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A generalized light‐driven model of community transitions along coral reef depth gradients
Global Ecology and Biogeography ( IF 6.4 ) Pub Date : 2020-06-28 , DOI: 10.1111/geb.13140
Jack H. Laverick 1, 2 , Raz Tamir 3, 4 , Gal Eyal 5, 6 , Yossi Loya 3
Affiliation  

Aim: Coral reefs shift between distinct communities with depth throughout the world. Yet, despite over half a century of research on coral reef depth gradients, researchers have not addressed the driving force of these patterns. We present a theoretical, process-based model of light’s influence on the shallow to mesophotic reef transition as a single quantitative framework. We also share an interactive web application. Moving beyond depth as an ecological proxy will enhance research conducted on deeper coral reefs. Location: Global; subtropical and tropical coral reefs, oligotrophic and turbid coastal waters. Time period: Present day (2020). Major taxa: Scleractinia. Methods: We constructed ordinary differential equations representing the preferred light environments of shallow and mesophotic Scleractinia. We projected these as depth bands using light attenuation coefficients from around the world, and performed a sensitivity analysis. Results: We found light relationships alone are sufficient to capture major ecological features across coral reef depth gradients. Our model supports the depth limits currently used in coral reef ecology, predicting a global range for the shallow-upper mesophotic boundary at 36.1 m ± 5.6 and the upper-lower mesophotic boundary at 61.9 m ± 9.6. However, our model allows researchers to move past these fixed depth limits, and quantitatively predict the depths of reef zones in locations around the world. Main conclusions: The use of depth as a proxy for changes in coral reef communities offers no guidance for environmental variation between sites. We have shown it is possible to use light to predict the depth boundaries of reef zones as a continuous variable, and to accommodate this variability. Predicting the depths of reef zones in unusual light environments suggests that shallow-water turbid reefs should be considered as mesophotic coral ecosystems. Nonetheless, the current depth-based heuristics are relatively accurate at a global level.

中文翻译:

沿珊瑚礁深度梯度的群落过渡的广义光驱动模型

目标:珊瑚礁在世界各地具有深度的不同群落之间转移。然而,尽管对珊瑚礁深度梯度进行了半个多世纪的研究,研究人员仍未解决这些模式的驱动力。我们提出了一个理论的、基于过程的光对浅层到中光层珊瑚礁转变的影响模型,作为一个单一的定量框架。我们还共享一个交互式 Web 应用程序。超越深度作为生态代理将加强对更深珊瑚礁的研究。地点:全球;亚热带和热带珊瑚礁,贫营养和混浊的沿海水域。时间段:现在(2020 年)。主要分类群:石蜡菌。方法:我们构建了常微分方程,代表浅层和中光石蜡菌的首选光环境。我们使用来自世界各地的光衰减系数将这些投影为深度带,并进行了灵敏度分析。结果:我们发现光的关系就足以捕捉整个珊瑚礁深度梯度的主要生态特征。我们的模型支持目前珊瑚礁生态学中使用的深度限制,预测了 36.1 m ± 5.6 的浅上中光边界和 61.9 m ± 9.6 的上下中光边界的全球范围。然而,我们的模型允许研究人员超越这些固定的深度限制,并定量预测世界各地珊瑚礁区的深度。主要结论:使用深度作为珊瑚礁群落变化的代理并没有为站点之间的环境变化提供指导。我们已经证明可以使用光来预测珊瑚礁区域的深度边界作为连续变量,并适应这种可变性。在异常光环境中预测珊瑚礁区的深度表明,浅水混浊珊瑚礁应被视为中光珊瑚生态系统。尽管如此,当前基于深度的启发式算法在全球范围内相对准确。
更新日期:2020-06-28
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