Cohorts in space: geostatistical mapping of the age structure of the squatlobster Pleuroncodes monodon population off central Chile

Animal populations are spatial objects in the sense that their structure an d functioning depend on the spatial context they inhabit. However, most pop ulation dynamics models ignore the spatial context and set populations 'in the air'. This paper is focused on the squat lobster Pleuroncodes monodon p opulation inhabiting the narrow continental shelf off central Chile, and en compassing 3 degrees of latitude. We tested the hypothesis that the spatial functioning of this population is driven by annual cohorts that enter the population through a nursery ground, and then radiate away from the nursery to the north and south by individual dispersal, thus creating a spatial pa ttern where age and distance from the nursery are correlated. To test the h ypothesis we performed an extensive survey from 34 to 37 degrees S along th e continental shelf, collecting data on individual mean size by sex and spa tial location. The data gathered was analysed using a combination of mixtur e distribution analysis on size frequency data and geostatistical mapping o n size and location data. Isotropic and anisotropic variogram models were f itted to size data for both sexes. Selection of the appropriate models and kriging parameters was done by cross validation. The hypothesis posed was f ully corroborated by the data and the analysis, with 6 adult cohorts identi fied for both sexes radiating away from the nursery ground in waves at an a verage distance of one fifth the latitudinal range of the population. Geost atistical mapping of size data for juveniles in the nursery ground, collect ed with a higher resolution in previous years, showed that recruitment can occur as several relatively small patches interspersed through the nursery area or as a large patch in the middle of the nursery. The corroborated mod el of spatial population functioning explains the history of commercial ove r-exploitation and recolonisation of this population. It also suggest that this 350 km long population is renewed by recruits: from nearby cohorts, bo th to the south and north of the nursery area, while cohorts farther north can be exporting recruits to prime nursery habitat. These insights into the functioning of this large population could only be gained by a fully spati ally explicit analysis.