Some reef-building corals only disperse metres per generation.

Understanding the dispersal potential of different species is essential for predicting recovery trajectories following local disturbances and the potential for adaptive loci to spread to populations facing extreme environmental changes. However, dispersal distances have been notoriously difficult to estimate for scleractinian corals, where sexually (as gametes or larvae) or asexually (as fragments or larvae) derived propagules disperse through vast oceans. Here, we demonstrate that generational dispersal distances for sexually produced propagules can be indirectly inferred for corals using individual-based isolation-by-distance (IbD) analyses by combining reduced-representation genomic sequencing with photogrammetric spatial mapping.

Best practices for genetic and genomic data archiving.

Genetic and genomic data are collected for a vast array of scientific and applied purposes. Despite mandates for public archiving, data are typically used only by the generating authors. The reuse of genetic and genomic datasets remains uncommon because it is difficult, if not impossible, due to non-standard archiving practices and lack of contextual metadata.

Importance of timely metadata curation to the global surveillance of genetic diversity.

Genetic diversity within species represents a fundamental yet underappreciated level of biodiversity. Because genetic diversity can indicate species resilience to changing climate, its measurement is relevant to many national and global conservation policy targets. Many studies produce large amounts of genome-scale genetic diversity data for wild populations, but most (87%) do not include the associated spatial and temporal metadata necessary for them to be reused in monitoring programs or for acknowledging the sovereignty of nations or Indigenous peoples.

Coral-bleaching responses to climate change across biological scales.

The global impacts of climate change are evident in every marine ecosystem. On coral reefs, mass coral bleaching and mortality have emerged as ubiquitous responses to ocean warming, yet one of the greatest challenges of this epiphenomenon is linking information across scientific disciplines and spatial and temporal scales. Here we review some of the seminal and recent coral-bleaching discoveries from an ecological, physiological, and molecular perspective.

Dongsha Atoll is an important stepping-stone that promotes regional genetic connectivity in the South China Sea.

Background: Understanding region-wide patterns of larval connectivity and gene flow is crucial for managing and conserving marine biodiversity. Dongsha Atoll National Park (DANP), located in the northern South China Sea (SCS), was established in 2007 to study and conserve this diverse and remote coral atoll. However, the role of Dongsha Atoll in connectivity throughout the SCS is seldom studied.

Poor data stewardship will hinder global genetic diversity surveillance.

Genomic data are being produced and archived at a prodigious rate, and current studies could become historical baselines for future global genetic diversity analyses and monitoring programs. However, when we evaluated the potential utility of genomic data from wild and domesticated eukaryote species in the world's largest genomic data repository, we found that most archived genomic datasets (86%) lacked the spatiotemporal metadata necessary for genetic biodiversity surveillance. Labor-intensive scouring of a subset of published papers yielded geospatial coordinates and collection years for only 33% (39% if place names were considered) of these genomic datasets.

A coalescent sampler successfully detects biologically meaningful population structure overlooked by -statistics.

Assessing the geographic structure of populations has relied heavily on Sewell Wright's -statistics and their numerous analogues for many decades. However, it is well appreciated that, due to their nonlinear relationship with gene flow, -statistics frequently fail to reject the null model of panmixia in species with relatively high levels of gene flow and large population sizes. Coalescent genealogy samplers instead allow a model-selection approach to the characterization of population structure, thereby providing the opportunity for stronger inference.

The Genomic Observatories Metadatabase (GeOMe): A new repository for field and sampling event metadata associated with genetic samples.

The Genomic Observatories Metadatabase (GeOMe, http://www.geome-db.org/) is an open access repository for geographic and ecological metadata associated with biosamples and genetic data.

Melting barriers to faunal exchange across ocean basins.

Accelerated loss of sea ice in the Arctic is opening routes connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for longer periods each year. These changes may increase the ease and frequency with which marine birds and mammals move between the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Indeed, recent observations of birds and mammals suggest these movements have intensified in recent decades.

Geo-Referenced, Abundance Calibrated Ocean Distribution of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Stocks across the West Coast of North America.

Understanding seasonal migration and localized persistence of populations is critical for effective species harvest and conservation management. Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) forecasting models predict stock composition, abundance, and distribution during annual assessments of proposed fisheries impacts. Most models, however, fail to account for the influence of biophysical factors on year-to-year fluctuations in migratory distributions and stock-specific survival.

Coalescent and biophysical models of stepping-stone gene flow in neritid snails.

Marine species in the Indo-Pacific have ranges that can span thousands of kilometres, yet studies increasingly suggest that mean larval dispersal distances are less than historically assumed. Gene flow across these ranges must therefore rely to some extent on larval dispersal among intermediate 'stepping-stone' populations in combination with long-distance dispersal far beyond the mean of the dispersal kernel. We evaluate the strength of stepping-stone dynamics by employing a spatially explicit biophysical model of larval dispersal in the tropical Pacific to construct hypotheses for dispersal pathways.

Expansion dating: calibrating molecular clocks in marine species from expansions onto the Sunda Shelf Following the Last Glacial Maximum.

The rate of change in DNA is an important parameter for understanding molecular evolution and hence for inferences drawn from studies of phylogeography and phylogenetics. Most rate calibrations for mitochondrial coding regions in marine species have been made from divergence dating for fossils and vicariant events older than 1-2 My and are typically 0.5-2% per lineage per million years.

Comparative phylogeography of two seastars and their ectosymbionts within the Coral Triangle.

Repeated exposure and flooding of the Sunda and Sahul shelves during Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations is thought to have contributed to the isolation and diversification of sea-basin populations within the Coral Triangle. This hypothesis has been tested in numerous phylogeographical studies, recovering an assortment of genetic patterns that the authors have generally attributed to differences in larval dispersal capability or adult habitat specificity. This study compares phylogeographical patterns from mitochondrial COI sequences among two co-distributed seastars that differ in their adult habitat and dispersal ability, and two seastar ectosymbionts that differ in their degree of host specificity.

Contrasting demographic history and phylogeographical patterns in two Indo-Pacific gastropods.

Marine species with ranges that span the Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA) exhibit a range of phylogeographical patterns, most of which are interpreted in the context of vicariance between Indian and Pacific Ocean populations during Pliocene and Pleistocene low sea-level stands. However, patterns often vary among ecologically similar taxa, sometimes even within genera. This study compares phylogeographical patterns in two species of highly dispersive neritid gastropod, Nerita albicilla and Nerita plicata, with nearly sympatric ranges that span the Indo-Pacific.