...
  • 主题
高级搜索  >
历史搜索 清空历史
首页> 外文期刊>Marine biology >Predators Selectively Graze Reproductive Structures In A Clonal Marine Organism
【24h】

Predators Selectively Graze Reproductive Structures In A Clonal Marine Organism

机译：捕食者选择性地在克隆海洋生物中吃草生殖结构。

获取原文
获取原文并翻译 | 示例
           
页面导航
  • 摘要
  • 著录项
  • 相似文献
  • 相关主题

摘要

Although the fitness consequences of herbivory on terrestrial plants have been extensively studied, considerably less is known about how partial predation impacts the fitness of clonal marine organisms. The trophic role of Caribbean parrotfish on coral reefs is complex: while these fish are important herbivores, as corallivores (consumers of live coral tissue), they selectively graze specific species and colonies of reef-building corals. Though the benefits of parrotfish herbivory for reef resilience and conservation are well documented, the negative consequences of parrotfish grazing for coral reproductive fitness have not been previously determined. We examined recently grazed colonies of Montastraea annularis corals to determine whether grazing was positively associated with coral reproductive effort. We measured gonad number, egg number and size, and proportional reproductive allocation for grazed and intact coral colonies 2-5 days prior to their annual spawning time. We found that parrotfish selectively grazed coral polyps with high total reproductive effort (number of gonads), providing the first evidence that parrotfish selectively target specific tissue areas within a single coral colony. The removal of polyps with high reproductive effort has direct adverse affects on coral fitness, with additional indirect implications for colony growth and survival. We conclude that chronic grazing by parrotfishes has negative fitness consequences for reef-building corals, and by extension, reef ecosystems.
机译：尽管已经广泛研究了食草对陆生植物的适应性后果，但对部分捕食如何影响克隆海洋生物适应性的了解还很少。加勒比鹦嘴鱼在珊瑚礁上的营养作用是复杂的：尽管这些鱼是重要的食草动物，但作为食草动物（活珊瑚组织的消费者），它们选择性地放牧造礁珊瑚的特定物种和殖民地。尽管鹦嘴鱼食草对珊瑚礁的复原力和保护作用的好处已得到了充分的文献证明，但鹦嘴鱼放牧对珊瑚生殖健康的负面影响尚未得到确定。我们检查了最近放牧的Montastraea ringis珊瑚的殖民地，以确定放牧是否与珊瑚的繁殖活动正相关。我们测量了放牧和完整的珊瑚殖民地在其每年产卵时间前2-5天的性腺数量，卵的数量和大小，以及成比例的繁殖分配。我们发现，鹦嘴鱼以较高的总繁殖力（性腺数量）选择性放牧珊瑚虫，这提供了第一个证据，即鹦嘴鱼选择性地针对单个珊瑚群落中的特定组织区域。高繁殖力去除息肉对珊瑚的适应能力有直接的不利影响，对菌落的生长和生存也有间接的影响。我们得出的结论是，鹦嘴鱼长期放牧对造礁珊瑚以及整个珊瑚礁生态系统具有不利的适应性后果。

著录项

相似文献

  • 外文文献
  • 中文文献
  • 专利
获取原文

客服邮箱：kefu@zhangqiaokeyan.com

京公网安备：11010802029741号 ICP备案号：京ICP备15016152号-6 六维联合信息科技 (北京) 有限公司©版权所有

  • 客服微信

  • 服务号