Population dynamics of marine species that are sessile as adults are driven by oceanographic dispersal of larvae from spawning to nursery grounds. This is mediated by life‐history traits such as the timing and frequency of spawning, larval behaviour and duration, and settlement success. Here, we use 1725 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to study the fine‐scale spatial genetic structure in the commercially important cockle species Cerastoderma edule and compare it to environmental variables and current‐mediated larval dispersal within a modelling framework. Hydrodynamic modelling employing the NEMO Atlantic Margin Model (AMM15) was used to simulate larval transport and estimate connectivity between populations during spawning months (April–September), factoring in larval duration and interannual variability of ocean currents. Results at neutral loci reveal the existence of three separate genetic clusters (mean F_ST = 0.021) within a relatively fine spatial scale in the north‐west Atlantic. Environmental association analysis indicates that oceanographic currents and geographic proximity explain over 20% of the variance observed at neutral loci, while genetic variance (71%) at outlier loci was explained by sea surface temperature extremes. These results fill an important knowledge gap in the management of a commercially important and overexploited species, bringing us closer to understanding the role of larval dispersal in connecting populations at a fine geographic scale.

中文翻译：

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使用多模型方法对已开发海洋物种（常见的鸟蛤 Cerastoderma edule）进行精细海景基因组学研究。


成年后无柄的海洋物种的种群动态是由幼虫从产卵到育苗地的海洋扩散驱动的。这是由生活史特征介导的，例如产卵的时间和频率、幼虫的行为和持续时间以及定居成功。在这里，我们使用 1725 个单核苷酸多态性 (SNP) 来研究商业上重要的鸟蛤物种Cerastoderma edule的精细空间遗传结构，并将其与模型框架内的环境变量和电流介导的幼虫扩散进行比较。采用 NEMO 大西洋边缘模型 (AMM15) 的水动力模型用于模拟幼体运输并估计产卵月份（4 月至 9 月）期间种群之间的连通性，同时考虑幼体持续时间和洋流的年际变化。中性位点的结果揭示了西北大西洋相对精细的空间尺度内存在三个独立的遗传簇（平均F _ST = 0.021）。环境关联分析表明，海洋流和地理邻近性解释了中性位点观察到的 20% 以上的方差，而离群位点的遗传方差 (71%) 是由海面极端温度解释的。这些结果填补了管理具有重要商业价值和过度开发物种的重要知识空白，使我们更接近于了解幼虫扩散在精细地理尺度上连接种群中的作用。