Identifying the key biophysical drivers, connectivity outcomes, and metapopulation consequences of larval dispersal in the sea

Table 1 Model input parameters of interest used in the sensitivity analysis for the Port Phillip Bay marine population connectivity model

Parameter	Description	Value range
RO	Reproductive output (larvae) per unit area	[100, 10,000]
A	Daily larval mortality (Weibull rate parameter)	[0.01, 0.50]
B	Daily larval mortality (Weibull shape parameter)	[0.50, 1.0]
PreP	Proportion of maxPLD required for competency	[0.05, 0.95]
ComR	Rate of transition to being competent for settlement	[0.05, 0.50]
DevP	Initial relative developmental time as passive w/initFV	[0.05, 0.95]
iFV	Fall velocity during DevT (ms⁻¹, positive up)	[−0.001, 0.001]
K	Diffusivity, or the biological-physical repulsion among larvae (m²s⁻¹)	[0.01, 1.00]
Behav	Vertical behaviour strategy: Passive, Benthic-seeking (1), or Diel migration (2).	[0, 1, 2]
Sp	Behaviour parameter: Swimming capacity Vertical swim speed is scaled at 5 % of this. (ms⁻¹)	[0.001, 0.100]
TD	Behaviour parameter: Target depth (m)	[0.5, 20.0]
HmD	Behaviour parameter: Habitat detect distance (km)	[0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10]
PLD	Maximum duration of larval stage (days)	[1, 50]
S_r	Post-settlement survival prior to recruitment	[0, 1]
rf	Unique reefs within PPB system (ID)	[3, 10, 12, 16, 18, 23, 26, 32]
rls	Date of larval release	[July1 2009, October 1 2009, & January 1 2010]

Intrinsic parameter value ranges were chosen to be as broad as possible, but still biologically realistic, in order to capture most of potential variability in early life histories among benthic marine organisms. Reefs and larval release dates were chosen to capture the full range of geographical and temporal variability in local oceanography