Effects of Vegetative Reproduction on the Distribution and Abundance of Benthic Marine Invertebrates

殖民地物种不同于十个无性系物种，通过分裂或碎片化产生新的有性殖民地。这种植物繁殖形式在决定物种丰富度和群落结构方面发挥着重要作用。因此，对营养繁殖及其成功条件的了解是海洋群落研究的必要组成部分。营养繁殖对种群遗传学也有重要影响，这些影响可能控制物种对气候变化的适应能力。以前关于营养繁殖的工作主要集中在量化营养繁殖对单个种群内短期种群动态的影响。这项工作没有考虑到克隆生长对新克隆产生的影响，也没有考虑到繁殖体的选择压力，繁殖体可以在不同的生境之间分散。在拟议的研究中，我将用有关幼虫生产、扩散、存活和定居的新数据来补充关于加勒比海柳珊瑚营养繁殖的工作。这些数据将使我能够确定营养繁殖、有性繁殖和幼虫扩散到新栖息地之间的相互作用。这些数据将为了解营养繁殖对海洋群落的影响提供量化基础。

Colonial species unlike aclonal species of ten generate new colonies a sexually through fission or fragmentation. This form of vegaetative reproduction plays an important role in determining species abundances and community structure. Thus, an understanding of vegetative reproduction and the conditions under which it is successful is a necessary component of the study of marine communities. Vegetative reproduction also has important effects on population genetics and these effects may control the resilience of species to changes in climate. Previous work on vegetative reproduction has focused on quantifying the effect of vegetative propagation on short term population dynamics within single populations. That work has not considered the effects of clonal growth on the production of new clones nor the selective pressures for propagules which can disperse between habitats. In the proposed research I will complement work on vegetative reproduction among Caribbean gorgonians with new data on larval production, dispersal, survival and settlement. These data will allow me to determine the interaction between vegetative reproduction, sexual reproduction and the dispersal of larvae to new habitats. The data will provide a quantitative basis for understanding the effects of vegetative reproduction on marine communities.