热带珊瑚礁区海参的生境选择与生态作用

珊瑚礁生态系统是一个高生产力、高生物多样性的特殊海洋生态系统，具有为生物提供栖息地、参与生物地球化学循环、防浪护岸、指示水体污染程度等生态功能。珊瑚礁生态系统的突出特点是其生境异质性很高，各种各样的生境斑块为种类繁多、习性各异的游泳和底栖生物提供栖息场所，这些礁栖生物通过参与各项生态过程而形成各种特定的功能群，共同完成重要的生态功能。在热带珊瑚礁生态系统中，海参是大型底栖动物区系的重要一员。种类繁多的海参具有各自不同的生境选择特征，通过摄食、运动等行为活动发挥着改良底质、促进有机物矿化和营养盐再生等生态作用。近几年来，全球热带海参受人类过度捕捞和珊瑚礁退化的影响而面临资源衰退、物种多样性丧失等问题，深入认识其生态学功能、加强热带海参资源保护迫在眉睫。综述了国内外热带珊瑚礁海参的基础生态学研究进展：海参对珊瑚礁生境斑块呈现显著的偏好选择特征以及种间差异和季节变动，不同生境斑块的食物质量、底质类型和水动力条件是影响海参生境偏好的重要因素；海参通过生物扰动可以改变珊瑚礁生境沉积物的含水量、渗透性、颗粒组成、再矿化率、无机营养物质释放速率以及孔隙水的化学梯度，并增加沉积物中的溶氧浓度、促进溶解...

Habitat preference and ecological function of sea cucumber in the tropical coral reef ecosystem

Coral reef ecosystem is a special marine ecosystem with high productivity and biodiversity, which has ecological functions such as providing habitat for organisms, participating in biogeochemical cycle, protecting shore from wave and indicating water pollution degree. The outstanding feature of coral reef ecosystem is its high habitat heterogeneity. Various habitat patches provide habitat for a wide variety of swimming and benthic organisms. These reef organisms form a variety of specific functional groups through participating in various ecological processes, and jointly fulfill important ecological functions. Sea cucumber is one of the most critical members of macrobenthic fauna in the tropical coral reef ecosystem. A variety of sea cucumber species have their unique habitat preference characteristics. They play the ecological roles in improving sediment profiles, promoting mineralization of organics and nutrients regeneration through their feeding and moving activities. In recent years, for the case of over-exploitation and coral reef degradation, the global tropical sea cucumbers have been facing bio-resource depletion and species diversity loss. Therefore, it is urgent to reveal the ecological function of tropical coral reef sea cucumbers and carry out the resource protection. In this paper, the ecological research progresses of the tropical coral reef sea cucumbers around the world are reviewed. There were obvious inter-species differences and seasonal variations in preference for coral reef patches, and the food quality, substrate type and hydrodynamic conditions were the important factors affecting sea cucumber''s preference of habitat patches. Through biodisturbance, sea cucumbers can change the water content, permeability, particle composition, remineralization rate, inorganic nutrient release rate and chemical gradient of pore water in the sediments of coral reef habitats, and increase the concentration of dissolved oxygen in sediments and promote the diffusion of organic matter dissolved in interstitium water into the water body. This process will further change the primary productivity of the surface sediments and the diversity of benthic animals. The feeding and defecation process can promote the growth of the corals and alleviate the damage of ocean acidification on corals. The tropical sea cucumbers also act as hosts for a variety of small animals, which contribute the essential biodiversity to the coral reef ecosystem. Further researches should focus on the variation of sea cucumber population under the pressure of artificial harvesting, the variation dynamic of the released breeding population and the competitive relationship between the breeding population and wild sea cucumber population. The influence of the released population on the benthic community of coral reef should also be studied.