Islands of Sea : the evolution, ecology and conservation of marine lake invertebrates

Autor: Diede Louise Maas
Přispěvatelé: Wageningen University, A.J. Murk, L.E. Becking, S. Prost
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Popis: The marine realm is seemingly boundless, and the absence of physical barriers to dispersal has led to assumptions of high dispersal abilities and subsequent slow speciation rates for marine organisms. Recently, these assumptions are being overturned by studies showing high genetic structuring for marine populations even at small spatial scales, suggesting isolative mechanisms may be at play. In this thesis, four modes of isolation are considered, including neutral and selective processes. Neutral processes of dispersal limitation include isolation-by-distance and isolation-by-resistance. Selective processes that affect establishment are isolation-by-environment and historical contingency. The relative importance of processes shaping genetic structure on different spatial and temporal scales in the marine realm remains unclear.Islands are ideal systems to test for the modes of isolation. Anchialine systems such as marine lakes provide a marine analogue to oceanic islands by being bodies of seawater surrounded by land but maintaining a subterranean connection to the surrounding sea. For this thesis, marine lakes in Indonesia were selected with a range of connection to the surrounding sea and variable local environments, but in the same spatial and temporal context. Two types of genetic marker panels were used: a single marker (cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and a reduced representation genomic strategy (double digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing, or ddRAD). Three marine invertebrate species with different life histories were sampled: a jellyfish (Mastigias papua), a sponge (Suberites diversicolor) and a mussel (Brachidontes sp.). The objectives were to 1) set environmental and biological baselines in the marine lakes of Indonesia, 2) assess how benthic communities and three invertebrates conform to expectations of Island Biogeography Theory, 3) test whether invertebrate populations show panmixia or if they show patterns of genetic structuring, and 4) quantify the relative importance of neutral and selective factors shaping population differentiation.Chapter 2 presents a comprehensive overview of marine lakes in Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia. Thirty-two 32 marine lakes were identified, of which 17 were new to science. The lakes showed large variability in local environments (e.g., temperature ranging from 30.0° to 36.8°C) and the connection to the surrounding sea (relative tidal amplitude ranged from 5% to 89% compared to the sea). Connection to the surrounding sea and temperature were important predictors of diversity distributions. Lake area did not influence benthic group coverage or diversity. It is concluded that marine lakes can be seen as marine analogues of island-like systems and can be used in ecological and evolutionary studies.In chapter 3 focusses on marine lakes in Raja Ampat, West Papua, containing dense populations of the golden jellyfish (Mastigias papua) as a case study to include peripheral ecosystems in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). While these lakes receive increasing tourism attention, they are not yet included in conservation management plans. Strong genetic differentiation between lakes was found using COI, including one subspecies defined by previous research and potential unique subspecies, with concordant morphological differences between lakes. Major fluctuations in jellyfish abundance were observed, with no temporally consistent pattern across lakes. Identified threats from stakeholder interviews included tenure disputes, conversion to aquaculture, introduced species and unregulated tourism. A 30-fold increase of tourism to Raja Ampat was observed since 2007. Chapter 3 provides the scientific basis in the form of unique genetic and morphological variation to distinguish the lakes as individual management units.In chapter 4 population structure and associated drivers of the sponge Suberites diversicolor was assessed and results of genome-wide sequencing were compared to previously published results using single markers. Both low- and high-resolution markers were able to detect two major genetic lineages which might represent distinct species. However, with the high-resolution marker panel, new evidence of strong population structure within one of the lineages was found, even at spatial scales of 1,400km) and small (
Databáze: OpenAIRE