A seascape genetic analysis of a stress-tolerant coral species along the Western Australian coast

Genetic diversity and connectivity are key factors in determining a population’s resilience to future disturbance. This is especially relevant to corals, which are in global decline due to increasing frequency and strength of thermal anomalies and severe tropical cyclones. While many studies have investigated genetic diversity and population structure in corals, they focused on species being removed at the greatest rate from coral reefs, Acroporids and Pocilloporids, and it is unclear whether the patterns observed in these species reflects those found in more resilient species. Here, we use microsatellite markers and two lagrangian models with differing resolutions, to investigate population structure in a stress-tolerant coral survivor Cyphastrea microphthalma, Family Merulinidae, along the north-western Australian coastline. We found evidence of four genetic clusters with some level of admixture among them. However, while there was evidence of population structure within the intensive...