Population Connectivity in Marine Systems

Download or read book Population Connectivity in Marine Systems written by Robert K. Cowen and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A central goal of marine ecology is to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the factors regulating the abundance and distribution of marine populations. One critical component of the goal is to quantify rates of exchange, or connectivity, among sub-populations of marine organisms via larval dispersal. Theoretical studies suggest that these linkages play a fundamental role in local and meta-population dynamics, community structure, genetic diversity, and the resiliency of populations to human exploitation. Understanding population connectivity is also key in efforts to develop spatial management methods for marine-capture fisheries, including the design of networks of marine reserves. There are considerable advances in understanding of the biology of juvenile and adult life history stages through experimental marine ecology.