School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Lewes, DE, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2019 Aug 16;14(8):e0221157. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221157. eCollection 2019.
3D printing technology offers significant advantages in the development of objects and tools across an array of fields and has been implemented in an increasing number of ecological studies. As rates of degradation or chemical leaching of 3D printed models has not been well documented under environmental conditions, it is essential to examine if these objects will alter the behavior or impact the survivorship of the focal species prior to widespread implementation. Here, we explored the efficacy of using 3D printed models in coral reef behavioral research, an area of study where this form of additive manufacturing could offer significant advantages. Coral-associated blue-green chromis (Chromis viridis) individuals were exposed to natural and 3D printed coral habitats, and larval mustard hill coral (Porites astreoides) were offered 3D printed substrate as a settlement surface. Habitat association and behavioral analyses indicated that C. viridis did not discriminate or display modified behaviors between 3D printed and natural coral skeletons or between 3D printed materials. P. astreoides displayed significantly higher settlement when provided with 3D printed settlement surfaces than when provided with no settlement surface and settled at similar rates between 3D printed surfaces of differing materials. Additionally, growth and mortality of P. astreoides settled on different 3D printed surfaces did not significantly differ. Our results suggest that the 3D printed models used in this study are not inherently harmful to a coral reef fish or species of brooding coral, supporting further exploration of the benefits that these objects and others produced with additive manufacturing may offer as ecological research tools.
3D 打印技术在跨领域的物体和工具开发方面具有显著优势，并在越来越多的生态研究中得到应用。由于 3D 打印模型在环境条件下的降解或化学浸出速率尚未得到很好的记录，因此在广泛应用之前，必须检查这些物体是否会改变研究对象的行为或影响其生存能力。在这里，我们探讨了在珊瑚礁行为研究中使用 3D 打印模型的效果，在这个领域，这种增材制造形式可能具有显著优势。将自然和 3D 打印的珊瑚栖息地暴露给与珊瑚共生的蓝绿色雀鲷（Chromis viridis）个体，将 3D 打印的基质提供给幼虫黄花石斑鱼（Porites astreoides）作为附着表面。栖息地关联和行为分析表明，C. viridis 不会区分或表现出对 3D 打印珊瑚和天然珊瑚骨骼之间的行为差异，也不会对 3D 打印材料之间的行为差异产生反应。当提供 3D 打印的附着表面时，P. astreoides 的附着率显著高于没有附着表面的情况，并且在不同材料的 3D 打印表面上的附着率相似。此外，附着在不同 3D 打印表面上的 P. astreoides 的生长和死亡率没有显著差异。我们的结果表明，本研究中使用的 3D 打印模型对珊瑚礁鱼类或产卵珊瑚物种没有内在的危害，支持进一步探索这些物体和其他采用增材制造技术生产的物体作为生态研究工具可能带来的益处。
