WP 2: Intraspecific diversity of habitat-forming species and associated grazers and mesopredators

Seagrass, corals, macroalgae and mussels are all species that form important habitat for other species. Associated with these habitats are grazers like snails, amphipods, isopods and mesopredators like wrasses, gobies and sticklebacks. The habitat-forming species disperse their seeds, spores and larvae with currents in the water masses. Equally, the grazers and mesopredators are also mobile, forming another connection. In this part of the project, we are investigating the connectivity and dispersal of both the species that form the habitat and the species that live there. In the Skagerrak and Kattegat, some of these habitat-forming species are experiencing a decline. If we are to protect and restore these habitats effectively, we need to know how they spread along the coast and in the sea. How far can the seeds from an eelgrass bed spread and lay the foundation for a new eelgrass bed? And will the species that depend on the habitats spread just as far?

To study this, we use "seascape genomics" - a method that studies how the genetic composition of a species varies in space and with environmental gradients such as temperature.

Right now, we are developing a multi-species platform for the authorities to be able to easily monitor the genetics of habitat-forming species and associated fauna in the Skagerrak and Kattegat in the future. The idea is that anyone (without expert knowledge in bioinformatics or genetic) should be able to track trends in within-species biodiversity and connectivity over time in the future, with the goal of including these measures in the national reporting under the EU Habitats directive.

To verify that the new platform actually works, we are also conducting a test now, where we analyze the genetics of many different coastal species along the Skagerrak coasts of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.