Open AccessTemperate shelf water dispersal by Australian boundary currents: Implications for population connectivity
Author(s) -
Coleman Melinda A.,
Feng Ming,
Roughan Moninya,
CetinaHeredia Paulina,
Connell Sean D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography: fluids and environments
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2157-3689
DOI - 10.1215/21573689-2409306
Subject(s) - biological dispersal , kelp , temperate climate , boundary current , current (fluid) , oceanography , ocean current , population , bathymetry , environmental science , geography , ecology , geology , biology , demography , sociology
Lay Abstract Boundary currents have been recognized as potential causes of spatial variation in the ocean because of their role in physical transport. In this study we used particle tracking methods in an ocean circulation model to determine the effect of multiple boundary currents on connectivity around temperate Australia during the austral winter. Our results demonstrated that oceanographic connectivity was asymmetric around Australia, having greater eastward connectivity due to more favorable ocean boundary currents during this season. We compared connectivity patterns with genetic data from an important marine species, the kelp, Ecklonia radiata , which have more genetic similarity between the west and south coasts of Australia, with the east coast, likely due to predominantly eastward dispersal in currents. Boundary current connectivity was linked to genetic connectivity of kelp on multigeneration time scales and the nature of these relationships varied among the three boundary current systems according to current strength.