Rare long-distance dispersal of a marine angiosperm across the Pacific Ocean

Aim: Long-distance dispersal (LDD) events occur rarely but play a fundamental role in shaping species biogeography. Lying at the heart of island biogeography theory, LDD relies on unusual events to facilitate colonisation of new habitats and range expansion. Despite the importance of LDD, it is inherently difficult to quantify due to the rarity of such events. We estimate the probability of LDD of the seagrass Heterozostera nigricaulis, a common
Australian species, across the Pacific Ocean to colonise South America.Location: Coastal Chile, Australia and the Pacific Ocean. Methods: Genetic analysis of H. nigricaulis collected from Chile and Australia were used to assess the relationship between the populations and levels of clonality. Ocean surface current models were used to predict the probability of propagules dispersing from South East Australia to Central Chile and shipping data used to determine the likelihood of anthropogenic dispersal. Results: Our study infers that the seagra...