[Coral-List] New article: The effect of severe hurricanes on sponge recruitment and gene flow

[Andia Chaves-Fonnegra]

Dear colleagues,

I am happy to share our recent article on the effect of severe hurricanes
on recruitment and gene flow in the clonal sponge *Aplysina cauliformis*.

This work is the result of a collaborative project between the University
of the Virgin Islands,  University of Mississippi, University of Alabama,
and Florida Atlantic University. The paper was born in the eye of two
hurricanes, survived the pandemic, and here it is post-pandemic.

Our main finding is that populations of clonal marine species with low
pelagic dispersion, such as *A. cauliformis*, may benefit from increased
frequency and magnitude of hurricanes to maintain genetic diversity and
combat inbreeding, enhancing the resilience of Caribbean sponge communities
to extreme storm events. We used 2bRAD sequencing (22,014 SNP loci) to
understand how much clonality vs sexual recruitment occurs on coral reefs
post-storms. Our results are the first to evaluate substrate recolonization
by sponges after storms using genetic analyses, clarifying the identity of
juveniles (asexual through fragmentation or sexual) and supporting Wulff's
hypothesis that larval recruitment (i.e., sexual reproduction) is greater
after storms. However, genetic diversity (He, Ho, FIS) did not increase
after the hurricanes, disagreeing with Wulff (1995).

Here is the link:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mec.17307

Kind regards,

Andia

-- 
Andia Chaves Fonnegra
Assistant Professor of Biology
Florida Atlantic University
Wilkes Honors College/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute

Personal website: http://andiacfonnegra.weebly.com/
Wilkes Honors College website: http://www.fau.edu/honors/future-students/
Harbor Branch Institute website: http://www.fau.edu/hboi/about/