Abstract
Identifying the environmental factors driving larval settlement processes is crucial to understand the population dynamics of marine invertebrates. This work aims to go a step ahead and predict larval presence and intensity. For this purpose we consider the influence of solar irradiance, wind regime and continental runoff on the settlement processes. For the first time, we conducted a 5-years weekly monitoring of Mytilus galloprovincialis settlement on artificial suspended substrates, which allowed us to search for interannual variability in the settlement patterns. Comparison between the seasonal pattern of larval settlement and solar irradiance, as well as the well-known effect of solar irradiance on water temperature and food availability, suggest that solar irradiance indirectly influences the settlement process, and support the use of this meteorological variable to predict settlement occurrence. Our results show that solar irradiance allows predicting the beginning and end of the settlement cycle a month in advance: Particularly we have observed that solar irradiance during late winter indirectly drives the timing and intensity of the settlement onset, Finally, a functional generalise additive model, which considers the influence of solar irradiance and continental runoff on the settlement process, provides an accurate prediction of settlement intensity a fortnight in advance.
Highlights
Identifying the environmental factors driving larval settlement processes is crucial to understand the population dynamics of marine invertebrates
Many studies have addressed the effects of hydrodynamics on larval dispersal and, on the spatial variability of larval settlement[3,4,5], while the temporal pattern of larval settlement has been mainly attributed to their reproductive cycle[5,6]
This process has been mainly linked with hydrodynamics as driver for larval dispersal and the subsequent spatial variability of larval settlement[3,4,5]
Summary
Identifying the environmental factors driving larval settlement processes is crucial to understand the population dynamics of marine invertebrates. Decoupling between spawning and optimal food conditions may reduce growth rates increasing the length of the larval phase and, mortality risks, such as predation and transport to unsuitable places[8,9,10,11]. These interactions justify the need for studies linking environmental and biological cycles to determine which factors influence reproductive timing and settlement intensity, and to understand how environmental changes may affect population dynamics. The importance of larval production and recruitment for the management of mussel culture in this area has motivated an increasing interest on the settlement processes of mussels and the underlying environmental factors[5,6,27,28,29,30,31,32]
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