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A comparative study of asymmetric migration events across a marine biogeographic boundary.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wares, JP; Gaines, SD; Cunningham, CW
Published in: Evolution; international journal of organic evolution
February 2001

In many nonclonal, benthic marine species, geographic distribution is mediated by the dispersal of their larvae. The dispersal and recruitment of marine larvae may be limited by temperature gradients that can affect mortality or by ocean currents that can directly affect the movements of pelagic larvae. We focus on Point Conception, a well-known biogeographic boundary between the Californian and Oregonian biogeographic provinces, to investigate whether ocean currents affect patterns of gene flow in intertidal marine invertebrates. The predominance of pelagically dispersing species with northern range limits at Point Conception suggests that ocean currents can affect species distributions by erecting barriers to the dispersal of planktonic larvae. In this paper, we investigate whether the predominantly southward currents have left a recognizable genetic signature in species with pelagically dispersing larvae whose ranges span Point Conception. We use patterns of genetic diversity and a new method for inferring cladistic migration events to test the hypothesis that southward currents increase southward gene flow for species with pelagically dispersing larvae. We collected mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data for the barnacles Balanus glandula and Chthamalus fissus and also reanalyzed a previously published mtDNA dataset (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, Edmands et al. 1996). For all three species, our cladistic approach identified an excess of southward migration events across Point Conception. In data from a fourth species with nondispersing larvae (Nucella emarginata, Marko 1998), our method suggests that ocean currents have not played a role in generating genetic structure.

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Published In

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution

DOI

EISSN

1558-5646

ISSN

0014-3820

Publication Date

February 2001

Volume

55

Issue

2

Start / End Page

295 / 306

Related Subject Headings

  • Sea Urchins
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Plants, Medicinal
  • Oregon
  • Oceanography
  • Mollusca
  • Models, Genetic
  • Larva
  • Geography
  • Genotype
 

Citation

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Wares, J. P., Gaines, S. D., & Cunningham, C. W. (2001). A comparative study of asymmetric migration events across a marine biogeographic boundary. Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution, 55(2), 295–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb01294.x
Wares, J. P., S. D. Gaines, and C. W. Cunningham. “A comparative study of asymmetric migration events across a marine biogeographic boundary.Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution 55, no. 2 (February 2001): 295–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb01294.x.
Wares JP, Gaines SD, Cunningham CW. A comparative study of asymmetric migration events across a marine biogeographic boundary. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution. 2001 Feb;55(2):295–306.
Wares, J. P., et al. “A comparative study of asymmetric migration events across a marine biogeographic boundary.Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution, vol. 55, no. 2, Feb. 2001, pp. 295–306. Epmc, doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb01294.x.
Wares JP, Gaines SD, Cunningham CW. A comparative study of asymmetric migration events across a marine biogeographic boundary. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution. 2001 Feb;55(2):295–306.
Journal cover image

Published In

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution

DOI

EISSN

1558-5646

ISSN

0014-3820

Publication Date

February 2001

Volume

55

Issue

2

Start / End Page

295 / 306

Related Subject Headings

  • Sea Urchins
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Plants, Medicinal
  • Oregon
  • Oceanography
  • Mollusca
  • Models, Genetic
  • Larva
  • Geography
  • Genotype