Impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on Coral Reef Sponge Communities in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on Coral Reef Sponge Communities in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
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DOI：
10.1007/s12237-020-00694-4
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发表时间：
2020-07-01
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Brandt, Marilyn E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Gochfeld, Deborah J.;Olson, Julie B.;Brandt, Marilyn E.
许多研究评估了飓风对珊瑚群落的影响，但对海绵群落对这些极端事件的影响、恢复和复原力知之甚少。2017年9月，美属维尔京群岛的圣托马斯在两周内受到两次五级飓风的影响：飓风艾玛和玛丽亚。如此快速连续发生的极端事件几乎是前所未有的。对圣托马斯周围六个地点的永久性断面进行了飓风前（2015年，2016年）调查，并将其与飓风后10周（2017年12月）的调查进行了比较，以评估风暴对海绵和底栖珊瑚礁成分的影响。这些调查还为评估今后的恢复情况确定了基线。飓风过后，海绵的覆盖率下降了24.9%。相比之下，海绵密度从2015年到2016年增加了43.9%，在飓风之后略有下降。海绵的总体积并没有随着时间的推移而变化，虽然海绵的多样性在2015年和2016年相似，但在飓风后有所增加。海绵形态受到飓风的不同影响;直立海绵的比例下降了36.9%，而结壳海绵增加了24.4%。在采样期间，珊瑚和大型藻类覆盖率没有显著变化，而从2015年到2016年，石生藻类的覆盖率增加，非生物基质减少，但在飓风后没有进一步变化。在所有地点，在飓风后10周内观察到海绵的补充和/或再生，表明加勒比海绵社区具有潜在的复原力。这些海绵群落是否会恢复到飓风前的状态，以及需要多长时间，还有待观察。
Many studies have evaluated the impacts of hurricanes on coral communities, but far less is known about impacts, recovery, and resilience of sponge communities to these extreme events. In September 2017, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, was impacted by two Category 5 hurricanes within 2 weeks: Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Such extreme events occurring in such rapid succession are virtually unprecedented. Pre-hurricane (2015, 2016) surveys of permanent transects at six sites around St. Thomas were compared with those at 10 weeks post-hurricanes (December 2017) to evaluate storm impacts on sponges and on benthic coral reef constituents. These surveys also established a baseline for evaluating future recovery. Percent cover of sponges declined by 24.9% post-hurricanes. In contrast, sponge density increased by 43.9% from 2015 to 2016 and declined slightly after the hurricanes. Overall sponge volume did not vary over time, and whereas sponge diversity was similar in 2015 and 2016, it increased post-hurricanes. Sponge morphologies were differentially affected by the hurricanes; the proportion of upright sponges declined by 36.9%, while there was a 24.4% increase in encrusting sponges. Coral and macroalgal cover did not change significantly over the sampling period, while percent cover of epilithic algae increased and non-living substrata decreased from 2015 to 2016 but did not change further post-hurricanes. At all sites, recruitment and/or regrowth of sponges was observed within 10 weeks post-hurricanes, indicating potential resilience in Caribbean sponge communities. Whether these sponge communities return to pre-hurricane conditions and how long that will take remains to be seen.