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Asexual reproduction does not produce clonal populations of the brooding coral Pocillopora damicornis on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

journal contribution
posted on 2006-03-01, 00:00 authored by Craig ShermanCraig Sherman, D Ayre, K Miller
We have investigated the relationship between genotypic diversity, the mode of production of brooded larvae and disturbance in a range of reef habitats, in order to resolve the disparity between the reproductive mode and population structure reported for the brooding coral Pocillopora damicornis. Within 14 sites across six habitats, the ratio of the observed (G o) to the expected (G e) genotypic diversity ranged from 69 to 100% of that expected for random mating. At three other sites in two habitats the G o /G e ranged from 35 to 53%. Two of these sites were recently bleached, suggesting that asexual recruitment may be favoured after disturbance. Nevertheless, our data suggest that brooded larvae, from each of five habitats surveyed, were asexually produced. While clonal recruitment may be important in disturbed habitats, the lack of clonality detected, both in this and earlier surveys of 40 other sites, implies that a disturbance is normally insufficient to explain this species’ continued investment in clonal reproduction.

History

Journal

Coral Reefs

Volume

25

Issue

1

Pagination

7 - 18

Publisher

Springer

Location

Heidelberg, Germany

ISSN

0722-4028

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2005, Springer-Verlag