Does Variance in Breeding Success Limit Effective Population Sizes of Marine Organisms? A Test in a Semi-Isolated Natural Population of Oysters

对于有能力生产大量 和早期生命阶段的高平均死亡率， 在成功方面存在着巨大差异的可能性， 个体为下一代贡献后代 繁殖成年人。 对于这些动物，二项式假设 后代数量的变化可能是错误的，一个小的 在每个国家，少数后代可能取代整个人口。 当生殖活动和生殖能力之间不匹配时， 和适宜的海洋条件。 审查这个 长牡蛎种群模式假说 湾，华盛顿州，其中30年的记录存在的生殖活动 和招聘成功，将通过比较严格测试， 幼虫、幼鱼和成虫的遗传多样性。 遗传 幼虫种群的多样性研究现在成为可能， 分子生物学的进展 生殖差异大 成功可能是种群生物学、适应性 以及大多数海洋动物的物种形成。

For marine animals with the capacity of producing large number of offsprings and high average mortalities of early life stages, there exists the potential for a large variance in the success with which individual contribute offspring to the next generation of reproducing adults. For these animals, an assumption of binomial variance in offspring numbers is likely wrong, and that a small minority of offsprings may replace an entire population in each generation when there is a mismatch between reproductive activity and permissive oceanographic conditions. To examine this hypothesis, a model oyster population Crassostrea gigas in Dabob Bay, WA, for which a 30-year record exists on reproductive activity and recruitment success, will be tested rigorously by comparison of genetic diversity among larvae, juveniles, and adults. Genetic diversity studies of larval populations are now made possible by advances in molecular biology. Large variance in reproductive success may be a major factor in the population biology, adaptation and speciation of most marine animals.