Garthwin Ruby G, Poore Alistair G B, Vergés Adriana
Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences, Chowder Bay, NSW 2088, Australia.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Jun 30;83(2):475-82. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.08.010. Epub 2013 Aug 28.
Climate change is acknowledged as a major threat to marine ecosystems, but the effect of temperature on species interactions remains poorly understood. We quantified the effects of long-term warming on plant-herbivore interactions of a dominant seagrass, Zostera muelleri. Growth, herbivory and tolerance to damage were compared between a meadow warmed by the thermal plume from a power station for 30 years (2-3 °C above background temperatures) and three control locations. Leaf growth rates and tissue loss were spatially variable but unrelated to temperature regimes. Natural herbivory was generally low. Simulated herbivory experiments showed that the tolerance of Z. muelleri to defoliation did not differ between warm and unimpacted meadows, with damaged and undamaged plants maintaining similar growth rates irrespective of temperature. These results suggest that the ability of temperate Z. muelleri to tolerate herbivory is not strongly influenced by warming, and this species may be relatively resilient to future environmental change.
气候变化被认为是对海洋生态系统的一个主要威胁，但温度对物种相互作用的影响仍知之甚少。我们量化了长期变暖对一种优势海草——缪勒氏大叶藻（Zostera muelleri）的植物-食草动物相互作用的影响。将一个因发电站热羽流而变暖30年（比背景温度高2-3摄氏度）的草甸与三个对照地点在生长、食草情况以及对损害的耐受性方面进行了比较。叶片生长速率和组织损失在空间上存在差异，但与温度状况无关。自然食草情况总体较低。模拟食草实验表明，缪勒氏大叶藻对去叶的耐受性在温暖草甸和未受影响的草甸之间没有差异，无论温度如何，受损和未受损的植物都保持相似的生长速率。这些结果表明，温带缪勒氏大叶藻耐受食草的能力不受变暖的强烈影响，该物种可能对未来环境变化具有相对较强的恢复力。
