Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
PLoS One. 2018 Mar 20;13(3):e0193457. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193457. eCollection 2018.
Most coral-associated decapod species have non-migratory adult populations and depend on their planktonic larvae for dispersal. This study examined the metapopulation structure of three decapod species with different pelagic larval duration (PLD) from twelve coral reef complexes of the Gulf of Mexico. The dispersion of larvae was analyzed through the use of a realistic numerical simulation of the Gulf of Mexico with the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model. To study the transport and dispersion of particles in near-surface waters, a particle-tracking subroutine was run using as input the currents from the model. The simulation consisted of the launch of 100 passive particles (virtual larvae) every 24 hours from each reef throughout five years, and tracked for as long as 210 days. Results indicated that species with a short PLD, Mithraculus sculptus (PLD 8‒13 days), had a weak connection among the reefs, but higher self-recruitment, especially on the narrow western shelf. The species with a longer PLD, Dromia erythropus (28‒30 days), had a stronger connection among neighboring reefs (< 300 km). Finally, the species with an even longer PLD, Stenopus hispidus (123‒210 days), had a wider potential distribution than the other species. Circulation on synoptic, seasonal and interannual scales had differential effects on the larval dispersal of each species. The metapopulation structure of M. sculptus and D. erythropus seemed to combine features of the non-equilibrium and the patchy models, whereas that of S. hispidus presumably fit to a patchy model. These findings support previous observations that indicate that species with longer PLD tend to occupy larger areas than species with short PLD, although recruitment of juveniles to the adult populations will also depend on other factors, such as the availability of suitable habitats and the ability to colonize them.
大多数与珊瑚共生的十足目物种具有非迁徙性的成体种群，并且依赖其浮游幼体进行扩散。本研究调查了来自墨西哥湾 12 个珊瑚礁复合体的三种具有不同浮游幼体持续时间（PLD）的十足目物种的复合种群结构。通过使用混合坐标海洋模型对墨西哥湾进行现实数值模拟来分析幼虫的扩散。为了研究近地表水中的颗粒输运和扩散，使用模型中的流场作为输入运行了一个粒子追踪子程序。模拟包括在五年内每天从每个珊瑚礁释放 100 个被动粒子（虚拟幼虫），并跟踪长达 210 天。结果表明，PLD 较短的物种，Mithraculus sculptus（PLD 8-13 天），珊瑚礁之间的联系较弱，但自我补充率较高，尤其是在狭窄的西部陆架上。PLD 较长的物种，Dromia erythropus（28-30 天），与邻近珊瑚礁之间的联系较强（<300 公里）。最后，PLD 更长的物种， Stenopus hispidus（123-210 天），比其他物种具有更广泛的潜在分布。天气、季节性和年际尺度的环流对每个物种的幼虫扩散产生了不同的影响。M. sculptus 和 D. erythropus 的复合种群结构似乎结合了非平衡和斑块模型的特征，而 S. hispidus 的复合种群结构可能适合斑块模型。这些发现支持了先前的观察结果，即 PLD 较长的物种往往比 PLD 较短的物种占据更大的区域，尽管幼体向成体种群的补充也将取决于其他因素，例如适宜栖息地的可用性和定居能力。
