Hay Mark E, Taylor Phillip R
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 28557, Morehead City, NC, USA.
Division of Science and Mathematics, College of the Virgin Islands, VI 00801, St. Thomas, US, USA.
Oecologia. 1985 Mar;65(4):591-598. doi: 10.1007/BF00379678.
When the common sea urchin Diadema antillarum was removed from a 50 m strip of reef in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, cover of upright algae and the grazing rates and densities of herbivorous parrotfish and surgeonfish increased significantly within 11-16 weeks when compared to immediately adjacent control areas. Sixteen months after removal, Diadema had recovered to 70% of original density, abundance of upright algae no longer differed between removal and control areas, and the abundance and grazing activity of herbivorous fish in the removal was approaching equivalence with control areas. On a patch reef in St. Croix that had been cleared of Diadema 10-11 years earlier (Ogden et al. 1973b), urchins had recovered to only 50-60% of original density. This reef still showed significantly higher rates of grazing by fish and a significantly greater density of parrotfish and surgeonfish than a nearby control reef where Diadema densities had not been altered. These results indicate that high Diadema densities (7-12/m for this study) may suppress the densities of herbivorous fish on Caribbean reefs.
当美国维尔京群岛圣托马斯岛一条50米长的珊瑚礁带上的普通海胆（刺冠海胆）被移除后，与紧邻的对照区域相比，直立藻类的覆盖面积以及草食性鹦嘴鱼和刺尾鱼的啃食率和密度在11至16周内显著增加。移除海胆16个月后，刺冠海胆数量恢复到原始密度的70%，移除区域和对照区域的直立藻类数量不再有差异，移除区域草食性鱼类的数量和啃食活动接近对照区域。在圣克罗伊岛一个10 - 11年前已清除刺冠海胆的斑块珊瑚礁上（奥格登等人，1973b），海胆数量仅恢复到原始密度的50 - 60%。与附近未改变刺冠海胆密度的对照珊瑚礁相比，该珊瑚礁仍显示出鱼类更高的啃食率以及鹦嘴鱼和刺尾鱼显著更高的密度。这些结果表明，高刺冠海胆密度（本研究中为每平方米7 - 12个）可能会抑制加勒比珊瑚礁上草食性鱼类的数量。
