Data from: Population genetic structure of the Pocillopora damicornis morphospecies along Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

The effective management of a coral reef system relies on a detailed understanding of the population structure of dominant habitat-forming species. For some corals, however, high levels of phenotypic plasticity have made species delineation based on morphological characteristics alone unreliable, suggesting that previous studies of population genetic structure may have been influenced by the inclusion of multiple genetic lineages in the analyses. We examined the population structure of the Pocillopora damicornis morphospecies along the World Heritage Ningaloo Coast, Western Australia, and recovered 2 mitochondrial haplotypes from sympatrically occurring colonies possessing morphological characteristics consistent with taxonomic classification of P. damicornis. Despite a high degree of genetic differentiation between these lineages, we detected low levels of unidirectional admixture between them, suggesting that reproductive barriers are not fully developed. We found dual modes of reproduction for both lineages with considerable variation in the contribution of sexual reproduction among sample sites. Lastly, we identified a high dispersal potential of sexually produced propagules in the most common lineage with positive spatial autocorrelation detected over distances up to 60 km. Based on these results, it appears that populations of P. damicornis have a high capacity to recover from environmental perturbations as long as the effects of disturbances are patchy across Ningaloo Reef.,dryad submission,

珊瑚礁生态系统的有效管理，依赖于对优势造栖物种种群结构 (population structure) 的精准认知。然而，部分珊瑚具有极高的表型可塑性 (phenotypic plasticity)，仅依靠形态特征开展的物种界定 (species delineation) 工作可靠性不足，这意味着此前的种群遗传结构 (population genetic structure) 研究，可能因分析中纳入了多个遗传谱系 (genetic lineages) 而受到干扰。本研究针对西澳大利亚世界遗产地宁格罗海岸沿线的鹿角杯形珊瑚 (Pocillopora damicornis) 形态种 (morphospecies) 种群结构展开调查，从形态特征符合该物种分类学界定的同域分布珊瑚群落中，检出2种线粒体单倍型 (mitochondrial haplotypes)。尽管这两个遗传谱系间存在显著的遗传分化 (genetic differentiation)，但本研究仅检测到低水平的单向基因渗入 (unidirectional admixture)，表明二者尚未形成完全的生殖隔离 (reproductive barriers)。两个遗传谱系均兼具双重繁殖策略，且不同采样点间的有性繁殖贡献度存在显著差异。此外，本研究在占比最高的谱系中发现，其有性繁殖体 (sexually produced propagules) 具备极强的扩散能力，在60公里范围内均检测到显著正空间自相关 (spatial autocorrelation) 效应。基于上述研究结果，若宁格罗礁的干扰效应呈斑块状分布，则鹿角杯形珊瑚种群具备较强的环境扰动 (environmental perturbations) 恢复能力。[Dryad数据提交]