Surviving in a Marine Desert: The Sponge Loop Retains Resources Within Coral Reefs
Surviving in a Marine Desert: The Sponge Loop Retains Resources Within Coral Reefs
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DOI：
10.1126/science.1241981
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发表时间：
2013-10-04
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Admiraal, Wim
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
de Goeij, Jasper M.;van Oevelen, Dick;Admiraal, Wim
自从达尔文对珊瑚礁的早期描述以来，科学家们一直在争论世界上最具生产力和多样性的生态系统之一如何在相当于沙漠的海洋中茁壮成长。溶解有机物（DOM）是珊瑚礁上产生的最大资源，其通量如何转移到更高的营养级是一个谜。在这里，我们表明，海绵DOM提供给动物群迅速驱逐过滤细胞的碎屑，随后被珊瑚礁动物群消耗。这种“海绵环”在水族馆和原位食物网实验中得到证实，使用C-13和N-15富集的DOM。DOM-海绵-动物群途径解释了为什么生物热点，如珊瑚礁坚持在贫营养海-珊瑚礁的悖论-并对珊瑚礁生态系统功能和保护战略的影响。
Ever since Darwin's early descriptions of coral reefs, scientists have debated how one of the world's most productive and diverse ecosystems can thrive in the marine equivalent of a desert. It is an enigma how the flux of dissolved organic matter (DOM), the largest resource produced on reefs, is transferred to higher trophic levels. Here we show that sponges make DOM available to fauna by rapidly expelling filter cells as detritus that is subsequently consumed by reef fauna. This "sponge loop" was confirmed in aquarium and in situ food web experiments, using C-13- and N-15-enriched DOM. The DOM-sponge-fauna pathway explains why biological hot spots such as coral reefs persist in oligotrophic seas-the reef's paradox-and has implications for reef ecosystem functioning and conservation strategies.