Light control of growth form in colonial reef corals: computer simulation

Computer simulation with plotter output reveals the close interrelation between ambient light and the skeletal morphogenesis of the massive Caribbean reef coral Montastrea annularis. This technique illustrates a new quantitative approach to evaluating ecological growth responses of colonial organisms.     

Tropical reef corals: tolerance of low temperatures on the north carolin

Individual heads of two species of reef or herinatypic coral, Solenastrea hyades (Dana) and Siderastrea siderea (Ellis and Solander), occur on rock outcrops on the inner continental shelf off North Carolina in waters where winter bottom temperatures are as low as 10.6 degrees C. These temperatures are significantly lower than previously assumed minimum temperatures for the survival of tropical reef corals in their natural environment.     

Mass spawning in tropical reef corals

Synchronous multispecific spawning by a total of 32 coral species occurred a few nights after late spring full moons in 1981 and 1982 at three locations on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The data invalidate the generalization that most corals have internally fertilized, brooded planula larvae. In every species observed, gametes were released; external fertilization and development then followed. The developmental rates of externally fertilized eggs and longevities of planulae indicate that planulae may be dispersed between reefs.     

Coral chronometers: seasonal growth bands in reef corals

Autoradiagraphs and x-radiographs have been made of vertical sections through the centers of reef corals from Eniwetok. Radioactivity bands in the coral structure are caused by strontium-90 and are related to specific series of nuclear tests, thus making possible calculation of long-term growth rates. These data indicate that the cyclic variations in radial density revealed by x-radiography are annual.     

Localized dispersal and recruitment in great barrier reef corals: the helix experiment

To examine the problem of how far coral larvae disperse from their natal reef, coral recruitment densities were experimentally determined at distances up to 5 kilometers from a small, relatively isolated platform reef, Helix Reef, on the central Great Barrier Reef for 7 months. High concentrations of recruits, accounting for up to 40 percent of all recruitment, were found downstream of the reef in areas of high water residence time, suggesting that near-field(proximal) circulation has a profound influence on dispersal and recruitment of coral larvae. Coral recruitment declined logarithmically with distance from the reef, decreasing by an order of magnitude at radial distances of only 600 to 1200 meters. On an ecological time scale, advective dispersal of semipassive marine larvae with relatively short planktonic lives(minimally days) may be extensive, but success of recruitment is highly limited. Through evolutionary time, sufficient dispersal occurs to ensure gene flow to reef tracts hundreds or possibly thousands of kilometers apart. In the short term, however, coral reefs appear to be primarily self-seeded with respect to coral larvae.     

Flexibility in algal endosymbioses shapes growth in reef corals

The relation between corals and their algal endosymbionts has been a key to the success of scleractinian (stony) corals as modern reef-builders, but little is known about early stages in the establishment of the symbiosis. Here, we show that initial uptake of zooxanthellae by juvenile corals during natural infection is nonspecific (a potentially adaptive trait); the association is flexible and characterized by a change in (dominant) zooxanthella strains over time; and growth rates of experimentally infected coral holobionts are partly contingent on the zooxanthella strain harbored, with clade C-infected juveniles growing two to three times as fast as those infected with clade D.     

Community structure of corals and reef fishes at multiple scales

Distributions of numerical abundance and resource use among species are fundamental aspects of community structure. Here we characterize these patterns for tropical reef fishes and corals across a 10,000-kilometer biodiversity gradient. Numerical abundance and resource-use distributions have similar shapes, but they emerge at markedly different scales. These results are consistent with a controversial null hypothesis regarding community structure, according to which abundance distributions arise from the interplay of multiple stochastic environmental and demographic factors. Our findings underscore the importance of robust conservation strategies that are appropriately scaled to the broad suite of environmental processes that help sustain biodiversity.     

Acanthaster: effect on coral reef growth in panama

Analysis of data on coral abundance and growth, and the population size (26 individuals per hectare) and feeding rate of Acanthaster indicates that Pocillopora reefs on the Pacific coast of Panama are undergoing vigorous growth in the presence of this predator. Prediction of the effects of a population increase in Acanthaster to plague proportions (2.5 times that presently observed) suggests that reefs could still maintain a positive growth. However, Acanthaster at ten times the present population density would lead to rapid destruction of reefs. It is argued that coral destruction due to Acanthaster represents only one of several factors affecting coral reef progression.     

回头岸礁区4 种造礁珊瑚中可培养细菌的多样性

采用稀释涂布平板法,分离三亚鹿回头岸礁区4种造礁珊瑚及其周围海水中的细菌,并基于16S r RNA基因序列进行了系统发育分析,从而探讨造礁珊瑚中可培养细菌的物种多样性。从澄黄滨珊瑚(Porites lutea)、鹿角珊瑚(Acropora sp.)、盔形珊瑚(Galaxea sp.)、扁脑珊瑚(Platygyra sp.)样品中分别分离获得细菌60、61、54、20株,从珊瑚周边海水中分离获得细菌31株。16S r RNA基因序列分析表明,珊瑚来源的细菌分布于放线菌门(Actinobacteria)、α-变形菌纲(Alphaproteobacteria)、γ-变形菌纲(Gammaproteobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)。在属级水平上对4种珊瑚及海水来源细菌群落组成分析,发现在4种珊瑚中均有分布的属有3个,为Brachybacterium、Microbacterium和Ruegeria,珊瑚来源细菌类群有一定差异。同时发现4种珊瑚来源细菌与海水来源细菌类群差异较大。在分离的菌株中,有7株菌与已有效描述的细菌物种典型菌株的全长16S r RNA基因相似性低于97%,代表着潜在新属或新种。试验结果表明,三亚鹿回头岸礁区珊瑚中存在较为丰富的细菌多样性,并潜藏较多的新物种资源。     

方形人工鱼礁通透性及其对礁体周围流场影响的数值实验

基于考虑不同形状大小、组合规模的人工鱼礁投放于不同水域环境后形成的流态变化有较大差异,设计x、y、z三个方向不同通透方式的单个正方体人工鱼礁,采用LES(大涡模拟)紊流模式,对定常来流速度下人工鱼礁单体附近流场进行三维数值模拟,建立反映礁体结构的通透系数与礁体产生流场变化的关系。结果显示:上升流和背涡流的规模随通透系数增加而减小;来流方向上,礁体迎流面、背流面的通透系数变化对上升流和背涡流规模影响较为显著,而内部结构的变化则作用不明显,礁体上方与侧方的开口对上升流和背涡流的影响也不显著。迎流面通透系数变化是背涡流规模影响的主要因素。方形单礁缓流区体积随通透系数Tin增大呈线性减小,关系为V_x=-1241.8T_in+1206。通过该研究可在数值计算中通过通透系数与流场变化的关系,实现将复杂礁体简单化,有效地提高计算效率;为将小范围模拟扩大到群礁、甚至大海域的模拟,定量评估人工鱼礁的生态效应打下基础。     

Cabbage aphid: effect of isolation on form and on endocrine activity

Isolated wingless cabbage aphids, Brevicoryne brassicae (L.), produced only wingless young. Aphids isolated from birth all became wingless, whereas over 50 percent of grouped controls developed wings. Isolation caused hyperactivity of the corpus allatum; this hyperactivity may have caused the wingless form.     

双层十字翼型人工鱼礁流场效应的数值模拟

本文基于Ansys Fluent平台,采用湍流模型中的大涡模拟方法（large eddy simulation, LES）对双层十字翼型人工鱼礁四种子礁的流场效应进行了数值模拟,采用比混凝土体积法分析其背涡流体积、上升流体积、向上水体输运通量等流场效应数据,得到双层十字翼型鱼礁的最优礁体构造,以期为人工鱼礁的设计和选型提供科学依据。结果表明：双层十字翼型鱼礁加顶板对流场效应并无增益,上升流和背涡流相对体积变小;侧板结构对礁体的上升流和背涡流效应有明显的增益,上升流和背涡流相对体积逐渐变大,全侧板D型礁体的上升流和背涡流效应最强,上升流相对体积可达无侧板B型礁体的13.50~25.48倍,背涡流相对体积达1.40~1.61倍;向上水体输运通量约在一倍礁高处达到最大值,约在两倍礁高处降为最大值的1/2左右。迎流角度的改变,对D型礁体流场效应的影响无显著差异,表明本型礁体对自然海域的潮流流向有很好的适应性。     

沉降对多孔方型人工鱼礁流场效应影响的数值模拟

礁体沉降作为人工鱼礁投放后普遍产生的现象,对人工鱼礁周围流场会产生影响。为研究多孔方型人工鱼礁不同沉降情况下流场效应的变化,采用计算流体动力学(Computational fluid dynamics,CFD)技术,利用Fluent软件模拟在固定来流流速为0.8 m/s时,5种不同沉降程度下单体鱼礁周围的流场情况。结果显示:与无沉降时(初始状态)相比,在沉降程度为20%时,上升流最大高度降低约1.0 m,最大上升流流速增大约0.015 m/s,侧向流速增大区域(大于来流速度)扩大至1.5倍左右,同时礁体背流面透水区域增大,背涡流区域沿水流方向移动约2 m,礁体周围流场情况一定程度上变得更加复杂;在沉降程度为40%时,上升流流速最大值与初始状态相比减少约为0.010 m/s,侧向流增大区域基本一致,此时礁体背流面透水区变化较大,有形成一个逆时针涡旋的趋势;当沉降程度达到60%时,礁体周围流场效应开始明显下降,上升流最大高度相较于初始状态降低约3.2 m,上升流最大流速降低约0.600 m/s,侧向流速增大区域与壁面间距缩短约0.4 m,背涡流区域有消失的迹象;在沉降程度达到80%时,礁体流场效应基本丧失。研究表明,对于多孔方型人工鱼礁,在沉降程度40%以内,人工鱼礁仍然能够发挥着较好的流场效应;礁体在沉降程度达到60%时,礁体周围流场复杂程度相较于初始状态有明显损失,之后随着沉降深度增加,礁体流场效应逐渐消失。     

校园绿色空间布局对微气候的效应研究

本研究以河南农业大学校园为例选取了3个具有不同绿色空间布局形式的测量样点,在人行高度上进行了9 d的风速、风向、温度、湿度、热辐射的数据采集。通过对实测数据分析,秋季静风天天气下,半围合式绿色空间布局的风速、风向变化小于开敞空间和行列式绿色空间布局;相比于其他布局形式,半围合式布局降温1.41℃、增湿4.08%、降低辐射119.25 W·m~(-2),对微气候的改善有明显效果。     

Fish schools: an asset to corals

Schools of juvenile haemulid fish feed in sea grass beds at night. By day they rest over coral heads, where they excrete substantial quantities of ammonium and particulate nitrogen and phosphorus into the nutrient-poor waters. The percentages of these nutrients contributed by the fish were comparable to those from other sources. Coral heads with resident fish schools grew faster than those without resident schools, indicating that fish may be more beneficial to the corals than has been assumed.