Substantial literature is devoted to understanding dispersal evolution, but we lack theory on how dispersal evolves when populations inhabit currents. Such theory is required for understanding connectivity in freshwater and marine environments; moreover, many animals, fungi and plants rely on wind‐based dispersal, but the effects of currents on dispersal evolution in these organisms is unknown. We develop an individual‐based model for evolution of dispersal probability along a linear environment with a unidirectional current. Even a slight current substantially reduces overall emigration probability compared to no current. Under stronger currents, emigration can be drastically reduced, especially in the upstream patches. When introducing rare long‐distance dispersal that is not subject to the current, higher emigration probabilities evolve and the spatial variability in emigration propensity along the stream is reduced. Our results provide an alternative solution to the long debated ‘drift paradox' concerning the loss of individuals from upstream populations due to advective forces. A combination of natural selection and spatial sorting generates and maintains downstream gradients in dispersal propensity, where individuals from upstream populations tend to be substantially more philopatric. This is likely to have major implications for ecological and genetic connectivity that will impact effective management strategies for populations inhabiting currents.
In order to understand patterns in species' distributions, we need to understand the underlying mechanisms of dispersal, demography and evolutionary capability of these species. In the marine environment, few models combine these three key components likely due both to the computational challenges involved and the inherent challenges in data collection for parameterisation. To fill this gap, we have developed MerMADE, an individual-based, spatially explicit, eco-evolutionary coupled biophysical model for predicting population dynamics, dispersal and movement evolution in the marine environment (or aquatic environments in general). MerMADE combines dispersal in a 3D, hydrodynamically informed environment with population dynamics, demography and evolutionary functionality in order to investigate questions of connectivity, population persistence and evolution under environmental change and anthropogenic pressure. We illustrate its range of behavioural and physiological functionality using the lesser sandeel, Ammodytes marinus, as a case-study species in an invasion scenario. MerMADE's flexibility in species-specific parameterisation makes it a widely applicable, exciting tool in future sustainable management and conservation of aquatic species under environmental change.
Many marine species use different habitats at different stages of their life cycle. Functional connectivity, the degree to which the seascape facilitates or impedes movement between habitat patches, is poorly studied in marine systems. We reviewed the scientific literature to explore the various barriers preventing functional connectivity between marine habitats and how the removal of these barriers may restore connectivity. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review to investigate functional connectivity between life cycle habitats for a range of marine species. A total of 4,499 records were identified and screened, leaving 69 publications eligible for review. The results highlighted a range of distances between nursery and adult habitats that limited functional connectivity for a number of species, predominantly reef fishes. For some species, adults were absent on reefs >9km from the closest nursery habitat, suggesting a threshold for connectivity. Similarly, increased distance between spawning and settlement habitats decreased settling success of larvae of various taxa. Pelagic larval duration, seascape topography and climate change were also shown to impact functional connectivity during the larval phase. The removal and mitigation of barriers preventing functional connectivity, including dams and habitat fragmentation, restored connectivity between disconnected life cycle habitats, but the efficacy of these approaches differed between species and studies. The results of this review deepen our understanding of marine functional connectivity between life cycle habitats via larval, juvenile, and adult dispersal. These findings have implications for the design and management of marine reserve networks.
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