Seascape genetics, a term coined in 2006, is a fast growing area of population genetics that draws on ecology, oceanography and geography to address challenges in basic understanding of marine connectivity and applications to management. We provide an accessible overview of the latest developments in seascape genetics that merge exciting new ideas from the field of marine population connectivity with statistical and technical advances in population genetics. After summarizing the historical context leading to the emergence of seascape genetics, we detail questions and methodological approaches that are evolving the discipline, highlight applications to conservation and management, and conclude with a summary of the field's transition to seascape ge-nomics. From 100 seascape genetic studies, we assess trends in taxonomic and geographic coverage, sampling and statistical design, and dominant seascape drivers. Notably, temperature, oceanography and geography show equal prevalence of influence on spatial genetic patterns, and tests of over 20 other seascape factors suggest that a variety of forces impact connec-tivity at distinct spatio-temporal scales. A new level of rigor in statistical analysis is critical for disentangling multiple drivers and spurious effects. Coupled with GIS data and genomic scale sequencing methods, this rigor is taking seascape genetics beyond an initial focus on identifying correlations to hypothesis-driven insights into patterns and processes of population An underwater seascape from the top of Steve's Bommie in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Photo by Jonathan B. Puritz OPEN PEN ACCESS CCESS connectivity and adaptation. The latest studies are illuminating differences between demographic, functional and neutral genetic connectivity, and informing applications to marine reserve design, fisheries science and strategies to assess resilience to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts.
Sex-biased dispersal is expected to homogenize nuclear genetic variation relative to variation in genetic material inherited through the philopatric sex. When site fidelity occurs across a heterogeneous environment, local selective regimes may alter this pattern. We assessed spatial patterns of variation in nuclear-encoded, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and sequences of the mitochondrial control region in bonnethead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo), a species thought to exhibit female philopatry, collected from summer habitats used for gestation. Geographic patterns of mtDNA haplotypes and putatively neutral SNPs confirmed female philopatry and male-mediated gene flow along the northeastern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. A total of 30 outlier SNP loci were identified; alleles at over half of these loci exhibited signatures of latitude-associated selection. Our results indicate that in species with sex-biased dispersal, philopatry can facilitate sorting of locally adaptive variation, with the dispersing sex facilitating movement of potentially adaptive variation among locations and environments.
Spawning patterns and reproductive variance of Spotted Seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus dams and sires at two restoration enhancement facilities in Texas were assessed across a spawning year by using parentage analysis based on 12 variable microsatellite loci. In total, 72.6% of all dams and sires contributed to at least one spawning event, although in contrasting patterns. Across all spawning events assayed, more sires contributed to each spawn, on average, than did dams; dams had considerably higher variance in reproductive success than sires. Dams alternatively had a higher average contribution to the number of progeny from a single spawn but also a much higher variance in the number of progeny produced per spawn. The variation in the number of progeny produced per dam and per sire and the number of actual mating combinations led to an average reduction of 64.3% in the genetic effective population size (Ne) per spawn relative to the maximum Ne that would be expected if (1) all possible dam × sire mating combinations occurred at random and (2) all families contained an equal number of progeny. Averaged over all spawns, the actual number of mating combinations accounted for approximately 83.6% of the total reduction in Ne, while variation in family size accounted for 16.4% of the total reduction in Ne. Results from this and other studies indicate that reductions in Ne of hatchery‐ or farm‐raised progeny stem primarily from noncontributing dams, suggesting that periodic identification and removal of low‐contributing dams from broodfish stocks constitute a critical step toward maximizing the Ne of hatchery offspring used in restoration enhancement.
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