Climate change alterations to ecosystem dominance: how might sponge-dominated reefs function?
Climate change alterations to ecosystem dominance: how might sponge-dominated reefs function?
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DOI：
10.1002/ecy.2446
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发表时间：
2018-09-01
期刊：
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
Webster, Nicole S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bell, James J.;Rovellini, Alberto;Webster, Nicole S.
人为应激源正在影响世界各地的生态系统。特别令人关切的是珊瑚礁系统最近发生的迅速变化。随着当地和全球压力因素的持续退化，未来的珊瑚礁可能会与目前以珊瑚为主的生态系统的功能不同。确定未来珊瑚礁状态的关键属性对于可靠地预测生态系统服务提供的结果至关重要。在这里，我们探索改变海绵优势对珊瑚礁的影响。对珊瑚礁未来的定性模拟表明，由于海绵丰度增加而改变海绵优势地位，与由于珊瑚丰度下降而增加海绵优势地位相比，对于其他营养水平将产生不同的结果。通过探索模型结果中的不确定性，我们确定了(1)量化通过海绵的碳流的变化，(2)确定食物限制对海绵的重要性，(3)评估最近描述的海绵循环的无处不在，(4)确定海绵与其他底栖类群，特别是藻类之间的竞争关系，以及(5)了解其他生物的优势地位的变化如何改变营养途径和生态系统中的能量流动。解决这些知识差距将有助于开发更复杂的模型，评估以海绵为主的珊瑚礁生态系统的功能属性。
Anthropogenic stressors are impacting ecological systems across the world. Of particular concern are the recent rapid changes occurring in coral reef systems. With ongoing degradation from both local and global stressors, future reefs are likely to function differently from current coral-dominated ecosystems. Determining key attributes of future reef states is critical to reliably predict outcomes for ecosystem service provision. Here we explore the impacts of changing sponge dominance on coral reefs. Qualitative modelling of reef futures suggests that changing sponge dominance due to increased sponge abundance will have different outcomes for other trophic levels compared with increased sponge dominance as a result of declining coral abundance. By exploring uncertainty in the model outcomes we identify the need to (1) quantify changes in carbon flow through sponges, (2) determine the importance of food limitation for sponges, (3) assess the ubiquity of the recently described sponge loop, (4) determine the competitive relationships between sponges and other benthic taxa, particularly algae, and (5) understand how changing dominance of other organisms alters trophic pathways and energy flows through ecosystems. Addressing these knowledge gaps will facilitate development of more complex models that assess functional attributes of sponge-dominated reef ecosystems.