Seascape genomics of Antarctic deep-sea coral: Groundtruthing larval dispersal models with genetic connectivity data

对扩散和遗传连接的详细了解对于确定支撑种群持久性和生产力的过程、物种形成、管理的适当规模以及从气候变化和/或捕鱼等有害影响中恢复的潜力至关重要。幼虫扩散模型(LDM)将数学水动力学模型与物种生物学数据相结合来预测种群连通性。与需要大量采样和昂贵实验室分析的遗传连通性研究相比，它们在时间和精力上都是经济的。因此，LDM越来越多地用于海洋环境中以调查连通性(Ross等人，2016；2019年)；特别是在具有采样难度的区域，如深海。然而，很少有LDM通过遗传连接数据进行验证。该项目将LDM的输出与地面真实的基因组连通性数据进行比较--一种称为“海景基因组学”的组合方法(Selkoe等人，2016年)。通过使用环境数据和基因组数据，将调查这一快速变化地区的连通性驱动因素。这项研究的重点是来自亚南极英国海外领地的深海章鱼--其中一些是海洋保护区，这使该项目具有应用成果，具有巨大的管理影响潜力。

A detailed understanding of dispersal and genetic connectivity is critical in determining the processes underpinning population persistence and productivity, speciation, appropriate scales for management, and the potential for recovery from detrimental impacts e.g. climate change and/or fishing. Larval dispersal models (LDMs) integrate mathematical hydrodynamic models with species' biological data to predict population connectivity. They are economical, in terms of time and effort, compared to genetic connectivity research that require extensive sampling and expensive laboratory analyses. For this reason, LDMs are increasingly used in marine environments to investigate connectivity (Ross et al., 2016; 2019); especially in areas challenging to sample, e.g. deep sea. However, very few LDMs are validated with genetic connectivity data. This project compares LDM outputs with ground-truthed genomic connectivity data - a combined approach called "seascape genomics" (Selkoe et al., 2016). By using environmental data alongside genomic data, the drivers of connectivity across this rapidly-changing region will be investigated. The study focuses on deep-sea octocorals from sub-Antarctic UK overseas territories - some are marine protected areas giving this project an applied output with great potential for management impacts.