Term of Award
Spring 2006
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Biology
Committee Chair
Daniel F. Gleason
Committee Member 1
Alan Harvey
Committee Member 2
Michelle Zjhra
Abstract
Dispersal of marine organisms has generally been assumed to be demographically open with planktonic larvae exploiting ocean currents to travel long distances. However, recent studies report evidence of local larval recruitment. In this study, I hypothesized that populations of the temperate coral, Oculina arbuscula, are maintained primarily by local recruitment off the Georgia coast because: 1) suitable substrate for settlement is patchy and 2) O. arbuscula's branching morphology is conducive to asexual reproduction by fragmentation. To address this hypothesis, I combined data from allozyme electrophoresis, histocompatibility assays, and despersion of established colonies. Results indicated substantial local recruitment maintained primarily by sexual reproduction rather than asexual fragmentation. Sexually produced planulae are not only philopatric, but also show evidence of some migration among populations. In this temperate species, local recruitment primarily maintains aggregated populations of O. arbuscula.
Recommended Citation
Wagner, Lauren Michelle, "Population Genetic Structure of the Temperate Scleractinian Coral, Oculina Arbuscula, in Coastal Georgia" (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 726.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/726
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
