Predation Effects on Survival of Coral-Reef Fish Recruits

珊瑚礁鱼类作为当地种群出现， 栖息地的补丁。 这些人口构成了一个 最具物种多样性的海洋生物组合， 数百种物种在当地共存。 我们的知识的 限制种群规模的生态过程很少， 历史上一直偏向于竞争的研究， 最近，补充（幼鱼出现的过程） 在珊瑚礁后定居的浮游幼虫）。 由于 各种物流限制，其他流程尚未 彻底研究。 对于捕食来说尤其如此， 已经被证明是一个极其重要的过程， 其他海洋、淡水和陆地群落。 希克森博士将研究该假设的两个推论 捕食限制了珊瑚礁鱼类的局部种群规模：（1） 新定居鱼类在珊瑚礁上的生存率将得到提高 移走本地及/或暂时性食鱼鱼类的地方;及 (2)这些对生存率的影响将随着 招聘 这些将通过受控实验进行测试。 两年前， 地点：巴哈马群岛的Lee Stocking岛和巴哈马群岛的圣托马斯岛。 联合S.维京群岛

Coral reef fishes occur as local populations occupying patches of habitat. These populations comprise the basis of one of the most speciose assemblages of marine organisms, with hundreds of species coexisting locally. Our knowledge of the ecolgical processes that limit population size is scant and historically has been biased toward studies of competition, and more recently, recruitment (the process of young fish appearing on a reef following settlement of planktonic larvae). Due to a variety of logistic constraints, other processes have not been thoroughly studied. This is especially true of predation, which has been demonstrated to be an extremely important process in other marine, freshwater, and terrestrial communities. Dr. Hixon will investigate two corollaries of the hypothesis that predation limits local population sizes in reef-fishes: (1) survivorship of newly settled fish will be enhanced on reefs where resident and/or transient piscivorous fish are removed; and (2) these effects on survivorship will vary with the magnitude of recruitment. These will be tested by controlled experimental manipulations of predatory fish on isolated patch reefs at two sites: Lee Stocking Island in the Bahamas, and St. Thomas in the U. S. Virgin Islands.