Dispersal of coral larvae from a lagoonal reef—II. Comparisons between model predictions and observed concentrations

Modeling Fine-Scale Coral Larval Dispersal and Interisland Connectivity to Help Designate Mutually-Supporting Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas: Insights from Maui Nui, Hawaii

“…Although larval competency and dispersal potential for many coral species can be quite high (Richmond, 1987;Wilson and Harrison, 1998;Kolinski and Cox, 2003), it has been suggested (Miller and Mundy, 2003) that dispersal of broadcast-spawning corals may be not as great as previously assumed because not only does larval density decrease exponentially with time (Sammarco and Andrews, 1988;Peliz et al, 2007), but so does competency to settle (Peliz et al, 2007). If this is the case, the short time scales of dispersal shown here are important because both larval density ( Figure 6) and recruitment success decrease quickly with time and distance (Sammarco and Andrews, 1988) due to mixing and horizontal dispersion (Wolanski et al, 1989;Oliver et al, 1992). It has been demonstrated (Andutta et al, 2012;Tay et al, 2012) that reefs and islands in close proximity often result in decreased flushing and thus more exposure time in areas where settlement can occur successfully; these features are generally not captured with large-scale models (Vaz et al, 2013;Wood et al, 2014).…”

“…Overall, there seems to be a general northwesterly predominant directionality in dispersal in Maui Nui; such a predominant directionality in dispersal due to relatively consistent forcing has been observed in other locations (Gaines et al, 2003;Peliz et al, 2007). The decision to model such a relatively short maximum corallarval dispersal competency period (72 h) compared to many other studies (Oliver et al, 1992;Vaz et al, 2013;Kool and Nichol, 2015) was demonstrated to be sound because the modeled larvae densities generally decreased more than two orders of magnitude within 24 h (Figure 6). The exponential decrease in density during the initial 24 h is due purely to dispersion, as there is no settling or mortality during this time frame.…”

Modeling Fine-Scale Coral Larval Dispersal and Interisland Connectivity to Help Designate Mutually-Supporting Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas: Insights from Maui Nui, Hawaii

“…Although larval competency and dispersal potential for many coral species can be quite high (Richmond, 1987;Wilson and Harrison, 1998;Kolinski and Cox, 2003), it has been suggested (Miller and Mundy, 2003) that dispersal of broadcast-spawning corals may be not as great as previously assumed because not only does larval density decrease exponentially with time (Sammarco and Andrews, 1988;Peliz et al, 2007), but so does competency to settle (Peliz et al, 2007). If this is the case, the short time scales of dispersal shown here are important because both larval density ( Figure 6) and recruitment success decrease quickly with time and distance (Sammarco and Andrews, 1988) due to mixing and horizontal dispersion (Wolanski et al, 1989;Oliver et al, 1992). It has been demonstrated (Andutta et al, 2012;Tay et al, 2012) that reefs and islands in close proximity often result in decreased flushing and thus more exposure time in areas where settlement can occur successfully; these features are generally not captured with large-scale models (Vaz et al, 2013;Wood et al, 2014).…”

“…Overall, there seems to be a general northwesterly predominant directionality in dispersal in Maui Nui; such a predominant directionality in dispersal due to relatively consistent forcing has been observed in other locations (Gaines et al, 2003;Peliz et al, 2007). The decision to model such a relatively short maximum corallarval dispersal competency period (72 h) compared to many other studies (Oliver et al, 1992;Vaz et al, 2013;Kool and Nichol, 2015) was demonstrated to be sound because the modeled larvae densities generally decreased more than two orders of magnitude within 24 h (Figure 6). The exponential decrease in density during the initial 24 h is due purely to dispersion, as there is no settling or mortality during this time frame.…”

The influence of larval retention on coral recruitment

“…The spatiotemporal patterns of larval supply remain largely uncharacterized on coral reefs, as only few studies have attempted to quantify the supply of coral larvae during their planktonic stage empirically (Black 1988, Oliver et al 1992, Gilmour et al 2009). Instead, research has predominantly focused on settlement to artificial substrates as a proxy for larval supply, thereby limiting our understanding of critical pre-settlement processes for corals (Fig.…”

Small‐scale genetic structure of coral populations in Palau based on whole mitochondrial genomes: Implications for future coral resilience

“…Coral genetic structure has often been shown over small spatial scales for brooding species that have short‐dispersal larvae but much less so for species like Acropora that broadcast gametes (Ayre & Hughes, 2000 ; Oliver et al, 1992 ; van der Ven et al, 2021 ). For broadcast species, significant differences tend to be over larger spatial scales.…”

Modeling Fine-Scale Coral Larval Dispersal and Interisland Connectivity to Help Designate Mutually-Supporting Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas: Insights from Maui Nui, Hawaii

“…Although larval competency and dispersal potential for many coral species can be quite high (Richmond, 1987;Wilson and Harrison, 1998;Kolinski and Cox, 2003), it has been suggested (Miller and Mundy, 2003) that dispersal of broadcast-spawning corals may be not as great as previously assumed because not only does larval density decrease exponentially with time (Sammarco and Andrews, 1988;Peliz et al, 2007), but so does competency to settle (Peliz et al, 2007). If this is the case, the short time scales of dispersal shown here are important because both larval density ( Figure 6) and recruitment success decrease quickly with time and distance (Sammarco and Andrews, 1988) due to mixing and horizontal dispersion (Wolanski et al, 1989;Oliver et al, 1992). It has been demonstrated (Andutta et al, 2012;Tay et al, 2012) that reefs and islands in close proximity often result in decreased flushing and thus more exposure time in areas where settlement can occur successfully; these features are generally not captured with large-scale models (Vaz et al, 2013;Wood et al, 2014).…”

“…Overall, there seems to be a general northwesterly predominant directionality in dispersal in Maui Nui; such a predominant directionality in dispersal due to relatively consistent forcing has been observed in other locations (Gaines et al, 2003;Peliz et al, 2007). The decision to model such a relatively short maximum corallarval dispersal competency period (72 h) compared to many other studies (Oliver et al, 1992;Vaz et al, 2013;Kool and Nichol, 2015) was demonstrated to be sound because the modeled larvae densities generally decreased more than two orders of magnitude within 24 h (Figure 6). The exponential decrease in density during the initial 24 h is due purely to dispersion, as there is no settling or mortality during this time frame.…”

The influence of larval retention on coral recruitment

“…The spatiotemporal patterns of larval supply remain largely uncharacterized on coral reefs, as only few studies have attempted to quantify the supply of coral larvae during their planktonic stage empirically (Black 1988, Oliver et al 1992, Gilmour et al 2009). Instead, research has predominantly focused on settlement to artificial substrates as a proxy for larval supply, thereby limiting our understanding of critical pre-settlement processes for corals (Fig.…”

Small‐scale genetic structure of coral populations in Palau based on whole mitochondrial genomes: Implications for future coral resilience

“…Coral genetic structure has often been shown over small spatial scales for brooding species that have short‐dispersal larvae but much less so for species like Acropora that broadcast gametes (Ayre & Hughes, 2000 ; Oliver et al, 1992 ; van der Ven et al, 2021 ). For broadcast species, significant differences tend to be over larger spatial scales.…”

Modeling Fine-Scale Coral Larval Dispersal and Interisland Connectivity to Help Designate Mutually-Supporting Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas: Insights from Maui Nui, Hawaii

“…Although larval competency and dispersal potential for many coral species can be quite high (Richmond, 1987;Wilson and Harrison, 1998;Kolinski and Cox, 2003), it has been suggested (Miller and Mundy, 2003) that dispersal of broadcast-spawning corals may be not as great as previously assumed because not only does larval density decrease exponentially with time (Sammarco and Andrews, 1988;Peliz et al, 2007), but so does competency to settle (Peliz et al, 2007). If this is the case, the short time scales of dispersal shown here are important because both larval density ( Figure 6) and recruitment success decrease quickly with time and distance (Sammarco and Andrews, 1988) due to mixing and horizontal dispersion (Wolanski et al, 1989;Oliver et al, 1992). It has been demonstrated (Andutta et al, 2012;Tay et al, 2012) that reefs and islands in close proximity often result in decreased flushing and thus more exposure time in areas where settlement can occur successfully; these features are generally not captured with large-scale models (Vaz et al, 2013;Wood et al, 2014).…”

“…Overall, there seems to be a general northwesterly predominant directionality in dispersal in Maui Nui; such a predominant directionality in dispersal due to relatively consistent forcing has been observed in other locations (Gaines et al, 2003;Peliz et al, 2007). The decision to model such a relatively short maximum corallarval dispersal competency period (72 h) compared to many other studies (Oliver et al, 1992;Vaz et al, 2013;Kool and Nichol, 2015) was demonstrated to be sound because the modeled larvae densities generally decreased more than two orders of magnitude within 24 h (Figure 6). The exponential decrease in density during the initial 24 h is due purely to dispersion, as there is no settling or mortality during this time frame.…”

The influence of larval retention on coral recruitment

“…The spatiotemporal patterns of larval supply remain largely uncharacterized on coral reefs, as only few studies have attempted to quantify the supply of coral larvae during their planktonic stage empirically (Black 1988, Oliver et al 1992, Gilmour et al 2009). Instead, research has predominantly focused on settlement to artificial substrates as a proxy for larval supply, thereby limiting our understanding of critical pre-settlement processes for corals (Fig.…”

Small‐scale genetic structure of coral populations in Palau based on whole mitochondrial genomes: Implications for future coral resilience

“…Coral genetic structure has often been shown over small spatial scales for brooding species that have short‐dispersal larvae but much less so for species like Acropora that broadcast gametes (Ayre & Hughes, 2000 ; Oliver et al, 1992 ; van der Ven et al, 2021 ). For broadcast species, significant differences tend to be over larger spatial scales.…”