Figure 1.
Map of study area with relative abundance of model species, H. rubicundus and location of MPAs.
Names and locations of study sites are provided; approximate locations of MPAs are identified by black target symbols. Zuniga Point is adjacent to the Cabrillo State Marine Reserve. Location of ADCP (∼32.7°N, 117.3°W) is indicated with a red star. Regions appearing to be void of individuals are predominantly low-relief sandy bottom habitat and therefore do not support populations of H. rubicundus.
Table 1.
Number of nests collected, otoliths analyzed, mean (±SD) and number of otoliths analyzed per nest, range of spawning season, and number of young-of-the-year (YOY) collected at each reef.
Table 2.
Estimates of external precision (% relative standard deviation, RSD) for LA-ICPMS analyses and associated limits of detection for elements of interest.
Table 3.
Biweekly classification success of larval fish otoliths and young-of-the-year (YOY) fish otoliths.
Table 4.
Connectivity matrices for 2008, 2009, and 2008–2009.
Figure 2.
Aggregate annual connectivity patterns in 2008 (Fig. 2A) and 2009 (Fig. 2B).
Grey region is land and white region is ocean. Arrows indicate predicted larval dispersal trajectories from natal origin to capture location of post-settlement YOY. Purple arrows indicate northward dispersal, green arrows indicate southward dispersal, and black arrows indicate self-recruitment. Thickness of arrows is proportional to the number of individuals dispersing among reefs. Annual sample sizes of YOY (n) are provided at the bottom of each sub-panel (e.g. the natal origins of 72 post-settlement YOY were determined in 2008). Percentages in each sub-panel indicate the proportion of YOY dispersing within the entire study system. For example, in 2008, 36 of 72 (i.e. 50%) of YOY collected at La Jolla appear to have self-recruited. Crosses indicate location of primary study sites.
Figure 3.
Mean larval dispersal distances (km) of all (n = 89) YOY fish collected in 2008 and 2009.
Green histograms and negative values indicate southward dispersal. Purple histograms and positive numbers indicate northward dispersal, and the grey histogram depicts the number of YOY that self-recruited (i.e. that were spawned at and settled to the same reef).
Table 5.
Adult and YOY density at six primary study sites and within the three broad geographic regions surveyed: North County, La Jolla, and Point Loma.
Figure 4.
Bi-weekly connectivity patterns in 2008 (Fig. 4-1A-1F) and 2009 (Fig. 4-2A-2F).
Dates indicate the two-week bin in which an embryonic fish was developing on a benthic nest (i.e. acquiring its natal elemental fingerprint). Grey region is land and white region is ocean. Arrows indicate predicted larval dispersal trajectories from natal origin to capture location of post-settlement YOY. Purple arrows indicate northward dispersal, green arrows indicate southward dispersal, and black arrows indicate self-recruitment. Thickness of arrows is proportional to the number of individuals dispersing among reefs. Numbers of YOY (n) dispersing among reefs are provided at the bottom of each sub-panel. For example, in Figure 4-1B (June 01, 2008–June 15, 2008) the connectivity patterns of 7 post-settlement YOY were recreated. Crosses indicate location of primary study sites.
Figure 5.
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) data from 2008 (Fig. 5A) and 2009 (Fig. 5B).
Purple colors indicate northerly flowing currents, green colors indicate southerly flowing currents, and red colors indicate onshore flow. Intensity of color represents magnitude of flow. Black regions represent periods of time when ADCPs were not collecting data.
Figure 6.
Progressive vector simulations of passive 20-day pelagic larval periods based on ADCP data.
Simulations were conducted by continuously releasing (n = 1×106) “virtual larvae” centered over the mid-point of each 14 day nesting bin: (Fig. 6A) July 01–July 15 2008, (Fig. 6B) May 16–May 31 2009, (Fig. 6C) June 01–June 15 2009, (Fig. 6D) June 16–June 30 2009, (Fig. 6E) July 01–July 15 2009, (Fig. 6F) July 16–July 31 2009, and (Fig. 6G) August 01–15 2009. Colored curves indicate probability density of alongshore virtual larval transport within 4 distinct depth bins over a 20 day pelagic larval period (red = 4–8 m, green = 8–12 m, blue = 12–16 m, black = 16–20 m). Positive values indicate northward transport, magnitude is in km. Symbols on the abscissa indicate larval dispersal estimates derived from otolith microchemistry. Colors of symbols represent directionality of dispersal: purple = northward dispersal, green = southward dispersal, black = self-recruitment. Study sites are defined as follows: CD = Carlsbad, CF = Cardiff, LJ = La Jolla, MP = Mission Point, ZP = Zuniga Point and SR = Self-Recruits. Please note different scales on axes.