NSF Workshop on Population Connectivity in Marine Systems

University Of Miami, Coral Gables FL

Investigators

Abstract

A central goal of marine ecology is to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the factors,, regulating the abundance and distribution of marine populations. With such an understanding, it should be possible to generate theory capable of predicting the effects of changes in physical and biological parameters on the dynamics of these populations. A critical component of the above goal is to quantify rates of exchange, or connectivity, among subpopulations of marine organisms. We have, however, little more than a rudimentary understanding of the spatial scales over which marine populations are connected by larval dispersal. This lack of knowledge represents a fundamental obstacle to any comprehensive understanding of the population dynamics of marine organisms. Furthermore, a lack of spatial context that such information would provide has limited the ability of fisheries scientists to evaluate the design and potential benefits of novel management strategies such as marine protected areas (MPAs). A recent community debate identified marine population connectivity as a key question in biological oceanography: Over what spatial scales are marine populations connected via dispersal of early fife stages? The report noted that the inability to accurately predict dispersal makes it impossible to determine the effect of climate change and/or human exploitation on marine ecosystems. Thus, there is a clear need for an interdisciplinary effort to address this issue and the consequential need for programmatic funding in support of this effort. Considering the significance and scale of this problem and the obvious need for an integrated, interdisciplinary approach, a workshop will be held to: 1) Develop an appropriate Science Action Plan, and 2) Estimate resource needs to successfully execute this plan. The workshop will draw scientists from across the broad biological and physical oceanographic community, with additional representation, as needed, from other disciplines, especially those capable of providing unique methodologies applicable to the resolution of this problem. The workshop will enable scientists from all relevant disciplines to be involved in the planning of this scientific agenda to ensure compatibility of spatial and temporal scales in sampling strategies and model development.