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首页> 外文期刊>Marine ecology progress series >Green turtle herbivory dominates the fate of seagrass primary production in the Lakshadweep islands (Indian Ocean)
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Green turtle herbivory dominates the fate of seagrass primary production in the Lakshadweep islands (Indian Ocean)

机译：绿海龟的食草性在拉克肖普群岛（印度洋）的海草初级生产中占主导地位

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Historical global declines of megaherbivores from marine ecosystems have hitherto contributed to an understanding of seagrass meadow production dominated by detrital pathways-a paradigm increasingly being questioned by recent re-evaluations of the importance of herbivory. Recoveries in green turtle populations at some locations provide an ideal opportunity to examine effects of high megaherbivore densities on the fate of seagrass production. We conducted direct field measurements of aboveground herbivory and shoot elongation rates in 9 seagrass meadows across 3 atolls in the Lakshadweep Archipelago (India) representing a gradient of green turtle densities. Across all meadows, green turtles consumed an average of 60% of the total leaf growth. As expected, herbivory rates were positively related to turtle density and ranged from being almost absent in meadows with few turtles, to potentially overgrazed meadows (ca. 170% of leaf growth) where turtles were abundant. Turtle herbivory also substantially reduced shoot elongation rates. Simulated grazing through clipping experiments confirmed this trend: growth rates rapidly declined to almost half in clipped plots relative to control plots. At green turtle densities similar to historical estimates, herbivory not only dominated the fate of seagrass primary production but also drastically reduced production rates in grazed meadows. Intensive turtle grazing and associated movement could also modify rates of detrital cycling, leaf export and local carbon burial, with important consequences for the entire seascape.
机译：迄今为止，来自海洋生态系统的巨型食草动物的全球历史性下降，已经有助于人们理解以碎屑途径为主的海草草甸生产-最近对食草重要性的重新评估日益质疑这一范例。在某些地点的绿海龟种群中的恢复提供了一个理想的机会，可以检查高食草动物密度对海草生产命运的影响。我们在Lakshadweep群岛（印度）的3个环礁上，对9个海草草甸的地上食草动物和枝条伸长率进行了直接测量，代表了绿海龟密度的梯度。在所有草地上，绿海龟平均消耗了叶片总生长量的60％。正如预期的那样，草食率与乌龟密度呈正相关，范围从几乎没有乌龟的草地到草皮丰富的潜在过度放牧的草地（约占叶子生长的170％）。龟食草还大大降低了芽的伸长率。通过修剪实验模拟放牧证实了这一趋势：修剪地块的生长速度相对于对照样地迅速下降到几乎一半。在绿海龟密度与历史估计值相似的情况下，草食不仅主导着海草初级生产的命运，而且极大地降低了放牧草地的生产率。剧烈的海龟放牧和相关的活动也可能会改变碎屑循环，叶片出口和局部碳埋藏的速率，对整个海景产生重要影响。

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