Dispersal in space and time: consequences for phenotypes, fitness, and eco-evolutionary dynamics in marine systems

Jeffrey Shima
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

jeffrey.shima@vuw.ac.nz

Nearly all marine reef animals produce larvae that develop in open water and potentially disperse away from their natal reef. Hypotheses to account for this ubiquitous life-cycle have been proposed, and at best, these only tell part of the story.  I use forensic approaches to infer individual dispersal histories of fish from their otoliths, and I demonstrate some important demographic consequences of specific movement trajectories, environmental context, and reproductive timing. I present recent insights from of our work on three species: the common triplefin (a rocky reef fish found throughout New Zealand), inanga (an amphidromous fish and the primary constituent of New Zealand’s whitebait fishery), and the sixbar wrasse (a reef fish found on coral reefs of Moorea, French Polynesia).   I describe our emerging interests in eco-evolutionary dynamics, and present a novel hypothesis stemming from our work on dispersal-related processes, which may help to explain the repeated evolution of bi-partite life cycles in the sea.

Recent publications:

Shima, J.S., E.G. Noonburg,  S.E. Swearer, S.A. Alonzo, and C.W. Osenberg (2018) Born at the right time? A conceptual framework linking reproduction, development, and settlement in reef fish. Ecology 99: 116-126.

Shima, J.S. and S.E. Swearer (2016) Evidence and population consequences of shared larval dispersal histories in a marine fish. Ecology 97: 1373–1380.

Shima, J.S., E.G. Noonburg, and S.E. Swearer (2015) Consequences of variable larval dispersal pathways and resulting phenotypic mixtures to the dynamics of marine metapopulations. Biology Letters 11:20140778.

Shima, J.S. and S.E. Swearer (2010) The legacy of dispersal: larval experience shapes persistence later in the life of a reef fish. Journal of Animal Ecology 79:1308-1314.