Knowra Oceanic dispersal Oceanic dispersal Oceanic dispersal is the movement of organisms across marine barriers by swimming, flight, rafting, or other means. It connects populations and shapes species distributions, colonization, and gene flow.
Larval dispersal : The movement of dispersive larval stages away from their birthplace before settlement. Many marine invertebrates cross barriers as planktonic larvae carried by currents.
Island biogeography : The study of how species richness on islands depends on area, isolation, immigration, and extinction. Oceanic arrivals are the immigration events that replenish island species pools.
Dispersal (ecology) : The movement of organisms away from their birthplace or from a population into another area. Oceanic dispersal is the marine-barrier-crossing case of ecological dispersal.
Hawaiian biogeography : The study of the origins and distribution of organisms across the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii’s isolation makes its flora and fauna a record of rare oceanic arrivals.
Biological invasion : The establishment and spread of organisms in regions beyond their native ranges, often with ecological or economic effects. It emphasizes harmful establishment, whereas oceanic dispersal includes crossings with no invasion.
Ocean current : A sustained, directed movement of seawater driven by wind, tides, and density differences. Currents can carry drifting organisms across distances they could not swim themselves.
Founder effect : A change in allele frequencies caused when a new population is established by a small sample of a source population. A few successful ocean-crossers can carry only part of their source population’s genetic variation.
Propagule : A biological unit capable of developing into a new individual or population, such as a seed, spore, or larva. Propagules are the stages transported across water and capable of founding populations.
Galápagos Islands : An Ecuadorian archipelago in the Pacific Ocean known for distinctive endemic species and volcanic landscapes. Its biota illustrates colonization across a vast ocean and subsequent island evolution.
Oceanic island : An island formed by volcanic or tectonic processes and never connected to a continent. Its isolation makes arrival by oceanic dispersal essential to the origins of its native biota.
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