While geographic distance is a variable often used to explain population genetic
differentiation, dynamic processes leading to stochastic population structure are more
likely driving factors. The following thesis presents the population structure of a
common reef sponge, Stylissa carteri, and yields hypotheses on the influence of
environmental heterogeneity as a predictor of the observed population structure. This
project represents the largest population genetics study thus conducted in the Red Sea and
also includes the first population genetics data gathered for sites off the coast of Sudan
and Soccotra. The study herein presented includes both a large scale (36 reef sites
covering over 1000km of coastline) and small-scale (16 transects of 50m each) analysis
of gene flow in a benthic dwelling organism. The variable effect of geography and
environmental conditions on S. carteri population structure is assessed using a seascape
genetics approach. Environmental factors from a nine-year dataset accessed from the
NASA Giovanni website including chlorophyll a, sea surface temperature, dissolved and
particulate organic matter for both the annual and winter temporal scale were considered.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:kaust.edu.sa/oai:repository.kaust.edu.sa:10754/324604 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Giles, Emily C. |
| Contributors | Berumen, Michael L., Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division, Voolstra, Christian R., Jones, Burton |
| Source Sets | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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