Gerardia sp. (来源:OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP); Hawaii Undersea Research Lab J. Moore)
科学家发现了两种深海珊瑚物种可能比此前认为的更老,寿命超过4000年。
Brendan Roark及其同事利用放射性碳测量技术测量了来自夏威夷附近海底收集的珊瑚样本,结果发现两种珊瑚物种(Gerardia sp. 和 Leiopathes sp.)的生长速率比用这类生物的生长带预计的生长速率更慢。他们的分析提示这两种深海珊瑚的寿命分别是2742年和4265年。此前对太平洋样本的寿命的测量依靠的是被认为是年度生长环的计数,它提示金珊瑚(Gerardia sp.)的最大年龄接近70岁。这组作者测量了这种珊瑚的蛋白质骨骼的年龄,结果发现这些珊瑚的生长速率比此前的测年技术所显示的更慢。他们的结果显示L. glaberrima可能是已知最年老的有骨骼的海洋生物。
这组作者得出结论说,这些珊瑚极老的年龄和缓慢的生长速度,再加上深海珊瑚床周围的高度生物多样性,凸显了需要保护珊瑚礁不受底层捕捞业的进一步破坏。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐原始出处:
PNAS March 23, 2009, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0810875106
Extreme longevity in proteinaceous deep-sea corals
E. Brendan Roarka,1,2, Thomas P. Guildersonb,c, Robert B. Dunbara, Stewart J. Fallonb,3 and David A. Mucciaronea
aEnvironmental Earth Systems Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
bCenter for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, LLNL, L-397 7000 East Avenue, Livermore CA 94551; and
cDepartment of Ocean Sciences and Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz CA 95064
Deep-sea corals are found on hard substrates on seamounts and continental margins worldwide at depths of 300 to ≈3,000 m. Deep-sea coral communities are hotspots of deep ocean biomass and biodiversity, providing critical habitat for fish and invertebrates. Newly applied radiocarbon age dates from the deep water proteinaceous corals Gerardia sp. and Leiopathes sp. show that radial growth rates are as low as 4 to 35 μm year−1 and that individual colony longevities are on the order of thousands of years. The longest-lived Gerardia sp. and Leiopathessp. specimens were 2,742 years and 4,265 years, respectively. The management and conservation of deep-sea coral communities is challenged by their commercial harvest for the jewelry trade and damage caused by deep-water fishing practices. In light of their unusual longevity, a better understanding of deep-sea coral ecology and their interrelationships with associated benthic communities is needed to inform coherent international conservation strategies for these important deep-sea habitat-forming species.