Extinction rate, historical population structure and ecological role of the Caribbean monk seal
Extinction rate, historical population structure and ecological role of the Caribbean monk seal
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2007.1757
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发表时间：
2008-06-22
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Cooper, Andrew B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
McClenachan, Loren;Cooper, Andrew B.
人们对原始珊瑚礁生态系统的生产力和生物量知之甚少，特别是在加勒比地区，那里的社区几个世纪以来一直受到过度捕捞和多种其他压力因素的影响。使用的空间分布和丰富的灭绝的加勒比僧海豹（Monachus tropicalis）的历史数据，这项研究重建的人口规模，结构和生态作用，这个曾经常见的捕食者在珊瑚礁社区，并提供证据表明，历史珊瑚礁支持鱼类和无脊椎动物的生物量高达6倍以上的典型现代加勒比海珊瑚礁。估计有233 000-338 000只僧海豹分布在加勒比海的13个殖民地。支持历史上海豹种群所需的礁鱼和无脊椎动物生物量为732-1018克/平方米，超过了今天在加勒比海任何礁上发现的生物量，与在遥远的太平洋礁上测量的生物量相当。对历史上密集的僧海豹群体及其对原始珊瑚礁的消费率的定量估计提供了关于加勒比珊瑚礁动物生物量下降幅度的具体数据。现实地重建这些过去的生态系统对于理解人类狩猎对珊瑚礁生态系统功能的深远而持久的影响至关重要。
The productivity and biomass of pristine coral reef ecosystems is poorly understood, particularly in the Caribbean where communities have been impacted by overfishing and multiple other stressors over centuries. Using historical data on the spatial distribution and abundance of the extinct Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis), this study reconstructs the population size, structure and ecological role of this once common predator within coral reef communities, and provides evidence that historical reefs supported biomasses of fishes and invertebrates up to six times greater than those found on typical modern Caribbean reefs. An estimated 233 000-338 000 monk seals were distributed among 13 colonies across the Caribbean. The biomass of reef fishes and invertebrates required to support historical seal populations was 732-1018 g m(-2) of reefs, which exceeds that found on any Caribbean reef today and is comparable with those measured in remote Pacific reefs. Quantitative estimates of historically dense monk seal colonies and their consumption rates on pristine reefs provide concrete data on the magnitude of decline in animal biomass on Caribbean coral reefs. Realistic reconstruction of these past ecosystems is critical to understanding the profound and long-lasting effect of human hunting on the functioning of coral reef ecosystems.