Zooplankton Capture by Corals: Effects of Water Movement and Prey Escape

关于珊瑚礁环境中水流的信息通常是为了量化珊瑚礁间的物质运输或确定从珊瑚礁产生营养通量的重要过程。这个项目将研究水流对珊瑚摄食生物学几个方面的影响。野外测量四种珊瑚的取食率时，会使用自动泵/取样器和野外水槽进行猎物取样，同时测量水流和猎物的可用性。喂食实验将通过不同的流速、猎物类型和食物可用性来进行，并将在不同的流量条件下进行数天。捕获事件和猎物类型，以及食物的可用性，将在不同的流量条件下进行几天的研究。捕获事件和猎物逃脱行为将使用水下视频拍摄。珊瑚礁喂养生物学的另一个重要方面是野外珊瑚周围的小规模水流。这将完成三个独立的水下热敏电阻流量计2毫米的空间分辨率，基于LaBarber和Vogel（1976）的设计。收集到的数据将用于描述该地点的一般流动情况，提供关于牙买加和加勒比其他地点珊瑚礁流动环境的新资料。

Information on water flow in coral reef environments has generally been done to quantify mass transport across reefs or to identify important processes generating nutrient flux from reefs. This project will investigate the effects of water flow on several aspects of the feeding biology of corals. Field measurements of feeding rates on four species of corals will be made with prey sampling by an automated pump/sampler and field flume that allows concurrent measurements of water flow and prey availability. Feeding experiments will be manipulated by varying flow rate, prey type, and food availability and will be conducted over several days with different flow conditions. Capture events and prey type, and food availability and will be conducted over several days with different flow conditions. Capture events and prey escape behavior will be filmed using underwater video. Another important aspect of feeding biology in coral reefs is the small scale water flow around corals in the field. This will be accomplished with three self- contained underwater thermistors flowmeters with 2 mm spatial resolution, based on the design of LaBarber and Vogel (1976). The data collected will be used to characterize the general flow regime at the site, providing new information about the flow environment of coral reefs in Jamaica and other sites in the Caribbean.