ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia.
J Fish Biol. 2010 Oct;77(6):1219-29. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02726.x. Epub 2010 Aug 19.
At the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the north-eastern Indian Ocean >592 fishes from at least 11 species died in a series of events in December 2007, January and February 2008 and April 2009. The dead fishes were from a wide range of taxonomic families, indicating that conditions exceeded the tolerances of a broad array of species. The 2007-2008 die-off events occurred on the warmest and calmest days of a significantly warmer and calmer summer. Fishes died in the southern inshore areas of the coral atoll lagoon at survey sites where seawater temperature was highest (33-35° C) and dissolved oxygen was lowest (1·4-1·8 mg l⁻¹). The water temperature at these fish-kill survey sites (33-35° C) was significantly warmer than previous years (1997 to 2005, mean ±s.e. = 28·7 ± 0·1° C). Fishes probably died because they were unable to obtain the additional oxygen required for metabolism at higher temperatures. Repeated die-off events over the last 130 years indicate that some fishes have not yet adapted to rises in seawater temperature. This study provides empirical evidence to support suggestions that differences in physiological tolerances to increasing sea temperatures may be important in determining the structure of future coral-reef fish communities with respect to climate change.
在印度洋东北部的科科斯（基林）群岛，2007 年 12 月、2008 年 1 月至 2 月以及 2009 年 4 月，至少有 11 个物种的 592 条鱼相继死亡。死亡的鱼类来自多个分类科，表明这些鱼类所处的环境已经超出了它们的耐受范围。2007-2008 年的死亡事件发生在一个明显更温暖、更平静的夏季中最温暖、最平静的日子里。在环礁泻湖南部近岸地区的珊瑚调查点，鱼类死亡，这里的海水温度最高（33-35°C），溶解氧最低（1.4-1.8mg l⁻¹）。这些鱼类死亡调查点的水温（33-35°C）明显高于往年（1997 年至 2005 年，平均值±标准误差=28.7±0.1°C）。鱼类可能是因为无法获得更高温度下新陈代谢所需的额外氧气而死亡。在过去的 130 年里，这种反复的死亡事件表明，一些鱼类尚未适应海水温度的上升。本研究提供了经验证据，支持了这样一种观点，即对海水温度升高的生理耐受差异可能在确定未来珊瑚礁鱼类群落结构方面具有重要意义，因为气候变化正在影响珊瑚礁鱼类群落结构。
