Range-wide population genetic structure of the Caribbean sea fan coral, Gorgonia ventalina

The population structure of benthic marine organisms is of central relevance for the conservation and management of these often threatened species as well as an accurate understanding of their ecological and evolutionary dynamics. A growing body of evidence suggests that marine populations can be structured over short distances despite theoretically high dispersal potential. Yet the proposed mechanisms governing this structure vary, and existing empirical population genetic evidence is of insufficient taxonomic and geographic scope to allow strong general inferences. Here we describe the range-wide population genetic structure of an ecologically important Caribbean octocoral, Gorgonia ventalina. Genetic differentiation was positively correlated with geographic distance and negatively correlated with oceanographically-modeled dispersal probability throughout the range. Although we observed admixture across hundreds of kilometers, estimated dispersal is low, and populations can be differe...底栖海洋生物的种群结构，对于这类常受威胁物种的保护与管理，以及精准解析其生态与进化动态，均具有核心重要性。越来越多的研究证据表明，尽管理论上海洋种群具备极高的扩散潜力，但其种群结构仍可在短距离范围内形成分化。然而，调控该种群结构的潜在机制尚未形成统一认知，且现有基于实证的种群遗传学证据在分类学与地理学覆盖范围上均存在局限，无法支撑强有力的普遍性推论。本研究针对一种在生态系统中具有重要地位的加勒比海八放珊瑚——紫柳珊瑚（Gorgonia ventalina），阐述了其全分布范围内的种群遗传结构。在其整个分布区内，遗传分化程度与地理距离呈正相关，与海洋学模型模拟的扩散概率呈负相关。尽管我们观测到数百公里范围内存在遗传混合现象，但估算得到的扩散水平较低，且种群可存在分化……