McClenachan Loren, Cooper Andrew B
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0208, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2008 Jun 22;275(1641):1351-8. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1757.
The productivity and biomass of pristine coral reef ecosystems is poorly understood, particularly in the Caribbean where communities have been impacted by overfishing and multiple other stressors over centuries. Using historical data on the spatial distribution and abundance of the extinct Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis), this study reconstructs the population size, structure and ecological role of this once common predator within coral reef communities, and provides evidence that historical reefs supported biomasses of fishes and invertebrates up to six times greater than those found on typical modern Caribbean reefs. An estimated 233,000-338,000 monk seals were distributed among 13 colonies across the Caribbean. The biomass of reef fishes and invertebrates required to support historical seal populations was 732-1018 gm(-2) of reefs, which exceeds that found on any Caribbean reef today and is comparable with those measured in remote Pacific reefs. Quantitative estimates of historically dense monk seal colonies and their consumption rates on pristine reefs provide concrete data on the magnitude of decline in animal biomass on Caribbean coral reefs. Realistic reconstruction of these past ecosystems is critical to understanding the profound and long-lasting effect of human hunting on the functioning of coral reef ecosystems.
原始珊瑚礁生态系统的生产力和生物量仍未得到充分了解，尤其是在加勒比地区，几个世纪以来，当地的群落受到过度捕捞和多种其他压力因素的影响。本研究利用已灭绝的加勒比僧海豹（Monachus tropicalis）的空间分布和数量的历史数据，重建了这种曾经常见的捕食者在珊瑚礁群落中的种群规模、结构和生态作用，并提供证据表明，历史上的珊瑚礁所支持的鱼类和无脊椎动物生物量比典型的现代加勒比珊瑚礁上的生物量高出多达六倍。据估计，23.3万至33.8万只僧海豹分布在加勒比地区的13个聚居地。支持历史上僧海豹种群所需的珊瑚礁鱼类和无脊椎动物生物量为每平方米珊瑚礁732 - 1018克，这超过了如今在任何加勒比珊瑚礁上发现的生物量，与在偏远太平洋珊瑚礁上测得的生物量相当。对历史上密集的僧海豹聚居地及其在原始珊瑚礁上的消耗率的定量估计，为加勒比珊瑚礁上动物生物量下降的幅度提供了具体数据。对这些过去生态系统进行现实的重建，对于理解人类捕猎对珊瑚礁生态系统功能产生的深远而持久的影响至关重要。
