珊瑚礁魚類現(xiàn)在正遷移到溫帶海藻林，帶來了可怕的后果

珊瑚礁魚類現(xiàn)在正遷移到溫帶海藻林，帶來了可怕的后果

If you're a diver who enjoys exploring coastal kelp forests, you might have noticed a recent shift in the biota inhabiting these lush marine habitats. Researchers have reported a sharp increase in some unusual visitors to the world's kelp forests: tropical coral reef fish, reports Phys.org.

如果你是一個喜歡探索沿海海藻森林的潛水員，你可能已經(jīng)注意到最近棲息在這些郁郁蔥蔥的海洋棲息地的生物群發(fā)生了變化。據(jù)Phys.org網(wǎng)站報道，研究人員報告稱，一些不尋常的訪客——熱帶珊瑚礁魚——在世界的海帶森林中急劇增加。

These rabbitfish can now be found in kelp forests, far from their coral reef homes. (Photo: John Turnbull/Flickr)

Kelp forests are found in temperate oceans, so the presence of tropical fish swimming amongst their swaying stem-like stipes is alarming. It's an ominous reminder of the rapid rate at which our climate is changing and our ocean waters are warming.

溫帶海洋中有海帶林，因此在它們搖擺的莖狀葉柄中出現(xiàn)熱帶魚是令人擔憂的。這是一個不祥的提醒:我們的氣候正在迅速變化，我們的海水正在變暖。

Research recently published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences documents how species from the tropics are moving to higher latitudes around the world, settling within new temperate ecosystems in a process known as tropicalization. One such species is the tropical herbivore rabbitfish, Siganus fuscescens, which is currently invading kelp forests in Western Australia. These fish are not just being driven from their preferred coral reef habitat due to rising ocean temperatures, but they are entering kelp forests with a voracious appetite for canopy-forming seaweeds.

最近發(fā)表在《英國皇家學(xué)會學(xué)報B:生物科學(xué)》雜志上的一項研究記錄了物種如何從熱帶地區(qū)遷移到世界各地的高緯度地區(qū)，并在新的溫帶生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中定居下來，這一過程被稱為“熱帶化”。其中一種是熱帶草食兔耳魚西格努斯，它目前正在入侵西澳大利亞的海帶森林。由于海洋溫度上升，這些魚不僅被趕出它們喜歡的珊瑚礁棲息地，而且它們進入了海藻林，對形成樹冠的海藻有著巨大的胃口。

As a result, these fish threaten to consume the very seaweeds that are the scaffolding that make life in these majestic habitats possible.

因此，這些魚威脅要吃掉這些海藻，正是這些海藻為這些宏偉的棲息地提供了生存的可能。

"Our research provided important evidence about how ecologically important tropical fish species moving south can impact the functioning of temperate reefs," said Salvador Zarco Perello, from University of Western Australia's School of Biological Sciences and Oceans Institute.

西澳大利亞大學(xué)生物科學(xué)和海洋研究所的薩爾瓦多·扎爾科·佩雷洛說:“我們的研究提供了重要的證據(jù)，證明生態(tài)上重要的熱帶魚物種向南遷移會影響溫帶珊瑚礁的功能。”

It's not just the kelp that is getting mowed down, but as these fish chomp on the kelp, it changes the landscape and thus changes the types of animals that can survive there as well. It's a runaway domino-like process whereby the entire habitat is transforming at a pace that might be too rapid for many species to adapt to.

不僅僅是海帶被割掉了，這些魚吃海帶的時候，也改變了地貌，因此也改變了能在那里生存的動物的種類。這是一個失控的多米諾骨牌式的過程，整個棲息地正在以一種對許多物種來說可能快到無法適應(yīng)的速度轉(zhuǎn)變。

This process isn't an expansion of coral reef ecosystems. Rather, it's a result of the disappearance of coral reef ecosystems around the world, and the migration of creatures that inhabit coral reefs fleeing for greener pastures. The fear is that as coral reefs disappear and kelp forests get shredded, that we'll eventually be left with marine deserts rather than just a redistribution of ecosystem zones.

這個過程不是珊瑚礁生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的擴張。相反，它是世界各地珊瑚礁生態(tài)系統(tǒng)消失的結(jié)果，是棲息在珊瑚礁上的生物為了尋找更綠的牧場而遷徙的結(jié)果。令人擔憂的是，隨著珊瑚礁的消失和海帶森林的破碎，我們最終會留下海洋沙漠，而不僅僅是生態(tài)系統(tǒng)區(qū)域的重新分布。

"The monitoring and understanding of the acceleration of this process due to tropicalization is critical for future management strategies, since kelp is a fundamental seaweed that provides shelter and food to multiple animal species of ecological and commercial importance," said Zarco Perello.

“對熱帶化加速這一過程的監(jiān)測和理解對未來的管理戰(zhàn)略至關(guān)重要，因為海帶是一種基本的海藻，為多種具有生態(tài)和商業(yè)重要性的動物物種提供庇護所和食物，”Zarco Perello說。

In just the last few decades alone, half of the world's coral reefs have disappeared due to bleaching and rising levels of ocean acidity, a direct result of increased carbon dioxide absorption from fossil fuel emissions. Coral reefs harbor a huge percentage of the planet's marine biodiversity, and those organisms are migrating north or south in a last ditch effort to find a replacement for the homes they've lost.

僅僅在過去的幾十年里，全球一半的珊瑚礁已經(jīng)消失，這是由于海水變白和海洋酸度上升造成的，這是化石燃料排放增加二氧化碳吸收的直接結(jié)果。珊瑚礁是地球上海洋生物多樣性的一個巨大的港灣，這些生物正在向北或向南遷移，這是它們?yōu)閷ふ姨娲覉@的最后一招。

The best way to save our kelp forests from this invasion is to conserve our coral reefs; that's where these invading tropical fish would prefer to live. It's another reminder of the unpredictable ways that rapid climate change is transforming our planet, with dire consequences.

保護海帶森林免受這種入侵的最好辦法是保護我們的珊瑚礁;這是這些入侵的熱帶魚更喜歡生活的地方。這再次提醒我們，快速的氣候變化正在以不可預(yù)測的方式改變我們的星球，并帶來可怕的后果。