气候变化号召人们开始行动,甚至对南极地区的玻璃海绵亦是如此。
这些米色的鳞茎拥有复杂的二氧化硅骨骼(包括六放海绵纲中的数个物种),且已知它们在寒冷深渊中生存。玻璃海绵小的有拳头大,而大的则能达到斯玛特小汽车的大小。它们通常会在数十年的时间里不出现任何生长和繁殖的迹象。
但是新研究显示,由于南极半岛拉森冰架的崩塌,它们的种群数量出现了爆炸性的增长。随着温度的攀升以及上方寒冷冰盖的破碎,这些滤食性动物的生活变得比以往活跃了很多。
能够接触到日光使得浮游植物开花,这样就为海绵带来新的食物来源。一组科学家对威德尔海(南极的边缘海)的这部分区域进行了探索,这是他们上次到访这里后,4年来的首次探索,科学家们发现该处的玻璃海绵种群数量大约增加到了以往的三倍。
“玻璃海绵可能发现自己处于气候变化的有利一方。”该研究小组在发表于《当代生物学》上的研究报告中说。但是,这种海绵可能不会永远在这一深层海域中称霸,因为其他有进取心的物种可能会立刻捕食它们,或者与它们争夺食物来源。
不过玻璃海绵戏剧性地增长暗示,海底生态环境的变迁比之前预想的要快得多。
玻璃海绵是桶状海绵的表亲,它在古代浅而温暖的海域中生成密集的暗礁。上世纪90年代有探险家发现了大量活物暗礁。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐的英文内容
Climate change is a call to action … even for the Antarctic glass sponge. These cream-colored bulbs with intricate silica skeletons (several species within the class Hexactinellida) have been known to bide their time in the icy depths. The creatures, which can be as small as a fist or as big as a smart car, often go decades with no sign of growth or reproduction. But new research shows that their population is exploding, thanks to the collapse of the Larsen Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. As temperatures climbed and the icy ceiling above them disintegrated, life got a lot more exciting for these filter feeders. Access to sunlight brought blooms of phytoplankton and new food sources. A team of scientists exploring this part of the Weddell Sea for the first time in 4 years discovered that the glass sponge population had roughly tripled since their last visit. "Glass sponges may find themselves on the winners' side of climate change," they report today in Current Biology. The sponges may not dominate the depths forever, however; other enterprising species could soon prey on them or compete for resources. But their dramatic growth suggests that the ecological shakeup on the sea floor is moving faster than previously thought.