[Coral-List] session invitation ECRS 2017: larval dispersal

[Gerrit Nanninga]

Dear colleagues,

I invite you to consider submitting an abstract to session number ​16
"PROXIMATE AND EVOLUTIONARY CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF LARVAL DISPERSAL IN
CORAL REEF SEASCAPES" to be held at the European Coral Reef Symposium,
13-15 Dec 2017, University of Oxford, UK.

Session abstract:
​The degree of larval connectivity between spatially segregated
sub-populations has critical consequences for a species’ evolution,
population dynamics, geographic range and resilience toward disturbance.
Due to the inherent difficulty of tracking minute larvae in a vast and
dynamic ocean, however, larval dispersal remains an enigmatic process.
Relatively recent methodological advances have enabled us to estimate
patterns of connectivity over a range of spatio-temporal scales in a
variety of coral reef organisms. The emergent paradigm from this research
is that populations may be much less open than commonly believed only a
decade ago. While the majority of settlement appears to take place close to
the spawning site, some larvae do travel enormous distances. The proximate
causes (e.g. phenotype-environment interactions) and evolutionary
consequences (e.g. population structure) of such intra-specific variability
in dispersal strategies constitute a relatively recent, yet crucial field
of investigation with important ramifications for dispersal modelling and
reserve network design. Larval dispersal is inherently a multidisciplinary
field of research, attracting geneticists, statisticians and modellers,
behavioural ecologists, physiologists and eventually conservationists
dealing with spatial management of threatened coastal resources. The
primary target audience comprises ecologists working on any aspect of
larval dispersal, ranging from population genetics over larval behaviour to
the prediction of dispersal pathways using coupled biophysical models.

Online submissions for oral and poster presentations are open until 30 June
2017 at: http://www.reefconservationuk.co.uk/abstract-submission.html

Conference details and programme:
http://www.reefconservationuk.co.uk/ecrs-2017.html

<http://www.reefconservationuk.co.uk/ecrs-2017.html>Registration:
Early registration closes 15 Sep, standard registration closes 13 Oct.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and seeing you in Oxford!

Gerrit B. Nanninga
For queries contact me at: gbn23 at cam.ac.uk