Connectivity between populations is important when considering conservation or the management of exploitation of vulnerable species. We investigated how populations of a broadcast-spawning marine species (scallop, Pecten maximus) that occur in discrete geographic locations were connected to each other. Population genetic insights were related to the outputs from a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model implemented with scallop larval behaviour to understand the extent to which these areas were linked by oceanographic processes and how this was altered by season and two contrasting years that had strongly different average temperature records (warm vs cold) to provide contrasting oceanographic conditions. Our results span from regional to shelf scale. Connectivity was high at a regional level (e.g. northern Irish Sea), but lower at scales >100 km between sites. Some localities were possibly isolated thus dependent on self-recruitment to sustain local populations. Seasonal timing of spawning and inter-annual fluctuations in seawater temperature influenced connectivity patterns, and hence will affect spatial recruitment. Summer rather than spring spawning increased connectivity among some populations, due to the seasonal strengthening of temperature-driven currents. Furthermore, the warm year resulted in higher levels of modelled connectivity than the cold year. The combination of genetic and oceanographic approaches provided valuable insights into the structure and connectivity at a continental shelf scale. This insight provides a powerful basis for defining conservation management units and the appropriate scale for spatial management. Temporal fluctuations in temperature impact upon variability in connectivity, suggesting that future work should account for ocean warming when investigating population resilience.

中文翻译：

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使用生物物理模型和种群遗传学保护和管理被开发物种，Pecten maximus L.

在考虑保护或管理脆弱物种的开发时，种群之间的连通性很重要。我们调查了广播产卵海洋物种（扇贝、大扇贝) 发生在离散的地理位置彼此相连。种群遗传见解与使用扇贝幼虫行为实施的三维流体动力学模型的输出相关，以了解这些区域与海洋过程的联系程度，以及这种情况如何随季节和平均温度差异很大的两个不同年份而改变记录（暖与冷）以提供对比的海洋条件。我们的结果从区域到货架规模。区域层面（例如爱尔兰海北部）的连通性很高，但在站点之间大于 100 公里的范围内连通性较低。一些地方可能是孤立的，因此依靠自我招募来维持当地人口。产卵的季节性时间和海水温度的年际波动影响连通性模式，从而影响空间补充。由于温度驱动的洋流季节性加强，夏季而不是春季产卵增加了一些种群之间的连通性。此外，暖年比冷年导致更高水平的模拟连通性。遗传学和海洋学方法的结合为大陆架尺度的结构和连通性提供了宝贵的见解。这一见解为定义保护管理单位和空间管理的适当规模提供了强有力的基础。温度的时间波动会影响连通性的变化，