The distance travelled by marine larvae varies by seven orders of magnitude. Dispersal shapes marine biodiversity, and must be understood if marine systems are to be well managed. Because warmer temperatures quicken larval development, larval durations might be systematically shorter in the tropics relative to those at high latitudes. Nevertheless, life history and hydrodynamics also covary with latitude—these also affect dispersal, precluding any clear expectation of how dispersal changes at a global scale. Here we combine data from the literature encompassing >750 marine organisms from seven phyla with oceanographic data on current speeds, to quantify the overall latitudinal gradient in larval dispersal distance. We find that planktonic duration increased with latitude, confirming predictions that temperature effects outweigh all others across global scales. However, while tropical species have the shortest planktonic durations, realized dispersal distances were predicted to be greatest in the tropics and at high latitudes, and lowest at mid-latitudes. At high latitudes, greater dispersal distances were driven by moderate current speed and longer planktonic durations. In the tropics, fast currents overwhelmed the effect of short planktonic durations. Our results contradict previous hypotheses based on biology or physics alone; rather, biology and physics together shape marine dispersal patterns.

海洋幼虫的行进距离变化了七个数量级。分散影响着海洋生物多样性，如果要对海洋系统进行良好管理，则必须理解。由于较高的温度会加快幼虫的发育，因此热带地区的幼虫持续时间可能会比高纬度地区的幼虫持续时间较短。但是，生活史和流体动力学也随纬度变化-它们也影响扩散，因此无法明确预期扩散在全球范围内如何变化。在这里，我们将涵盖来自七个门的750多种海洋生物的文献数据与当前速度的海洋学数据相结合，以量化幼虫扩散距离的总体纬度梯度。我们发现浮游持续时间随着纬度的增加而增加，在全球范围内，有关温度影响将超过所有其他因素的证实性预测。然而，尽管热带物种的浮游持续时间最短，但预计已实现的散布距离在热带和高纬度地区最大，而在中纬度地区最低。在高纬度地区，中等的水流速度和较长的浮游持续时间驱使更大的扩散距离。在热带地区，急流使短时浮游持续时间的影响不堪重负。我们的结果与仅基于生物学或物理学的先前假设相矛盾；相反，生物学和物理学共同塑造了海洋扩散模式。在高纬度地区，中等的水流速度和较长的浮游持续时间驱使更大的扩散距离。在热带地区，急流使短时浮游持续时间的影响不堪重负。我们的结果与仅基于生物学或物理学的先前假设相矛盾；相反，生物学和物理学共同塑造了海洋扩散模式。在高纬度地区，中等的水流速度和较长的浮游持续时间驱使更大的扩散距离。在热带地区，急流使短时浮游持续时间的影响不堪重负。我们的结果与仅基于生物学或物理学的先前假设相矛盾；相反，生物学和物理学共同塑造了海洋扩散模式。