Carmabi Foundation, Piscaderabaai z/n, P.O. Box 2090, Willemstad, Curaçao.
Oecologia. 2013 Feb;171(2):417-25. doi: 10.1007/s00442-012-2436-3. Epub 2012 Sep 4.
The mechanisms by which algae disperse across space on coral reefs are poorly known. We investigated the ability of four common Caribbean herbivorous fish species to disperse viable algal fragments through consumption of macroalgae and subsequent defecation. Fragments of all major algal taxa (Phaeophyta, Rhodophyta, and Chlorophyta) were found in 98.7 % of the fecal droppings of all fish species; however, the ability to survive gut passage and reattach to a substrate differed between algal taxa. While survival and reattachment approached zero for Phaeophyta and Chlorophyta, 76.4 % of the fragments belonging to the group Rhodophyta (mostly species in the order Gelidiaceae) survived gut passage, and were able to grow and reattach to the substrate by forming new rhizoids. Our results thus show that Gelidid algal species are dispersed by swimming herbivores. While the relative contribution of this mechanism to overall algal dispersal and recruitment in a wider ecological context remains unknown, our findings illustrate a previously undescribed mechanism of algal dispersal on coral reefs which is analogous to the dispersal of terrestrial plants, plant fragments, and seeds via herbivore ingestion and defecation.
藻类在珊瑚礁上跨越空间传播的机制知之甚少。我们研究了四种常见的加勒比草食性鱼类通过食用大型藻类和随后的排泄来传播有活力的藻类碎片的能力。在所有鱼类粪便的 98.7%中都发现了所有主要藻类类群（褐藻、红藻和绿藻）的碎片；然而，藻类类群在肠道通过和重新附着到基质上的能力不同。虽然褐藻和绿藻的生存和重新附着接近零，但属于红藻组（主要是 Gelidiales 目中的物种）的 76.4%的碎片在肠道通过后幸存下来，并能够通过形成新的根状茎生长并重新附着到基质上。因此，我们的研究结果表明，凝胶藻物种是由游泳草食动物传播的。虽然这种机制对更广泛生态背景下的整体藻类传播和补充的相对贡献尚不清楚，但我们的研究结果说明了珊瑚礁上藻类传播的一种以前未被描述的机制，类似于陆地植物、植物碎片和种子通过草食动物的摄入和排泄来传播。
