Connectivity Of Marine POpulations Application to the South Lagoon of New Caledonia – COMPO

In this project, we propose to study larval transport and population connectivity of a fish (damselfish, Dascyllus aruanus) and an invertebrate (giant clam, Tridacna maxima) species in the South Lagoon of New Caledonia (SLNC) using three emerging and complementary approaches: (1) parentage analysis via genetic fingerprinting, (2) microchemical analysis of trace elements and artificial markers, and (3) biophysical, metapopulation and genetic models of larval transport and its consequences for population dynamics. While these three fields have independently made many significant advances recently, few, if any, studies have integrated these approaches into a single analysis of marine connectivity patterns. In particular, while understanding connectivity is essential for answering many management and scientific questions, such as achieving effective spatial management of marine resources (e.g., marine protected areas -MPAs-) and understanding the spatial structuring of marine ecosystems, there is a significant gap between our ability to experimentally measure connectivity (e.g., through ecological, genetic and microchemical studies) and our ability to model larval transport (e.g., through biophysical models). Here, we propose to bridge this formidable gap by bringing together a group of young researchers with diverse and complementary skills to attack this problem from a variety of angles. The SLNC provides an ideal model system for studying connectivity on a manageable spatial scale, as well as poses a number of pressing management problems, such as assessing MPA effectiveness and conserving threatened marine species and ecosystems. Furthermore, we view this project as the first step needed to build the theoretical, methodological, empirical and computational foundation necessary for applying these techniques in an integrated way to a wide variety of marine connectivity problems in different geographical locations, spatial scales and socio-economic contexts. As such, we feel that this ANR JCJC grant will significantly contribute to building a productive long term collaboration among the participants.