3月14日《科学》（Science）杂志上的一项新研究显示，3000万年以来，加勒比海珊瑚礁的成长与珊瑚的生物多元性没有关系，即在许多珊瑚物种已经灭绝之后，珊瑚礁仍然在生长。研究人员为了解物种多元性与生态系统功能之间的关系付出了许多努力。这样做部分出自基本了解的需要，部分是对由人类活动而导致的物种持续丧失的担心。目前，即使每个珊瑚礁的珊瑚物种多元化的水平具有广泛的差异性，但世界各地珊瑚礁生长的速率大体类似。
为了给这一描述添加一个历史的尺度，Kenneth Johnson及其同事将加勒比海珊瑚礁新的及已经发表的化石及地质学数据结合起来进行了分析。他们报告说，珊瑚物种的高度多元化并非珊瑚礁生长和持久性所必需。文章的作者发现，占优势地位的珊瑚物种的生态学特征比单纯的珊瑚物种数量更为重要。（来源：EurekAlert!中文版）
生物谷推荐原始出处:
（Science），Vol. 319. no. 5869, pp. 1521 - 1523，Kenneth G. Johnson，Ann F. Budd
Caribbean Reef Development Was Independent of Coral Diversity over 28 Million Years
Kenneth G. Johnson,1* Jeremy B. C. Jackson,2,3 Ann F. Budd4
The relationship between natural variations in coral species diversity, reef development, and ecosystem function on coral reefs is poorly understood. Recent coral diversity varies 10-fold among geographic regions, but rates of reef growth are broadly similar, suggesting that diversity is unimportant for reef development. Differences in diversity may reflect regional differences in long-term biotic history in addition to environmental conditions. Using a combination of new and published fossil and stratigraphic data, we compared changes in coral diversity and reef development within the tropical western Atlantic over the past 28 million years. Reef development was unrelated to coral diversity, and the largest reef tracts formed after extinction had reduced diversity by 50%. High diversity is thus not essential for the growth and persistence of coral reefs.
1 Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
2 Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
3 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama.
4 Department of Geoscience, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
