Broadcast Spawning and the Population Ecology of Coral Reef Animals

关于海洋底栖生态和进化的文献 通常忽略了施肥率作为一个重要因素， 许多重要的底栖物种的生活史 资源物种 这些比率被隐含地假定为 一致高，因此不是一个非常重要的因素， 建立成年人群体。 现在有一些 数据集的有效性提出了质疑， 假设 这项研究将确定受精率 在自然种群中，并将探讨一些因素 在珊瑚礁群落中控制这些速率。 使用加勒比柳珊瑚Plexaura A作为模型系统 拉斯克博士和科弗罗斯博士将测定 在同步产卵事件中释放的卵。 Plexaura A是 无性繁殖的，而且通常有倾斜的比例，男性和女性的殖民地上 不同的珊瑚礁 这将使珊瑚礁的比率比较 它们的电流状态和雄性密度不同， 殖民地 利用随机扩增多态性DNA（RAPD）技术， 个体浮浪幼虫，他们将进行亲子鉴定， 确定施肥比例 到 特定的雄性克隆，并确定克隆大小的影响， 施肥的分布。 如果利率低， 因为人口密度等因素， 到 将施肥率纳入底栖生物分析 种群动物动力学和进化。

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.