biophysical model to simulate dispersal, and we conduct a network analysis to predict connectivity patterns across scales for the community of invertebrates associated with seagrass habitat in British Columbia, Canada. We found many possible connections and few isolated habitat meadows, but the probability of most connections was low. Most habitat connections occurred within 3 days of dispersal time over short distances, indicating potential limits to long distance dispersal and little effect of species-specific dispersal abilities on the potential spatial extent of habitat connectivity. We then highlight the different roles that individual seagrass meadows can play in maintaining network connectivity. We also identify clusters of connected meadows and use these clusters to estimate the spatial scale of community dynamics. The connectivity patterns generated by our dispersal simulations highlight the importance of considering marine communities in their broad seascape context, with applications for the prioritization and conservation of habitat that maintains connectivity.
Highlights
A key challenge in marine ecology and conservation science is to identify the spatial scale of biodiversity patterns and the relative role of the complex oceanographic processes that may influence these patterns
The objective of this study is to quantify potential connectivity among communities inhabiting seagrass (Zostera marina) habitat on the British Columbia (BC) coast of Canada in the form of the functional connectivity that is generated by the varying dispersal abilities of different species of the seagrass associated epifaunal invertebrate community
The model consists of five components: (1) seascape physical structure information, (2) invertebrate community trait data that influences dispersal ability, (3) hydrodynamic model results that contain ocean current velocities, (4) an individual-based particle tracking model (IBM) to estimate dispersal trajectories with the influence of dispersal traits, (5) and a network and cluster detection analysis to interpret the connectivity of the dispersal trajectories in an ecological context (Figure 1)
Summary
A key challenge in marine ecology and conservation science is to identify the spatial scale of biodiversity patterns and the relative role of the complex oceanographic processes that may influence these patterns. A network analysis can identify clusters of patches based on higher levels of ecological exchange within than outside the cluster (Thomas et al, 2014; Gilarranz et al, 2017) This can identify dispersal barriers and subsequently reveal the spatial scale of metapopulations or provide a first prediction of the scale of metacommunities in the absence of local biological and environmental influences on persistence. These and other seascape-scale patterns that have consequences for biodiversity only emerge from a network approach that can consider movement rates among many patches simultaneously
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
