Population and Community Dynamics of Corals: A Long Term Study

珊瑚的种群和群落动态：长期研究

• 批准号: 9321892
• 负责人: Joseph Connell
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-07-15 至 2000-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9321892&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Population; Community; Dynamics; Corals; Long

9321892 Connell The objectives of the present project are several: 1) To extend the detailed long-term monitoring of ecological communities of corals and algae on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia which has been carried on continuously over the past 30 years, the longest such study on any coral reef; 2) to expand the study to include sites on two nearby reefs, and additional replicate sites on Heron Reef; 3) to analyze spatial patterns and dynamics of corals and algae at several scales, from centimeters to tens of meters, both during the course of colonization of patches (opened by disturbances) and after most of the surface has become crowded by many colonies. These analyses should reveal the long-term effects of interactions that may be crucial in determining how natural communities are structured; 4) to test with controlled field experiments some hypotheses about mechanisms: a) that produce the unique species composition of corals at the Inner Reef Flat site, b) that cause contrasting patterns of algae after disturbances, and c) that determine precisely how each colony affects its neighbors; 5) to build mathematical models and computer simulations of the dynamics of these populations and communities of corals and algae: a) to investigate the influence of past and present conditions on future changes, b) to characterize temporal and spatial dynamics, and c) to test hypotheses about the consequences of these dynamics to the community. The models will be also used to asses the degree to which community structure and dynamics may or may not be influenced by details of spatial relationships. The field methods will use the standard sampling techniques used over the past 30 years, to assure continuity in the long-term data base. The experimental methods, using coral transplanting and cages to exclude larger herbivores, have also been used before in this study and are well- established. Larval choice experiments and new recruit t ransplants have been carried out successfully by the co- investigators elsewhere on the Great Barrier Reef. The significance of this proposed research to the advancement of knowledge is that: 1) it deepens the general knowledge of how natural communities of corals and algae (the dominant sessile organisms on tropical and sub-tropical reefs), are assembled and structured in the face of changes in their environment over extended periods of time; 2) it reveals some of the mechanisms that link the environment with these community changes, and how both vary over short and long time periods and between small and larger spatial scales; and 3) it helps to predict the effect of environmental changes, including those caused by human activity, on these natural communities.

9321892 Connell 本项目的目标有几个： 1) 扩大对澳大利亚大堡礁珊瑚和藻类生态群落的详细长期监测，该监测已连续进行了 30 年，是同类监测中最长的一次。对任何珊瑚礁的研究； 2) 将研究范围扩大到包括两个附近珊瑚礁上的地点以及苍鹭礁上的其他复制地点； 3）分析珊瑚和藻类在几个尺度（从厘米到几十米）的空间格局和动态，无论是在斑块殖民化过程中（由于干扰而打开），还是在大部分表面被许多殖民地拥挤之后。这些分析应该揭示相互作用的长期影响，这对于确定自然群落的结构可能至关重要； 4) 通过受控现场实验来测试有关机制的一些假设：a) 在内礁滩产生独特的珊瑚物种组成，b) 在干扰后导致藻类的对比模式，以及 c) 精确确定每个群体如何影响其邻居； 5) 建立这些珊瑚和藻类种群和群落动态的数学模型和计算机模拟：a) 研究过去和现在的条件对未来变化的影响，b) 描述时间和空间动态的特征，c)测试有关这些动态对社区的影响的假设。这些模型还将用于评估群落结构和动态可能或可能不受空间关系细节影响的程度。现场方法将使用过去 30 年使用的标准抽样技术，以确保长期数据库的连续性。使用珊瑚移植和笼子排除较大食草动物的实验方法也曾在本研究中使用过，并且已经很成熟。联合研究人员已在大堡礁其他地方成功地进行了幼体选择实验和新招募的移植。这项拟议的研究对知识进步的意义在于：1）它加深了关于珊瑚和藻类（热带和亚热带珊瑚礁上的主要固着生物）自然群落如何在表面组装和构造的一般知识长时间内环境的变化； 2）它揭示了一些将环境与这些群落变化联系起来的机制，以及两者在短期和长期时期以及小和大空间尺度之间如何变化； 3）它有助于预测环境变化（包括人类活动引起的变化）对这些自然群落的影响。