PSICOPOPS

Post-settlement events influence on coral population structure: A multi-scale analysis along a latitudinal gradient

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Albeit recruitment processes are known to influence spatial patterns of adult coral assemblages, the relative influence of recruitment processes vs. post-settlement events in population maintenance remains poorly known. Yet, understanding how populations are maintained is pre-requisite for efficient management. This program proposes to study the influence of post-settlement events on adult population structure in several habitats and islands of three regions following a latitudinal gradient: Australian Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia, and French Polynesia. This will allow to better understanding influence of early post-settlement events on population maintenance at local, insular and regional scale. In this goal, recruit and juvenile mortality and growth of several coral taxa with different life-history traits will be assessed as well as adult population structure, following a hierarchical sampling design. This program is a collaborative project between UMR CNRS EPHE UPVD 5244 “Tropical and Mediterranean Biology and Ecology” in Perpignan (France) and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Townsville (Australia). Both of these teams are at the cutting edge of coral reef ecology, respectively ranked 1st in Europe and 1st in the world.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

The EU has funded research into how post-settlement events influence adult coral populations. This knowledge will be used to promote the efficient management of coral populations.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Although similar in size and density, regions of adult coral populations could be profoundly different in terms of recruitment and mortality rates. There is thus a need to investigate the effect of early post-settlement mortality on population size and structure in different habitats and ecosystems. The brightest marine minds from Australia and France teamed up under the PSICOPOPS project to do just that.

Project researchers focused on several habitats in three regions: the Australian Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia and French Polynesia. Recruitment, juvenile mortality and the growth of several coral types with different life-history traits were assessed.

Pre-settlement processes include habitat selection by larvae, larval mortality and hydrodynamic process, while post-settlement events include competition, predation, facilitation and disturbance. The effect of these processes on the distribution and size of adult populations remains unclear, though larval supply was found to be a major factor.