Coral larval dispersal simulations for the southwestern Indian Ocean (1993-2020)

This dataset, contributing towards the Marine dispersal and retention in the western Indian Ocean project, contains raw coral larval connectivity data computed by the SECoW (Simulating Ecosystem Connectivity with WINDS) dispersal model. 1024 virtual coral larvae are generated every day from 1993-2020 at c. 8000 coral reef sites across the southwestern Indian Ocean, and advected for 120 days following surface-currents from the 1/50° WINDS-M simulation (http://dx.doi.org/10.5285/BF6F0CFBD09E47498572F21081376702) using OceanParcels. A larval settling ‘event’ is defined as a time interval during which a virtual coral larva is continuously within a 1/50° coral reef cell, between 1-120 days after spawning. SECoW records the arrival time, event duration, and cell index for every settling event (up to a maximum of 60). From these data, larval settling fluxes, incorporating larval mortality and competency, can be computed through post-processing with SECoW. These data can therefore be adapted to a variety of biological parameters at a fraction of the computational cost required to recompute larval trajectories. The resulting coral reef connectivity predictions will be useful for marine practitioners working on coral reef conservation across the southwestern Indian Ocean. The data were produced as part of the Marine Dispersal and Retention in the Western Indian Ocean project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) grant NE/S007474/1. See linked online references on this record for cited items given above.