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

与无性系物种不同，殖民地物种通常通过裂变或分裂产生新的殖民地。这种形式的营养繁殖在决定物种丰度和群落结构方面起着重要作用。因此，了解营养繁殖及其成功的条件是海洋群落研究的必要组成部分。营养繁殖对种群遗传也有重要影响，这些影响可能控制物种对气候变化的适应能力。以往关于营养繁殖的研究主要集中在量化单个种群内营养繁殖对短期种群动态的影响。这项工作没有考虑到无性系生长对新无性系产生的影响，也没有考虑到繁殖体在不同生境之间分散的选择压力。在拟议的研究中，我将用关于幼虫生产、扩散、生存和定居的新数据来补充关于加勒比柳珊瑚营养生殖的工作。这些数据将使我能够确定营养繁殖、有性繁殖和幼虫向新栖息地扩散之间的相互作用。这些数据将为了解营养繁殖对海洋群落的影响提供定量基础。

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.