title: Solar irradiance dictates settlement timing and intensity of marine mussels.
abstract: Identifying the environmental factors driving larval settlement processes is crucial to understand the population dynamics of marine invertebrates. This work aims to go a step ahead and predict larval presence and intensity. For this purpose we consider the influence of solar irradiance, wind regime and continental runoff on the settlement processes. For the first time, we conducted a 5-years weekly monitoring of Mytilus galloprovincialis settlement on artificial suspended substrates, which allowed us to search for interannual variability in the settlement patterns. Comparison between the seasonal pattern of larval settlement and solar irradiance, as well as the well-known effect of solar irradiance on water temperature and food availability, suggest that solar irradiance indirectly influences the settlement process, and support the use of this meteorological variable to predict settlement occurrence. Our results show that solar irradiance allows predicting the beginning and end of the settlement cycle a month in advance: Particularly we have observed that solar irradiance during late winter indirectly drives the timing and intensity of the settlement onset, Finally, a functional generalise additive model, which considers the influence of solar irradiance and continental runoff on the settlement process, provides an accurate prediction of settlement intensity a fortnight in advance.
authors.affiliation: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM), C/Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fuentes-Santos
authors.affiliation: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM), C/Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain.
authors.forename: Uxío
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Labarta
authors.affiliation: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM), C/Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain.
authors.forename: X Antón
authors.initials: XA
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Salgado
authors.affiliation: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM), C/Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain.
authors.forename: M José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fernández-Reiriz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000254:growth & development; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007814:Larva; D008386:Marine Biology; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011336:Probability; D012621:Seasons; D012993:Solar Energy; D013696:Temperature