title: Population structure and spread of the polychaete Diopatra biscayensis along the French Atlantic coast: human-assisted transport by-passes larval dispersal.
abstract: Intertidal populations of the ecosystem engineering polychaete, Diopatra biscayensis, were analyzed on the French Atlantic coast for three years with individual size estimated from tube-cap aperture. All but the northernmost population along the Bay of Biscay have yearly recruitment. Individuals live 3-5 years and are likely reproductive as one year olds. Simulations indicate dispersal distances are <50 km; yet, populations also exist within the Normano-Breton Gulf in the western English Channel, more than 450 km from the northernmost Bay of Biscay population at La Trinité-sur-Mer. Three of the four populations in the Normano-Breton Gulf have no young of the year, but are near to active mussel culture where mussel seed is transported on ropes from dense D. biscayensis areas in the Vendée-Charente region in the Bay of Biscay. The majority of D. biscayensis were adjacent to the likely source, mussel seed ropes. Transport assisted by aquaculture is the likely explanation for the populations in the Normano-Breton Gulf.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, 715 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Electronic address: woodin@biol.sc.edu.
authors.forename: Sarah Ann
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Woodin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, 715 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Electronic address: wethey@biol.sc.edu.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wethey
authors.affiliation: IFREMER, DYNECO Laboratoire d'Ecologie Benthique, F-29280 Plouzané, France. Electronic address: Stanislas.Dubois@ifremer.fr.
authors.forename: Stanislas F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Dubois
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D049628:Body Size; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017753:Ecosystem; D005602:France; D007814:Larva; D011077:Polychaeta / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics
keywords: Aquaculture; Connectivity; Diopatra biscayensis; Ecosystem engineer; Human-assisted-transport; Larval dispersal; Life history