Where clones thrive and genomes diverge: reproductive mode drives genomic diversity and isolation in Enhalus acoroides
Seagrasses are highly productive coastal ecosystems that provide essential services such as carbon storage, sediment stabilization, nutrient cycling, and habitat for marine organisms. However, seagrass meadows have experienced severe declines, especially in Southeast Asia where human activities and climate change are accelerating losses. Understanding genetic diversity and population connectivity is critical for effective conservation. However, the combined effects of physical dispersal barriers and clonal reproduction remain poorly understood. Advances in population genomics now allow researchers to analyze thousands of genome-wide SNPs, offering high-resolution insights into population structure, demographic history, and clonal patterns. This is particularly valuable for partially clonal species like Enhalus acoroides, in which asexual reproduction can obscure traditional diversity metrics. The Thai-Malay Peninsula forms a major biogeographic barrier separating the Andaman Sea from the Gulf of Thailand, forming genetic breaks in many marine organisms. Enhalus acoroides, a dominant seagrass species with both sexual and clonal reproduction, provides an ideal model for examining how this barrier interacts with reproductive mode to shape genomic diversity. This study uses MIG-seq for genome-wide SNPs analysis to evaluate clonal structure, genetic differentiation across the peninsula, and implications for conservation and restoration.