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Ecological Intelligence / Subject

population genomics

Mediterranean shoreline connectivity is low enough that ships can leave a genomic fingerprint

Evidence
Peer-reviewed population genomics and oceanographic modeling
Geography
Western and eastern Mediterranean coasts from Spain to Israel
System
Rocky intertidal marine coast

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

For two sympatric Phorcus topshells, short particle-tracking runs showed strong local retention and even 90-day simulations did not connect the western and eastern Mediterranean basins. Genomic structure supported low natural connectivity, while near-identical profiles between localities separated by more than 1,000 km—near major ports—were inconsistent with a simple coastal stepping-stone pattern and supported human-mediated dispersal.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

Connectivity models should include transport pathways created by people. Natural currents can imply strong isolation while ports and vessels create rare jumps that reorganize population structure and potentially move species or genotypes across barriers.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

Ship-mediated dispersal is inferred from the mismatch between natural-dispersal modeling, genomic similarity and port geography rather than observed directly on vessels. Results are species- and region-specific, and particle simulations simplify larval behavior.

SOURCE

ICES Journal of Marine Science — primary study
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Population genomics and particle tracking found strong local retention in two topshells while matching genotypes more than 1,000 km apart pointed to human-mediated long-distance transport.

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Peer-reviewed Global

eDNA is starting to move from species detection toward population genetics

Evidence
Peer-reviewed
Geography
Global
System
Environmental DNA and conservation genetics

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

A systematic review synthesized 83 studies—72 research articles and 11 reviews—on population-level applications of environmental DNA, with emphasis on nuclear DNA. It identifies low copy number, allelic dropout and the inability to assign individual genotypes as major barriers, while highlighting allele-frequency and Pool-seq-style approaches as potential routes toward estimating population parameters such as effective population size.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

If these methods mature, eDNA could move from answering ‘is the species here?’ toward ‘what is happening to its genetic diversity?’ That would matter most for elusive or protected populations where tissue sampling is expensive, invasive or sparse.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

The review is narrative rather than a meta-analysis because methods are highly heterogeneous; it excluded gray literature, did not apply a formal risk-of-bias assessment, and many proposed population-genetic applications remain methodological rather than operationally validated.

SOURCE

Environmental DNA — systematic review
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A systematic review of 83 studies outlines how allele-frequency and pooled-sequencing approaches could extract population-level genetic information without capturing individuals.

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