Coral reefs of north Jamaica, normally sheltered, were severely damaged by Hurricane Allen, the strongest Caribbean hurricane of this century. Immediate studies were made at Discovery Bay, where reef populations were already known in some detail. Data are presented to show how damage varied with the position and orientation of the substraturn and with the shape, size, and mechanical properties of exposed organisms. Data collected over succeeding weeks showed striking differences in the ability of organisms to heal and survive.
Sponges interact with most other organisms in marine systems as competitors, symbionts, hosts of symbionts, consumers, and prey. Considerable creative energy has been required to study and describe the amazing variety of sponge interactions, as sponges can hide symbionts deep inside, rapidly regenerate wounds from grazers, carry on important associations with unculturable microscopic organisms, and otherwise foil attempts to determine how they are interacting with other organisms. This review of sponge interactions covers (i) competition among sponge species, and between sponges and other sessile organisms; (ii) predation on sponges by sponge specialists and by opportunistic sponge feeders, and aspects of predation such as the importance of nutritional quality, trade-offs between growth and defense against predators, biogeographic patterns in predation, and the advantages of various techniques for studying predation; and (iii) symbiotic associations of sponges with a variety of organisms representing all types of life, and with results ranging from parasitism and disease to mutual benefit. A hint that some generalizations about ecological interactions of sponges may be possible is just becoming evident, as accumulating data appear to show taxonomic and geographic patterns; however, it is also clear that surprises will continue to emerge from every probing new study.Résumé : Les éponges réagissent à la plupart des autres organismes des systèmes marins, en tant que compétiteurs, symbiotes, hôtes de symbiotes, consommateurs et proies. L'étude et la description de la remarquable variété d'interactions chez les éponges a nécessité beaucoup d'énergie créative, car les éponges peuvent cacher leurs symbiotes profondément en elles-mêmes, régénérer rapidement les blessures faites par les brouteurs, établir des associations importantes avec des organismes microscopiques impossibles à cultiver et, de diverses manières, contrecarrer les tentatives pour déterminer comment elles interagissent avec les autres organismes. La présente rétrospective des interactions des éponges inclut (i) la compétition entre les espèces d'éponges et entre les éponges et les autres organismes sessiles, (ii) la prédation sur les éponges par les prédateurs spécialisés et par les espèces opportunistes qui les consomment, de même que divers aspects de la prédation, tels que l'importance de la qualité de la nourriture, les compromis entre la croissance et la défense contre les prédateurs, les patrons biogéographiques de la prédation et les avantages des diverses techniques utilisées pour étudier la prédation et finalement (iii) les associations symbiotiques entre les éponges et une variété d'organismes représentant tous les types de vie qui mènent à une gamme de relations allant du parasitisme et de la maladie au bénéfice mutuel. Il commence à y avoir des indications qu'il sera possible de faire des généralisa-tions sur les interactions écologiques des éponges, puisque les données accumulées semblent montrer des patrons taxonomiques et géographiques; ce...
Summary 1.Consistently very high regional diversity of tropical marine sponges reflects a combination of high within-habitat diversity and distinctness of species composition among habitats. Distinctive sponge faunas of Caribbean coral reefs and mangroves seem to support the assumption that abiotic factors determine sponge diversity within habitats and faunal differences between habitats because these habitats differ greatly in abiotic characteristics and because lower species diversity on mangroves appears to reflect their inferiority as sponge habitat. 2. A way to test this assumption is provided by unusual mangrove cays in Belize that are inhabited by the typical Caribbean reef sponge fauna. Reciprocal transplant experiments, combined with caging (predator-free space) and artificial substrata (competitor-free space), demonstrated control of community membership by biological interactions for 12 common species: spongivorous predators excluded typical mangrove sponges from reef sponge assemblages, and reef sponges were excluded from mangrove sponge assemblages by competition. 3. Variation in growth rate was related inversely to variation in defences against predators in the species studied, suggesting a trade-off between resistance to competitors and to predators. 4. This trade-off influences community structure, as the key importance of competition for space among mangrove species results in lower within-habitat diversity, while multiple challenges, including predation, may maintain high diversity of reef sponges. Differences in species composition between habitats are maintained, as this trade-off precludes success of individual species as members of both faunas. 5. Most surprising is that typical faunas of mangroves and reefs are not tied to these habitats by abiotic factors. Greater sponge species diversity on the reef does not necessarily indicate superior conditions for sponges. Instead reefs may be a refuge for species that grow too slowly to coexist with typical mangrove species.
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