Nonlinear ecological processes driving the distribution of marine decapod larvae

We examine the parental influence on the initial larval distribution by aggregating data by adult habitat, which also increments the signal to noise ratio (mean data patterns over noise due to outliers or measurement errors), and consider the distribution of larvae by development stage (as a proxy of age and hence of potential dispersion). The joined study of parental effect, drifting or concentration events determined by dynamical processes in the whole water column, and lifespan, draws the possible paths followed by larvae, and highlights the more influencing variables in their distribution. Investigation of the different aspects of dynamic height (absolute values, gradients or edges and correlations) clarified the effect of the oceanographic processes on decapods׳ larvae.