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dc.contributor.authorSelkoe, K.
dc.contributor.authorGaggiotti, O.
dc.contributor.authorTreml, E.
dc.contributor.authorWren, J.
dc.contributor.authorDonovan, M.
dc.contributor.authorHawai‘i Reef Connectivity Consortium
dc.contributor.authorDi Battista, Joseph
dc.contributor.authorToonen, R.
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-24T11:53:14Z
dc.date.available2017-03-24T11:53:14Z
dc.date.created2017-03-23T06:59:51Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.identifier.citationSelkoe, K. and Gaggiotti, O. and Treml, E. and Wren, J. and Donovan, M. and Hawai‘i Reef Connectivity Consortium and Di Battista, J. et al. 2016. The DNA of coral reef biodiversity: predicting and protecting genetic diversity of reef assemblages. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 283: 20160354.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/51429
dc.identifier.doi10.1098/rspb.2016.0354
dc.description.abstract

Conservation of ecological communities requires deepening our understanding of genetic diversity patterns and drivers at community-wide scales. Here, we use seascape genetic analysis of a diversity metric, allelic richness (AR), for 47 reef species sampled across 13 Hawaiian Islands to empirically demonstrate that large reefs high in coral cover harbour the greatest genetic diversity on average. We found that a species’s life history (e.g. depth range and herbivory) mediates response of genetic diversity to seascape drivers in logical ways. Furthermore, a metric of combined multi-species AR showed strong coupling to species richness and habitat area, quality and stability that few species showed individually. We hypothesize that macro-ecological forces and species interactions, by mediating species turnover and occupancy (and thus a site’s mean effective population size), influence the aggregate genetic diversity of a site, potentially allowing it to behave as an apparent emergent trait that is shaped by the dominant seascape drivers. The results highlight inherent feedbacks between ecology and genetics, raise concern that genetic resilience of entire reef communities is compromised by factors that reduce coral cover or available habitat, including thermal stress, and provide a foundation for new strategies for monitoring and preserving biodiversity of entire reef ecosystems.

dc.publisherThe Royal Society Publishing
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.titleThe DNA of coral reef biodiversity: predicting and protecting genetic diversity of reef assemblages
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume283
dcterms.source.number1829
dcterms.source.issn0962-8452
dcterms.source.titleProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
curtin.departmentDepartment of Environment and Agriculture
curtin.accessStatusOpen access


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