Indonesian Gene Flow and Implications for Marine Protected Areas

Abstract

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the word, comprised of more than 17,500 islands covering approximately 5000 km in an east to west orientation. It has a complex geological history resulting in a coastline of approximately 95,000 km, the fourth largest coastline in the world and the largest of any tropical nation. The Indonesian Archipelago encompasses the majority of the coral triangle, an area known to harbor the planets greatest shallow-water biodiversity. The coral reef ecosystems of Indonesia are in serious decline and a lack of knowledge pertaining to genetic connectivity and gene flow has been identified by several international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as one of the many steps that require addressing in the design of successful marine protected areas (MPAs) and conservation strategies. I employ a genetic approach, using highly variable microsatellite loci to investigate the population structure, genetic connectivity and gene flow of several marine invertebrates and two marine angiosperms collected throughout the Indonesian Archipelago. Several study species demonstrated evidence of population structuring throughout the archipelago and I propose that the radically different habits found on the shallow Sunda Shelf and the deep waters of the central Indonesia, coupled with the drying of the Sunda Shelf during times of glacial maxima, and the subsequent creation of new habitat by flooding the Sunda Shelf, has played a significant role in structuring populations and accounts for the observed genetic divergence in several of the surveyed species. This work identifies regions of unique biodiversity throughout Indonesia and allows the best available scientific knowledge pertaining to genetic connectivity in the region to be integrated into future conservation strategy and policy.