Integration of population genomics and biophysical modeling of dispersion by ocean currents for the inference of the connectivity of mangrove trees on the Brazilian coast

• Grant number: 20/07967-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2020
• End date: July 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Gustavo Maruyama Mori
• Grantee: Andre Guilherme Madeira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB-CLP). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Dispersal is a crucial mechanism to living beings, allowing them to reach new resources such that populations and species can explore new environment conditions. However, describing dispersal mechanisms of species that can travel thousands of kilometers can be costly or even impracticable, which is the case for mangrove trees. The dispersal and distribution of these trees have been studied worldwide through genetic data, and the influence of ocean currents on the propagules' movement has been increasingly evident. However, few studies causally relate the patterns of population distribution with the dispersion by ocean currents in an integrated manner. In this work, our objective is to evaluate the role of ocean currents on dispersal and connectivity of Rhizophora mangle along the Brazilian coast. We will test the null hypothesis (i.e. no population structure), as well as hypotheses that consider isolation by distance or by oceanography with different contributions of the propagules' movement and recruitment. We will describe the genetic structure and infer gene flow rates between populations using genomic data from ten sites along the Brazilian coast. Additionally, we will simulate the displacement of propagules between populations through biophysical models of ocean currents, respecting the morphology of the propagules of the species and its reproductive phenology along the coast. We will evaluate the geographic and oceanographic effects on patterns of neutral genetic variation using distance-based redundancy analysis and network analysis. These results will be relevant to explain the current and future distribution of these populations in the face of climate change. Therefore, we expect that our findings will be relevant to guide effective conservation efforts. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MADEIRA, ANDRE GUILHERME; TSUDA, YOSHIAKI; NAGANO, YUKIO; IWASAKI, TAKAYA; ZUCCHI, MARIA IMACULADA; KAJITA, TADASHI; MORI, GUSTAVO MARUYAMA. The role of oceanic currents in the dispersal and connectivity of the mangrove Rhizophora mangle on the Southwest Atlantic region. MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, v. N/A, p. 16-pg., 2023-05-12. (14/22821-9, 18/02655-8, 20/07967-8, 13/08086-1)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

MADEIRA, Andre Guilherme. Integration of population genomics and biophysical modeling of dispersion by ocean currents to infer the connectivity of mangrove trees along the Brazilian coast. 2022. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. São Vicente São Vicente.