Data from: Ecologically relevant dispersal of corals on isolated reefs: implications for managing resilience

Coral reefs are in decline worldwide, and marine reserve networks have been advocated as a powerful management tool for maximizing the resilience of coral communities to an increasing variety, number, and severity of disturbances. However, the effective design of reserves must account for the spatial scales of larval dispersal that affect the demography of communities over ecological time frames. Ecologically relevant distances of dispersal were inferred from DNA microsatellite data in a broadcast-spawning (Acropora tenuis) and a brooding (Seriatopora hystrix) coral at isolated reef systems off northwest Australia. Congruent with expectations based on life histories, levels of genetic subdivision among populations were markedly higher in the brooder than in the broadcast spawner. Additionally, significant subdivision for both species between systems (>100 km), and between (>10 km) or within reefs (

全球范围内珊瑚礁均处于衰退态势，海洋保护区网络已被倡导为一种强有力的管理手段，用以最大化珊瑚群落对日益多样、频发且严重程度不断加剧的各类扰动的恢复能力。然而，保护区的有效设计必须考量幼体扩散的空间尺度——该尺度会在生态时间框架内影响群落的种群动态。本研究借助澳大利亚西北海域孤立礁体系统中体外产卵型（broadcast-spawning）的Acropora tenuis与育幼型（brooding）的Seriatopora hystrix两种珊瑚的DNA微卫星（DNA microsatellite）数据，推断了具有生态学意义的扩散距离。与基于物种生活史的预期相符，育幼型珊瑚的种群间遗传分化水平显著高于体外产卵型珊瑚。此外，两个物种在礁体系统间（>100 km）、礁体间（>10 km）乃至礁体内均存在显著的遗传分化