Rising atmospheric CO2 and warming of the global climate that have occurred since the industrial revolution are regarded as fatal threats to coral reefs. We analyzed the skeletal calcification rate of 14 massive Porit...Rising atmospheric CO2 and warming of the global climate that have occurred since the industrial revolution are regarded as fatal threats to coral reefs. We analyzed the skeletal calcification rate of 14 massive Porites corals from the Meiji Reef in the southern South China Sea through X-ray photography of coral skeletons. A general pattern of change in coral skeletal calcifi- cation was determined. The change pattern of coral calcification on the Meiji Reef over the past two centuries can be divided into five periods： calcification increase in 1770-1830, 1870-1920, and 1980-2000 and calcification decline in 1830-1870 and 1920-1980. Over the past two centuries, the largest increase in calcification was 4.5%, occurring in 1770-1830, whereas the largest decline in calcification was 6.2%, occurring in 1920-1980. Coral calcification slightly increased in the recent 20 years （1980-2000）. The response relationship of coral calcification to atmospheric CO2 and sea surface temperature （SST） shows that calcification was not correlated with atmospheric CO2 but responded nonlinearly to SST with maxima at ~27.2~C in 1900-2000. On the Meiji Reef, increasing atmospheric CO2 had a negligible effect on coral growth in the past century. How- ever, rising SST improved coral growth in the early and middle 20th century, and restricted coral growth in the recent 20 years.展开更多
Behavioral research has long had an important role in the conservation of terns （Ayes： Stemidae）. Habitat management and restoration of breeding colony sites depends on knowledge of the cues used to select colony a...Behavioral research has long had an important role in the conservation of terns （Ayes： Stemidae）. Habitat management and restoration of breeding colony sites depends on knowledge of the cues used to select colony and nest sites. For example, conspecific attraction with playback and decoys is commonly used to bring terns to suitable colony sites and habitat modification is often used to increase the availability of suitable nest sites. Tern colonies are interconnected by dispersal, and a metapopulation approach is needed for effective management. Population dynamics are therefore affected by behaviors that influence the frequency of movement among colony sites： site fidelity, natal and breeding dispersal, and group adherence. The monogamous breeding system of terns should keep effective population size similar to census population size, but variation in sex ratios （likely resulting from sex differences in behavior） and in parental quality can result in a smaller than expected effective population size. In addition to the behavior of terns, knowledge of the behavior of predators on terns contributes to management plans, because predator behavior can sometimes be manipulated and predation is often performed by only a few specialized individuals. Other examples of links between tern behavior and conservation are also briefly reviewed, such as behavioral toxicology research and studies of behavioral responses to human disturbance and manmade structures. More work is needed on the behavior of migratory terns at staging sites, stopover sites and wintering grounds, and on the behavior of less well-studied species and species in less well-studied geographic regions [Current Zoology 60 （4）： 500-514, 2014].展开更多
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA05080300)Important Direction Project of Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX2-YW-138)+1 种基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40830852 and 41025007)Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology Projects (Grant Nos. 2007CB8015905 and 2006BAB19B03)
文摘Rising atmospheric CO2 and warming of the global climate that have occurred since the industrial revolution are regarded as fatal threats to coral reefs. We analyzed the skeletal calcification rate of 14 massive Porites corals from the Meiji Reef in the southern South China Sea through X-ray photography of coral skeletons. A general pattern of change in coral skeletal calcifi- cation was determined. The change pattern of coral calcification on the Meiji Reef over the past two centuries can be divided into five periods： calcification increase in 1770-1830, 1870-1920, and 1980-2000 and calcification decline in 1830-1870 and 1920-1980. Over the past two centuries, the largest increase in calcification was 4.5%, occurring in 1770-1830, whereas the largest decline in calcification was 6.2%, occurring in 1920-1980. Coral calcification slightly increased in the recent 20 years （1980-2000）. The response relationship of coral calcification to atmospheric CO2 and sea surface temperature （SST） shows that calcification was not correlated with atmospheric CO2 but responded nonlinearly to SST with maxima at ~27.2~C in 1900-2000. On the Meiji Reef, increasing atmospheric CO2 had a negligible effect on coral growth in the past century. How- ever, rising SST improved coral growth in the early and middle 20th century, and restricted coral growth in the recent 20 years.
文摘Behavioral research has long had an important role in the conservation of terns （Ayes： Stemidae）. Habitat management and restoration of breeding colony sites depends on knowledge of the cues used to select colony and nest sites. For example, conspecific attraction with playback and decoys is commonly used to bring terns to suitable colony sites and habitat modification is often used to increase the availability of suitable nest sites. Tern colonies are interconnected by dispersal, and a metapopulation approach is needed for effective management. Population dynamics are therefore affected by behaviors that influence the frequency of movement among colony sites： site fidelity, natal and breeding dispersal, and group adherence. The monogamous breeding system of terns should keep effective population size similar to census population size, but variation in sex ratios （likely resulting from sex differences in behavior） and in parental quality can result in a smaller than expected effective population size. In addition to the behavior of terns, knowledge of the behavior of predators on terns contributes to management plans, because predator behavior can sometimes be manipulated and predation is often performed by only a few specialized individuals. Other examples of links between tern behavior and conservation are also briefly reviewed, such as behavioral toxicology research and studies of behavioral responses to human disturbance and manmade structures. More work is needed on the behavior of migratory terns at staging sites, stopover sites and wintering grounds, and on the behavior of less well-studied species and species in less well-studied geographic regions [Current Zoology 60 （4）： 500-514, 2014].
