Fordyce A J, Ainsworth T D, Leggat W
School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, NSW 2258, Australia.
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Integr Org Biol. 2020 Oct 30;2(1):obaa035. doi: 10.1093/iob/obaa035. eCollection 2020.
Bioeroding organisms play an important part in shaping structural complexity and carbonate budgets on coral reefs. Species interactions between various bioeroders are an important area of study, as these interactions can affect net rates of bioerosion within a community and mediate how bioeroders respond to environmental change. Here we test the hypothesis that the biomass of endolithic bioeroding microalgae is positively associated with the presence of a macroboring bivalve. We compared the biomass and chlorophyll concentrations of microendolithic biofilms in branches of the coral (Lamarck, 1816) that were or were not inhabited by a macroboring bivalve. Those branches with a macroborer present hosted ∼80% higher microbial biomass compared to adjacent branches from the same coral with no macroborer. Increased concentrations of chlorophyll indicated that this was partly due to a greater abundance of green microalgae. This newly described association has important implications for the coral host as both the bivalve and the microalgae have been hypothesized as symbiotic.
生物侵蚀生物在塑造珊瑚礁的结构复杂性和碳酸盐收支方面发挥着重要作用。各种生物侵蚀者之间的物种相互作用是一个重要的研究领域，因为这些相互作用会影响群落内生物侵蚀的净速率，并调节生物侵蚀者对环境变化的反应。在这里，我们检验了一个假设，即内石生生物侵蚀微藻的生物量与大型钻孔双壳类动物的存在呈正相关。我们比较了珊瑚（拉马克，1816年）分支中是否有大型钻孔双壳类动物栖息的微内石生物膜的生物量和叶绿素浓度。与同一珊瑚中没有大型钻孔者的相邻分支相比，有大型钻孔者的分支中微生物生物量高出约80%。叶绿素浓度的增加表明，这部分是由于绿色微藻数量的增加。这种新描述的关联对珊瑚宿主具有重要意义，因为双壳类动物和微藻都被假设为共生关系。
