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Riquet F, De Kuyper CA, Fauvelot C, Airoldi L, Planes S, Fraschetti S, Mačić V, Milchakova N, Mangialajo L, Bottin L. Highly restricted dispersal in habitat-forming seaweed may impede natural recovery of disturbed populations. Sci Rep 2021; 11:16792. [PMID: 34408197 PMCID: PMC8373921 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96027-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Cystoseira sensu lato (Class Phaeophyceae, Order Fucales, Family Sargassaceae) forests play a central role in marine Mediterranean ecosystems. Over the last decades, Cystoseira s.l. suffered from a severe loss as a result of multiple anthropogenic stressors. In particular, Gongolaria barbata has faced multiple human-induced threats, and, despite its ecological importance in structuring rocky communities and hosting a large number of species, the natural recovery of G. barbata depleted populations is uncertain. Here, we used nine microsatellite loci specifically developed for G. barbata to assess the genetic diversity of this species and its genetic connectivity among fifteen sites located in the Ionian, the Adriatic and the Black Seas. In line with strong and significant heterozygosity deficiencies across loci, likely explained by Wahlund effect, high genetic structure was observed among the three seas (ENA corrected FST = 0.355, IC = [0.283, 0.440]), with an estimated dispersal distance per generation smaller than 600 m, both in the Adriatic and Black Sea. This strong genetic structure likely results from restricted gene flow driven by geographic distances and limited dispersal abilities, along with genetic drift within isolated populations. The presence of genetically disconnected populations at small spatial scales (< 10 km) has important implications for the identification of relevant conservation and management measures for G. barbata: each population should be considered as separated evolutionary units with dedicated conservation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florentine Riquet
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR ENTROPIE, Nouméa, New Caledonia.
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR LOV, Villefranche‑sur‑Mer, France.
| | | | - Cécile Fauvelot
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR ENTROPIE, Nouméa, New Caledonia
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR LOV, Villefranche‑sur‑Mer, France
| | - Laura Airoldi
- Department of Biology, Chioggia Hydrobiological Station Umberto D'Ancona, University of Padova, Chioggia, Italy
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, UO CoNISMa, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Serge Planes
- PSL Research University, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de Perpignan, Perpignan, France
| | - Simonetta Fraschetti
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy
- CoNISMa, Rome, Italy
| | - Vesna Mačić
- Institut za biologiju mora, Univerzitet Crne Gore, Kotor, Montenegro
| | - Nataliya Milchakova
- Laboratory of Phytoresources, Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS (IBSS), Sevastopol, Russia
| | | | - Lorraine Bottin
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, UMR 7035 ECOSEAS, Nice, France
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Marine forests of the Mediterranean-Atlantic Cystoseira tamariscifolia complex show a southern Iberian genetic hotspot and no reproductive isolation in parapatry. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10427. [PMID: 29993019 PMCID: PMC6041324 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28811-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate-driven range-shifts create evolutionary opportunities for allopatric divergence and subsequent contact, leading to genetic structuration and hybrid zones. We investigate how these processes influenced the evolution of a complex of three closely related Cystoseira spp., which are a key component of the Mediterranean-Atlantic seaweed forests that are undergoing population declines. The C. tamariscifolia complex, composed of C. tamariscifolia s.s., C. amentacea and C. mediterranea, have indistinct boundaries and natural hybridization is suspected. Our aims are to (1) infer the genetic structure and diversity of these species throughout their distribution ranges using microsatellite markers to identify ancient versus recent geographical populations, contact zones and reproductive barriers, and (2) hindcast past distributions using niche models to investigate the influence of past range shifts on genetic divergence at multiple spatial scales. Results supported a single, morphologically plastic species the genetic structure of which was incongruent with a priori species assignments. The low diversity and low singularity in northern European populations suggest recent colonization after the LGM. The southern Iberian genetic hotspot most likely results from the role of this area as a climatic refugium or a secondary contact zone between differentiated populations or both. We hypothesize that life-history traits (selfing, low dispersal) and prior colonization effects, rather than reproductive barriers, might explain the observed genetic discontinuities.
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Buonomo R, Assis J, Fernandes F, Engelen AH, Airoldi L, Serrão EA. Habitat continuity and stepping-stone oceanographic distances explain population genetic connectivity of the brown alga Cystoseira amentacea. Mol Ecol 2017; 26:766-780. [PMID: 27997043 DOI: 10.1111/mec.13960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2016] [Revised: 11/11/2016] [Accepted: 11/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Effective predictive and management approaches for species occurring in a metapopulation structure require good understanding of interpopulation connectivity. In this study, we ask whether population genetic structure of marine species with fragmented distributions can be predicted by stepping-stone oceanographic transport and habitat continuity, using as model an ecosystem-structuring brown alga, Cystoseira amentacea var. stricta. To answer this question, we analysed the genetic structure and estimated the connectivity of populations along discontinuous rocky habitat patches in southern Italy, using microsatellite markers at multiple scales. In addition, we modelled the effect of rocky habitat continuity and ocean circulation on gene flow by simulating Lagrangian particle dispersal based on ocean surface currents allowing multigenerational stepping-stone dynamics. Populations were highly differentiated, at scales from few metres up to thousands of kilometres. The best possible model fit to explain the genetic results combined current direction, rocky habitat extension and distance along the coast among rocky sites. We conclude that a combination of variable suitable habitat and oceanographic transport is a useful predictor of genetic structure. This relationship provides insight into the mechanisms of dispersal and the role of life-history traits. Our results highlight the importance of spatially explicit modelling of stepping-stone dynamics and oceanographic directional transport coupled with habitat suitability, to better describe and predict marine population structure and differentiation. This study also suggests the appropriate spatial scales for the conservation, restoration and management of species that are increasingly affected by habitat modifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Buonomo
- CCMAR-CIMAR Laboratorio Associado, F.C.T.- Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche ed Ambientali, UO Conisma, University of Bologna, Via S. Alberto 163, 48123, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Jorge Assis
- CCMAR-CIMAR Laboratorio Associado, F.C.T.- Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal
| | - Francisco Fernandes
- CCMAR-CIMAR Laboratorio Associado, F.C.T.- Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal
| | - Aschwin H Engelen
- CCMAR-CIMAR Laboratorio Associado, F.C.T.- Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal
| | - Laura Airoldi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche ed Ambientali, UO Conisma, University of Bologna, Via S. Alberto 163, 48123, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Ester A Serrão
- CCMAR-CIMAR Laboratorio Associado, F.C.T.- Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal
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