Tracking origins and spread of Crown-of-Thorns Seastars on the Great Barrier Reef

这项提议旨在揭示荆棘冠海星(COTS)爆发的源头珊瑚礁以及通过大堡礁传播的主要路线。吃珊瑚的帆布床对大堡礁构成了重大威胁。利用种群基因组学、入侵物种遗传学和流行病学，并利用从1980年代S开始的大量成虫和幼虫收集，该项目将检验有关婴儿床疫情爆发来源和随后通过幼虫传播的空间传播的重要假说。该项目预计将澄清远距离传播路径的位置和时间，并测试在珊瑚礁附近发现幼虫是否可以为这些珊瑚礁上的局部疫情提供早期预警。

This proposal aims to uncover the source reefs for Crown-of-Thorns Seastars (CoTS) outbreaks and the main routes of spread through the Great Barrier Reef. Coral eating CoTS pose a significant threat to the Great Barrier Reef. Using population genomics, invasive species genetics, and epidemiology and drawing upon extensive collections of adults and larvae dating from the 1980’s onwards, this project will test prominent hypotheses about outbreak origins and subsequent spatial spread of CoTS via larval dispersal. The project expects to clarify the locations and timing of long distance dispersal pathways and to test whether larval detection near reefs can provide an early warning for local outbreaks on these same reefs.