Split spawning increases robustness of coral larval supply and inter-reef connectivity

Many habitat-building corals undergo mass synchronous spawning events. Yet, despite the enormous amounts of larvae produced, larval dispersal from a single spawning event and the reliability of larval supply are highly dependent on vagaries of ocean currents. However, colonies from the same population will occasionally spawn over successive months. These split spawning events likely help to realign reproduction events to favourable environmental conditions. Here, we show that split spawning may benefit corals by increasing the reliability of larval supply. By modelling the dispersal of coral larvae across Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, we find that split spawning increased the diversity of sources and reliability of larval supply the reefs could receive, especially in regions with low and intrinsically variable connectivity. Such increased larval supply might help counteract the expected declines in reproductive success associated with split spawning events.