Richard Grosberg and Don Levitan are at the Dept of Zoology and Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Trends Ecol Evol. 1992 Apr;7(4):130-3. doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(92)90148-5.
When ecologists study organisms with multiphasic life cycles, they must often confront the problem of which phase to scrutinize. In principle, the dynamics and interactions of all stages could play a major role in the regulation of adult populations and species assemblages. In practice, however, the roles of larger and more sedentary phases - being easier to count and manipulate than motile propagules - have been emphasized. Nonetheless, several recent studies on the small, dispersing larval phase of marine invertebrate life cycles reach the conclusion that the spatial distribution and supply of propagules can control the distribution and abundance of populations of benthic adults. To some, the present emphasis on planktonic propagules amounts to a resurrection of ideas developed during a long and rich history of larval biology. To others, studies of demographic and ecological connections between larval and adult populations represent a substantial revision of ecological paradigms.
当生态学家研究具有多相生命周期的生物时，他们常常必须面对要研究哪个阶段的问题。从理论上讲，所有阶段的动态和相互作用都可能在调节成年种群和物种组合方面发挥重要作用。然而，实际上，较大且更定居的阶段（比运动的繁殖体更容易计数和操纵）的作用已得到强调。尽管如此，最近对海洋无脊椎动物生命周期的小而分散的幼虫阶段的几项研究得出的结论是，繁殖体的空间分布和供应可以控制底栖成年人口的分布和丰度。对某些人来说，目前对浮游繁殖体的重视相当于在长期而丰富的幼虫生物学历史中发展起来的思想的复兴。对其他人来说，幼虫和成年种群之间的人口统计学和生态联系的研究代表了生态范式的重大修订。
