Catastrophe and the life span of coral reefs
Catastrophe and the life span of coral reefs
复制标题
DOI：
10.1890/11-1037.1
复制
发表时间：
2012-02-01
期刊：
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
Toth, Lauren T.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Aronson, Richard B.;Precht, William F.;Toth, Lauren T.
2009年发生在加勒比海西部的一次强烈地震对伯利兹堡礁礁湖中部的未胶结、未固结的珊瑚礁造成了灾难性的影响。在地震前观察到的21个珊瑚礁遗址中，有10个底栖生物群落被消灭，一个因斜坡崩塌而部分受损。在过去的23年里发生的生态动态，包括两种依次占主导地位的珊瑚物种的大量死亡和一种硬壳海绵覆盖面积的大幅增加，在灾难性的珊瑚礁斜坡破坏地区瞬间变得毫无意义。因为这些先前的动态也决定了保存完好的邻近珊瑚礁部分的底栖生物组成和恢复力，地震前的扰动历史将强烈影响失败地区的十年尺度恢复。对礁架的地质分析表明，这种高振幅事件的最小重现时间为2000-4000年。生态系统的人为退化必须放在长期自然灾害的背景下看待，例如强烈地震对未胶结的泻湖珊瑚礁的影响。
A strong earthquake in the western Caribbean in 2009 had a catastrophic impact on uncemented, unconsolidated coral reefs in the central sector of the shelf lagoon of the Belizean barrier reef. In a set of 21 reef sites that had been observed prior to the earthquake, the benthic assemblages of 10 were eradicated, and one was partially damaged, by avalanching of their slopes. Ecological dynamics that had played out over the previous 23 years, including the mass mortalities of two sequentially dominant coral species and a large increase in the cover of an encrusting sponge, were instantaneously rendered moot in the areas of catastrophic reef-slope failure. Because these prior dynamics also determined the benthic composition and resilience of adjacent sections of reef that remained intact, the history of disturbance prior to the earthquake will strongly influence decadal-scale recovery in the failed areas. Geological analysis of the reef framework yielded a minimum return time of 2000-4000 years for this type of high-amplitude event. Anthropogenic degradation of ecosystems must be viewed against the backdrop of long-period, natural catastrophes, such as the impact of strong earthquakes on uncemented, lagoonal reefs.