Patterns of disseminule dispersal by drift in the southern Coral Sea

Abstract

Abstract Assemblages of drift disseminules are described from beaches of cays in the southern Coral Sea. Most disseminule taxa are widespread, but their proportions in assemblages vary. The patterns are concordant with prevailing winds and currents, and suggest that disseminules drift towards the southern Great Barrier Reef area in distinct streams, from the east (Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, via the Chesterfield Reefs area) and from the north or northeast (possibly New Guinea and/or the Solomon Islands). Australia-derived disseminules make a minor contribution to assemblages on cays on the southern Great Barrier Reef but none further east. Human-derived flotsam increases in areas west of Chesterfield Reefs.