Broadcast Spawning and the Population Ecology of Coral Reef Animals

海洋底栖生物的生态学和进化文献普遍忽略了授精率作为底栖生物生活史的重要因素，而许多底栖生物是重要的资源物种。这些比率被含蓄地假设为一致的高，因此在建立成年人口方面不是一个非常重要的因素。现在有一些数据集对这一假设的有效性提出了质疑。这项研究将确定自然种群的受精率，并探索控制珊瑚礁群落受精率的一些因素。使用加勒比柳橙，Plexaura A，作为模型系统。拉斯克和科夫罗斯将确定同步产卵事件中释放的卵子的受精率。Plexaura A是无性繁殖的，在不同的珊瑚礁上，雄性和雌性的比例往往是倾斜的。这样就可以比较在当前制度和雄性种群密度不同的珊瑚礁的比率。他们将利用planulae幼虫的随机扩增多态性DNA （RAPD）进行父系分析，确定特定雄性克隆的受精比例，并确定克隆大小和分布对受精的影响。如果受精率很低并且受到诸如种群密度等因素的影响，那么就有必要将受精率纳入底栖动物种群、动物动态和进化的分析中。

The literature on marine benthic ecology and evolution has generally ignored fertilization rates as an important factor in the life histories of benthic species, many which are important resource species. These rates have implicitly been assumed to be uniformly high and thus not a terribly significant factor in the establishment of the adult populations. There are now a number of data sets which raise doubts about the validity of that assumption. The research will determine rates of fertilization among natural populations and will explore some of the factors controlling these rates in reef communities. Using the Caribbean gorgonian, Plexaura A, as a model system Drs. Lasker and Coffroth will determine rates of fertilization of eggs released in synchronous spawning events. Plexaura A is clonal and often has skewed ratios of male and female colonies on different reefs. This will enable comparison of rates from reefs which differ in current regime and in the density of male colonies. Using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) from individual planulae larvae, they will conduct paternity analyses, determine the proportion of fertilizations attributable to specific male clones, and determine the effects of clone size and distribution on fertilization. If rates are low and are affected by factors such as population density, then it will be necessary to incorporate fertilization rates in analyses of benthic population animal dynamics and evolution.