Effect of water currents on organic matter release by two scleractinian corals
Effect of water currents on organic matter release by two scleractinian corals
复制标题
水流对两种石珊瑚释放有机物的影响
作者：
C. Wild;C. Laforsch;C. Mayr;R. Fuß;Wolfgang Niggl
硬核珊瑚释放的有机物在珊瑚礁生态系统中扮演着能量载体和粒子捕集器的重要生态角色，但作为珊瑚礁中必不可少且普遍存在的环境因子，水流对这一过程的假设刺激作用尚未得到研究。因此，本研究使用封闭系统通流室，量化了两种硬核珊瑚在环境水流速度范围为4至16 cm s−1的情况下释放的有机物。研究结果显示，与静水条件相比，所有被调查珊瑚物种的通流室中颗粒有机物（POM）浓度显著增加，而溶解有机碳（DOC）浓度未受影响。这些结果表明，珊瑚的POM释放可能受到水-力学影响的控制，而DOC通量则受到珊瑚生理状况的影响。因此，本研究表明，以往的POM释放量化结果是保守估计，可能低估了珊瑚礁环境中通过珊瑚的原位POM释放。因此，珊瑚衍生的聚甲醛对珊瑚礁生态系统生物地球化学循环的贡献可能比已经假设的更为明显。
Organic matter release by scleractinian corals fulfils an important ecological role as energy carrier and particle trap in reef ecosystems, but the hypothetically stimulating impact of water currents, an essential and ubiquitous environmental factor in coral reefs, on this process has not been investigated yet. This study therefore quantifies organic matter release by two species of scleractinian corals subjected to ambient water current velocities ranging from 4 to 16 cm s−1 using closed-system flow-through chambers. Findings revealed that particulate organic matter (POM) concentration was significantly increased in the flow-through chambers in all investigated coral species compared to still water conditions, while no effect on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration could be observed. These results suggest that POM release by corals may be controlled by hydro-mechanical impacts, while DOC fluxes are rather influenced by the physiological condition of the corals. Hence, this study indicates that previous POM release quantification results are conservative estimates and may have underestimated in situ POM release through corals in reef environments. The contribution of coral-derived POM to biogeochemical cycles in reef ecosystems, therefore, may be more pronounced than already assumed.
DOI：
10.1016/j.jembe.2011.07.028
发表时间：
2011-11-15
影响因子：
2
作者：
Bythell, John C.;Wild, Christian
通讯作者：
Wild, Christian