Eastern Pacific Coral Reef Ecosystems
Eastern Pacific Coral Reef Ecosystems
复制标题
东太平洋珊瑚礁生态系统
DOI：
--
复制
发表时间：
2001
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
P. Glynn
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
P. Glynn
虽然不像沿海软底、河口和红树林生态系统那样普遍，但造礁珊瑚群落和珊瑚礁出现在东太平洋热带区域，从北方墨西哥到厄瓜多尔南部，而且也出现在所有近海岛屿上。珊瑚礁是主要由珊瑚骨架垂直堆积而成的抗波石灰岩结构。相比之下，珊瑚群落松散地分布在珊瑚群落的密集聚集体中，这些珊瑚群落的底层基质的来源不是它们所支持的活跃生长的珊瑚。这种区别在东太平洋尤其重要，因为那里的珊瑚群落很容易与真正的结构性珊瑚礁相混淆。珊瑚礁和珊瑚群落都由寄生虫黄藻（内共生甲藻）的珊瑚群落组成，虫黄藻依赖太阳能，因此局限于相对较浅的深度。东太平洋珊瑚礁并不占沿海海景的主导地位，因为它们相对较小，分布不均匀，它们的存在取决于必要的水文和地貌条件。此外，东太平洋的珊瑚礁对非潜水者来说很少可见，因为它们很少建造岛屿或拥有新出现的藻脊，并且在极低的潮汐期间仅短暂暴露。然而，在珊瑚礁存在的地方，它们促进了当地的生物多样性，为各种鱼类和贝类提供了栖息地，并为以潜水为导向的生态旅游提供了诱人的前景。自20世纪70年代以来，随着人们对东太平洋珊瑚礁的关注和科学兴趣的增加，我们对这一生态系统的了解已经不可估量地增长（科尔特斯1997），但新信息的范围是高度不平衡的。虽然在系统分类学、种群和群落生态学、地理学和珊瑚礁生长历史等领域取得了许多新的认识，但在生态系统一级，在营养结构、养分循环或生产力方面没有取得任何进展。因此，下面的文章必然要强调我们对以前学科的理解水平。这种偏见并不意味着削弱有机生产和相关主题的重要性，但希望能提醒工人注意这一缺陷。
Although not as common as coastal soft bottom, estuarine and mangrove ecosystems, reef-building coral communities and coral reefs occur in the eastern tropical Pacific region, ranging from northern Mexico to southern Ecuador, and are present on all offshore islands as well. Coral reefs are wave-resistant limestone structures built dominantly by the vertical accumulation of coral skeletons. In contrast, coral communities are loosely spaced to dense aggregations of coral colonies that veneer underlying substrates whose origin is other than the actively growing corals they support. This distinction is especially important in the eastern Pacific where coral communities can be easily confused with true structural coral reefs. Both coral reefs and coral communities consist of coral colonies that host zooxanthellae (endosymbiotic dinoflagellates), which are dependent on solar energy, and are thus confined to relatively shallow depths. Eastern Pacific coral reefs do not dominate coastal seascapes because they are relatively small and patchy in distribution, their presence depending upon a combination of requisite hydrographic and geomorphologic conditions. Also, eastern Pacific coral reefs are seldom visible to non-divers because they rarely build islands or possess emergent algal ridges, and are exposed for only brief periods during extreme low tides. However, where reefs are present they boost local biodiversity, provide habitats for a variety of fishes and shellfish, and offer attractive vistas for diver-oriented ecotourism. With the increasing attention and scientific interest directed toward eastern Pacific coral reefs since about the 1970s, our knowledge of this ecosystem has grown immeasurably (Cortes 1997) but the scope of new information is highly imbalanced. While much new understanding has been reached in the areas of systematics, population and community ecology, biogeography and reef growth history, no progress has been made at the ecosystem level focusing on trophic structure, nutrient cycling or productivity. Of necessity, therefore, the following essay will emphasize our level of understanding in the former disciplines. This bias is not meant to diminish the significance of organic production and related topics, but hopefully will serve to alert workers of this deficiency.