ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia; Red Fish Blue Fish Marine, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia; Ultra Coral Australia, Paget, QLD 4740, Australia.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2018 Oct;135:332-345. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.07.006. Epub 2018 Jul 18.
Numerous hypotheses have been put forward to account for population outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfishes (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.), which place specific importance on either pre- or post-settlement mechanisms. The purpose of this review is to specifically assess the contributions of pre- versus post-settlement processes in the population dynamics of CoTS. Given the immense reproductive potential of CoTS (>100 million eggs per female), persistent high densities would appear inevitable unless there were significant constraints on larval development, settlement success, and/or early post-settlement growth and survival. In terms of population constraints, pre- and post-settlement processes are both important and have additive effects to suppress densities of juvenile and adult CoTS within reef ecosystems. It is difficult, however, to assess the relative contributions of pre- versus post-settlement processes to population outbreaks, especially given limited data on settlement rates, as well as early post-settlement growth and mortality. Prioritising this research is important to resolve potential effects of anthropogenic activities (e.g., fishing) and habitat degradation on changing population dynamics of CoTS, and will also improve management effectiveness.
已经提出了许多假设来解释棘冠海星（CoTS，Acanthaster spp.）的种群爆发，这些假设特别重视定居前或定居后的机制。本综述的目的是专门评估定居前与定居后过程在 CoTS 种群动态中的贡献。鉴于 CoTS 巨大的繁殖潜力（每只雌性超过 1 亿个卵子），除非幼虫发育、定居成功和/或早期定居后生长和存活受到重大限制，否则持续的高密度似乎是不可避免的。就种群限制而言，定居前和定居后过程都很重要，并且具有累加效应，可以抑制珊瑚礁生态系统中幼年和成年 CoTS 的密度。然而，要评估定居前与定居后过程对种群爆发的相对贡献是困难的，特别是考虑到有关定居率以及早期定居后生长和死亡率的数据有限。优先考虑这项研究对于解决人为活动（例如捕鱼）和生境退化对 CoTS 种群动态变化的潜在影响很重要，同时也将提高管理效果。
