Within-Population Spatial Genetic Structure of the Bull Kelp, Nereocystis luetkena
Mentor 1
Filipe Alberto
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
5-4-2019 1:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2019 3:30 PM
Description
Fine spatial genetic structure studies of sessile organisms have the capacity to indirectly unravel cryptic aspects of their life history such as dispersal and mating systems. The Bull Kelp, Nereocystis luetkena, is a large brown alga (kelp) forming acanopy in cold temperate coastal reefs in the Northeast Pacific. Concerns about population health of this ecosystem foundation species have been raised in the Salish Sea (US/Canada) and in Northern California in relation to Global Change and coastal development. We recently conducted a distribution-wide genetic differentiation study that allowed to characterize gene-flow and population connectivity at large spatial scales. However, little is known about dispersal and mating system at smallest scales, within a Bull kelp forest. We sampled 40-50 individual kelps in two kelp beds in the Juan de Fuca, WA area. We collected individual spatial coordinates to study the association between pairwise spatial distance and genetic kinship, estimated from microsatellite genetic markers. Our results on the mating system and small-scale dispersal of Bull Kelp will be used to properly design conservation measures.
Within-Population Spatial Genetic Structure of the Bull Kelp, Nereocystis luetkena
Union Wisconsin Room
Fine spatial genetic structure studies of sessile organisms have the capacity to indirectly unravel cryptic aspects of their life history such as dispersal and mating systems. The Bull Kelp, Nereocystis luetkena, is a large brown alga (kelp) forming acanopy in cold temperate coastal reefs in the Northeast Pacific. Concerns about population health of this ecosystem foundation species have been raised in the Salish Sea (US/Canada) and in Northern California in relation to Global Change and coastal development. We recently conducted a distribution-wide genetic differentiation study that allowed to characterize gene-flow and population connectivity at large spatial scales. However, little is known about dispersal and mating system at smallest scales, within a Bull kelp forest. We sampled 40-50 individual kelps in two kelp beds in the Juan de Fuca, WA area. We collected individual spatial coordinates to study the association between pairwise spatial distance and genetic kinship, estimated from microsatellite genetic markers. Our results on the mating system and small-scale dispersal of Bull Kelp will be used to properly design conservation measures.
