Ani, Chinenyen J., Haller-Bull, Vanessa, Gilmour, James P., and Robson, Barbara J. (2024) Connectivity modelling identifiessources and sinks of coral recruitment within reef clusters. Scientific Reports, 14. 13564.

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Abstract

Connectivity aids the recovery of populations following disturbances, such as coral bleaching and tropical cyclones. Coral larval connectivity is a function of physical connectivity and larval behaviour. In this study, we used OceanParcels, a particle tracking simulator, with 2D and 3D velocity outputs from a high resolution hydrodynamic‑biogeochemical marine model (RECOM) to simulate the dispersal and settlement of larvae from broadcast spawning Acropora corals in the Moore Reef cluster, northern Great Barrier Reef, following the annual spawning events in 2015, 2016 and 2017. 3D velocity simulations showed 19.40–68.80% more links and sinks than those of 2D simulations. Although the patterns of connectivity among sites vary over days and years, coral larvae consistently dispersed from east to west in the cluster domain, with some sites consistently acting as sources or sinks for local larval recruitment. Results can inform coral reef intervention plans for climate change, such as the design of marine protected areas and the deployment of proposed interventions within reef clusters. For example, the wider benefits of interventions (e.g., deployment of heat adapted corals) may be optimised when deployed at locations that are a source of larvae to others within comparable habitats across the reef cluster.

Item ID:	84035
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2045-2322
Copyright Information:	Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Funders:	Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
Date Deposited:	12 Nov 2024 03:20
FoR Codes:	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4199 Other environmental sciences > 419999 Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes:	18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180599 Marine systems and management not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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