The Role of Reproductive Periodicity in Dispersal Among Hydrothermal Vents and its Implications for Regional Connectivity and Conservation

Abstract

Connectivity among isolated habitat patches via planktonic larval dispersal is crucial for maintaining the regional diversity of hydrothermal vents. Despite, increasing sophistication of techniques for simulating dispersal, limited information on biological and behavioural traits of vent-associated species has unknown affects on the applicability of these methods for conservation. Here we focus on the role of periodic reproduction on dispersal among hydrothermal vents, as periodic spawning has increasingly been observed in a variety of taxa. For generalizeability, we simulate the dispersal of larvae under treatments of periodic and aperiodic release timing at various depths, with a consistant but variable planktonic larval duration. Our results show a highly variable effect of periodicity on the characteristics and distribution of dispersal, which are heavily modified by the dispersal depth and source location. The capacity for reproductive periodicity to impact the among-site dispersal warrents further investigation into its prevelance and timing among vent-associated fauna.

Highly structured populations of copepods at risk to deep‐sea mining: Integration of genomic data with demogenetic and biophysical modelling

“…Genetic connectivity is essential in maintaining diversity and promoting the evolution of marine organisms, and depends on factors such as dispersal ability, reproductive traits, seafloor topology, and environmental conditions (Blanchard & Gollner, 2022;Brunner et al, 2023;De Wit et al, 2023;Faria et al, 2021;Ingels et al, 2023;Mouchi et al, 2023;Pereira et al, 2023;Plouviez et al, 2013Plouviez et al, , 2019Portanier et al, 2023;Virtanen et al, 2020;Yahagi et al, 2017).…”

“…Genetic connectivity is essential in maintaining diversity and promoting the evolution of marine organisms, and depends on factors such as dispersal ability, reproductive traits, seafloor topology, and environmental conditions (Blanchard & Gollner, 2022; Brunner et al., 2023; De Wit et al., 2023; Faria et al., 2021; Ingels et al., 2023; Mouchi et al., 2023; Pereira et al., 2023; Plouviez et al., 2013, 2019; Portanier et al., 2023; Virtanen et al., 2020; Yahagi et al., 2017). High dispersal ability promotes gene flow over long distances, while seafloor topology can create physical barriers that impede movement and lead to allopatric speciation (Ingels et al., 2023; Plouviez et al., 2013, 2019; Yahagi et al., 2017).…”