Western Australia hosts one of the world's most spatially extensive and fragmented coral reef systems, yet without a region-wide synthesis of population connectivity, marine management remains fundamentally constrained. Here, we present the first integrated meta-analysis of coral connectivity in WA, combining population genetic differentiation values (FST), larval dispersal modelling estimates, and graph theory within a unified analytical framework.
Genetic differentiation was only weakly related to geographic distance, with among-study variation driven primarily by marker type, highlighting the importance of methodological standardisation in cross-study genomic synthesis. Persistent genetic barriers were identified at the Kimberley nearshore and southwest coast, while the Pilbara Offshore, Ningaloo, and Dampier Archipelago functioned as high-connectivity corridors and metapopulation hubs. Biophysical models predicted predominantly southward larval transport consistent with Leeuwin and Holloway Current forcing, yet overall genetic and hydrodynamic network topologies showed limited concordance.
Unlike the Great Barrier Reef, where dominant unidirectional current forcing produces concordant genetic and biophysical connectivity patterns, WA's discontinuous reef architecture and variable oceanography generate discordance between contemporary transport predictions and evolutionary genetic structure. Connectivity here is scale-dependent and seascape-structured rather than distance-limited, and this synthesis provides a spatially explicit foundation for prioritising conservation effort and genomic investment across the region.