Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2013 Jul 11;8(7):e68259. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068259. Print 2013.
Biotic resistance, the process by which new colonists are excluded from a community by predation from and/or competition with resident species, can prevent or limit species invasions. We examined whether biotic resistance by native predators on Caribbean coral reefs has influenced the invasion success of red lionfishes (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles), piscivores from the Indo-Pacific. Specifically, we surveyed the abundance (density and biomass) of lionfish and native predatory fishes that could interact with lionfish (either through predation or competition) on 71 reefs in three biogeographic regions of the Caribbean. We recorded protection status of the reefs, and abiotic variables including depth, habitat type, and wind/wave exposure at each site. We found no relationship between the density or biomass of lionfish and that of native predators. However, lionfish densities were significantly lower on windward sites, potentially because of habitat preferences, and in marine protected areas, most likely because of ongoing removal efforts by reserve managers. Our results suggest that interactions with native predators do not influence the colonization or post-establishment population density of invasive lionfish on Caribbean reefs.
生物阻力是指新殖民者由于捕食和/或与当地物种竞争而被排斥在群落之外的过程，它可以防止或限制物种入侵。我们研究了加勒比珊瑚礁上的本地捕食者对入侵性红狮子鱼（Pterois volitans 和 Pterois miles）的生物阻力是否影响了这些鱼类的入侵成功，红狮子鱼是来自印度-太平洋地区的肉食性鱼类。具体来说，我们在加勒比地区的三个生物地理区域的 71 个珊瑚礁上调查了狮子鱼和可能与狮子鱼发生相互作用（通过捕食或竞争）的本地掠食性鱼类的丰度（密度和生物量）。我们记录了每个地点的珊瑚礁的保护状况以及包括水深、生境类型和风浪暴露等非生物变量。我们发现狮子鱼的密度或生物量与本地掠食性鱼类的密度或生物量之间没有关系。然而，狮子鱼的密度在迎风面的地点显著较低，这可能是由于栖息地偏好，而在海洋保护区，可能是由于保护区管理者正在进行持续的清除工作。我们的研究结果表明，与本地捕食者的相互作用不会影响入侵性狮子鱼在加勒比珊瑚礁上的定殖或建立后种群密度。
