国际水族馆大会|第三天
We’ve all heard the doom and gloom reports of dying, degraded, bleached reefs, but is the situation really that bad? Dr. James Guest gave a keynote address to Congress delegates to discuss reasons for both optimism and despair.
不幸的是,世界上发生了许多珊瑚退化,嘉宾博士概述了一些重大干扰(海洋温度升高,沿海发展,破坏性捕鱼和污染),这些干扰破坏了珊瑚礁恢复的能力。在这些干扰中,那些对礁石造成结构性破坏的干扰是迄今为止最糟糕的情况,尽管珊瑚礁健康,但始于能够恢复。
When reefs become damaged, they lose their structural complexity which results in less habitat for fish. This reduction in habitat and loss of fish (in particular large herbivorous fish) is what leads to the decline and ensuing phase shift of a healthy coral reef to fleshy macroalgae dominate habitat.
另一方面,礁石可以保持结构完整,但是过度捕捞可能会导致大型草食鱼的下降,并且相位转移仍然可以消失。现在将这两个因素(礁石结构损坏和大鱼损失)与其他干扰,例如漂白事件,疾病爆发,酸化或沉淀,您有灾难的秘诀。
Herbivorous fish keep macroalgae populations in check. Herbivorous fish such as surgeonfish and parrotfish pick algae off the rocks and create suitable spaces for baby corals to settle and recolonize a disturbed reef habitat.
It’s complicated
Coral reef ecosystems are complicated, and there are plenty of nuances and intimate interactions which can tip the scales in either direction. Reefs can recover from periodic disturbances, and as we would expect, reefs with healthy fish population are more resilient. But start increasing the frequency and amount of disturbances and a healthy reef ecosystem can quickly slip into decline.
有或没有我们,地球上的生命将会继续,and often we find that life thrives in the most unexpected places. Dr. Guest gave the example of his research on coral reefs in Singapore, an island who’s population has risen dramatically from 150 people in 1819 to 5 million plus inhabitants today.
该岛没有剩余的自然海岸线(除了一个小的国家储备),而礁石发生的大部分南岛都覆盖在海堤上,并经历了极端的发展。每年有超过140,000艘集装箱船到达新加坡,渠道被挖出来为他们的通道让路。岛上周围的水是阴暗的,黑暗的,肮脏的,礁石几乎是您所能得到的。
您会期望所有的珊瑚从如此令人不安的栖息地中消失,当您在浅泻湖周围游泳时,很少有大型鱼类和大型藻类胜过珊瑚。然而,一旦您到达3-4米(10-13英尺)的礁石峰,您将拥有40-50%的珊瑚盖,其中一些最佳典型的珊瑚覆盖率高达70%。然而,由于缺乏光,珊瑚再次稀疏。
优胜金的生存
It is a paradox that such a diversity of corals would survive despite a less than ideal living condition. The reefs between 3-4m clearly haven’t shifted to macroalgae dominated cover, and persistent disturbances may offer a theory to the coral’s resilience.
Perhaps turbidity reduces macroalgae growth, orthese reefs are more resilient to sedimentation cover. Maybethese reefs are resistant to bleaching because of the turbidity, and perhaps the corals which thrive have developed an adaptation to these conditions.
我们对珊瑚的适应能力知之甚少,但我们知道它们可以在极端和退化的环境中生存。珊瑚具有承受热应力的能力,我们在波斯湾中看到了这一点的例子,在夏季,水温可以达到36-37-38°C(100°F)。
Are there some corals which are more adapted to these threats? Have the fittest corals survived disturbances and adapted to their new life in a changing ocean? Dr. Guest is looking for these resilient corals to isolate and earmark individual genotypes for conservation and restoration on a larger scale.
“当我们看到一场漂白事件时,我们会看到一些珊瑚比其他珊瑚更受影响。嘉宾博士说,有些珊瑚对热压力更有弹性,我们也许可以将这些珊瑚产生并产生它们。”
尽管这确实提出了一些有趣的问题,但热耐受性是否会使珊瑚更具弹性?或者是these corals diverting their energy into thermal tolerance and now become less effective at growth and spawning?
How scientist and aquarist can work together.
当前,用于再生珊瑚的主要方法是无性繁殖或碎片和ONE可以抵消碎裂遗传多样性的丧失的方式,正在性地饲养和传播珊瑚。
Dr. Guest and other scientists are testing new ways to raise corals from spawn, rearing them on various substrates which we can later be planted on the reef. “This is where biologist can learn from aquarist, said Guest.”
Once corals are settled, or before they spawn in captivity, scientists can learn from aquarist the best methods to keep these animals alive. Scientists can leave what conditions corals need to survive, including water movement, lighting, and nutrition requirements.
We need to continue looking at reefs during stressful disturbance events. We need to find “super corals” that are not only thermally tolerant but have different genetics and high tolerance to many disturbances.
像Jaime Craggs这样的水产师正在努力spawn corals in captivity并开发新的理论和方法操纵囚禁的产卵押韵。水族馆can help share this valuable knowledge with restoration biologist to ensure we are all working towards a common goal of safeguarding the genetic diversity of coral reefs.