Science. 1988 Mar 18;239(4846):1422-4. doi: 10.1126/science.239.4846.1422.
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.
为了研究珊瑚幼虫从其出生地珊瑚礁扩散多远的问题，在长达 7 个月的时间里，我们在距离中央大堡礁上一个相对孤立的小平台礁 Helix Reef 可达 5 公里的范围内，对珊瑚幼体的补充密度进行了实验测定。在靠近礁的下游，高浓度的幼体（占所有补充幼体的 40%）在滞留时间长的区域被发现，这表明近场（近程）环流对珊瑚幼虫的扩散和补充有深远的影响。珊瑚幼体的补充密度随与礁的距离呈对数下降，在半径仅为 600 至 1200 米的距离上减少了一个数量级。在生态时间尺度上，具有相对较短浮游期（最短几天）的半被动海洋幼虫的平流扩散可能很广泛，但补充的成功率受到高度限制。通过进化时间，充分的扩散可以确保基因流到数百公里甚至数千公里之外的珊瑚礁带。然而，就短期而言，珊瑚礁似乎主要是通过珊瑚幼虫自身繁殖的。
