Modeling of reproduction in the intertidal macrophyte Fucus vesiculosus and implications for spatial subsidies in the nearshore environment

Environmental sensitivities that represent reproductive adaptations are well enough known in some species of marine broadcast spawners, including fucoid algae, to consider wider ecological implications of gamete release. Here, we test and refine a preliminary model for gamete release in the intertidal foundation species Fucus vesiculosus L., one of the most abundant broadcast spawners of the North Atlantic rocky shore. Local environmental conditions and levels of gamete release were determined during 2 reproductive seasons at 4 sites on the Schoodic Peninsula (Maine, USA). These studies supported the hypothesis that asynchrony in the incidence and magnitude of natural gamete release occur when environmental conditions (i.e. light, water motion) across projections of the coastline are uneven. Gamete release occurs on sunny days when winds speeds are