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HERO ID
7875433
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Biodiversity, molecular ecology and phylogeography of marine sponges: patterns, implications and outlooks
Author(s)
Wörheide, G; Solé-Cava, AM; Hooper, JN
Year
2005
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Integrative and Comparative Biology
ISSN:
1540-7063
EISSN:
1557-7023
Volume
45
Issue
2
Page Numbers
377-385
Language
English
PMID
21676783
DOI
10.1093/icb/45.2.377
Web of Science Id
WOS:000229163400020
Abstract
Marine sponges are an ecologically important and highly diverse component of marine benthic communities, found in all the world's oceans, at all depths. Although their commercial potential and evolutionary importance is increasingly recognized, many pivotal aspects of their basic biology remain enigmatic. Knowledge of historical biogeographic affinities and biodiversity patterns is rudimentary, and there are still few data about genetic variation among sponge populations and spatial patterns of this variation. Biodiversity analyses of tropical Australasian sponges revealed spatial trends not universally reflected in the distributions of other marine phyla within the Indo-West Pacific region. At smaller spatial scales sponges frequently form heterogeneous, spatially patchy assemblages, with some empirical evidence suggesting that environmental variables such as light and/or turbidity strongly contribute to local distributions. There are no apparent latitudinal diversity gradients at larger spatial scales but stochastic processes, such as changing current patterns, the presence or absence of major carbonate platforms and historical biogeography, may determine modern day distributions. Studies on Caribbean oceanic reefs have revealed similar patterns, only weakly correlated with environmental factors. However, several questions remain where molecular approaches promise great potential, e.g., concerning connectivity and biogeographic relationships. Studies to date have helped to reveal that sponge populations are genetically highly structured and that historical processes might play an important role in determining such structure. Increasingly sophisticated molecular tools are now being applied, with results contributing significantly to a better understanding of poriferan microevolutionary processes and molecular ecology.
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