Introduction:Caribbean mangrove-associated sponge communities are very distinct from sponge communities living on nearby reefs,but the mechanisms that underlie this distinction remain uncertain.It has been hypothesize...Introduction:Caribbean mangrove-associated sponge communities are very distinct from sponge communities living on nearby reefs,but the mechanisms that underlie this distinction remain uncertain.It has been hypothesized that dissolved organic matter(DOM)leaching from mangrove roots and the ability of mangrove-associated spongebacterial consortia to degrade mangrove DOM may cause this distinction.Methods:This study tested whether mangrove DOM,leaching from mimicry substrates or directly injected in sponge tissue,affected the performance of a reef and a mangrove sponge species.Results:Controls and the mangrove sponge remained unaffected by mangrove DOM leaching from mimicry substrates or directly injected in sponge tissue,but the reef species showed substantial necrosis when exposed to mangrove DOM.Conclusions:Results presented in this study suggest that mangrove DOM confines the composition of sponge communities in mangrove ecosystems,explaining the exclusion of typical reef species and the adjacent occurrence of distinct sponge communities.展开更多
基金Fieldwork was conducted at Carmabi Research Center,Curacao,N.A.,and was funded by the Schure-Beijerinck-Popping Fund of the Dutch Royal Academy of Science(KNAW).The authors express their gratitude to two anonymous referees for their constructive comments on an earlier draft of this article.
文摘Introduction:Caribbean mangrove-associated sponge communities are very distinct from sponge communities living on nearby reefs,but the mechanisms that underlie this distinction remain uncertain.It has been hypothesized that dissolved organic matter(DOM)leaching from mangrove roots and the ability of mangrove-associated spongebacterial consortia to degrade mangrove DOM may cause this distinction.Methods:This study tested whether mangrove DOM,leaching from mimicry substrates or directly injected in sponge tissue,affected the performance of a reef and a mangrove sponge species.Results:Controls and the mangrove sponge remained unaffected by mangrove DOM leaching from mimicry substrates or directly injected in sponge tissue,but the reef species showed substantial necrosis when exposed to mangrove DOM.Conclusions:Results presented in this study suggest that mangrove DOM confines the composition of sponge communities in mangrove ecosystems,explaining the exclusion of typical reef species and the adjacent occurrence of distinct sponge communities.
