| In the modeling of near-shore fisheries, it is important to realistically simulate larval dispersal, accounting for many oceanographic processes. This is especially vital for species with relatively sessile adults because the only long-distance migration occurs during the pelagic larval stage. I used stochastic dispersal of larvae that was correlated over the source and settlement locations, which was derived from oceanographic modeling of passive larvae transported by turbulent eddies. I studied the temporal and spatial patterns that were generated in the fish population by this form of stochastic dispersal. I also looked at how these patterns and variability in the population changed with different intensities of harvest. Then, I focused on the impact of this type of dispersal on two similar species of fish that compete for resources at the settlement locations. Decorrelation in the settlement of the two species, which is generated by the stochastic dispersal, allows them to coexist when theory would otherwise predict they would not. Nonlinear averaging of the variable settlement gives the weaker species higher-than-average recruitment, so it can invade when rare. This turbulence-driven method of dispersal is a new mechanism for species coexistence. |
