Barriers and corridors of gene flow in an urbanized tropical reef system

Afiq‐Rosli, Lutfi; Wainwright, Benjamin J.; Gajanur, Anya R.; Lee, Ai Chin; Ooi, Seng Keat; Chou, L. M.; Huang, Danwei

doi:10.1111/eva.13276

Cited by 18 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 147 publications

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“…Based on the >10 m distance among colonies [46,47] and our molecular results, we assumed all five colonies represented distinct genotypes. Population genetics studies conducted to date in Singapore have not detected unambiguous clonality [48,49].…”

Section: Study Site Species and Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Emersion-Associated Responses of an Intertidal Coral and Its Suitability for Transplantation to Ecologically Engineer Seawalls

Yong

Poquita-Du

Huang

et al. 2021

JMSE

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There is a growing interest in transplanting corals onto the intertidal section of artificial coastal defences (e.g., seawalls) as an ecological engineering strategy to enhance biodiversity on urban shores. However, this inevitably results in exposure to the harsh environmental conditions associated with emersion (aerial exposure). Although the effects of a multitude of environmental stressors on corals have been examined, their photophysiological and gene expression responses to emersion stress remain understudied, as does the among-genotype variation in these responses. In this study, we conducted an in situ experiment to test the effects of increased daily emersion duration on a locally common intertidal coral, Dipsastraea cf. lizardensis. Coral fragments (n = 3) from five genotypically distinct colonies were subjected to two treatments: (1) increased daily emersion duration (~4.5 h d−1) and, (2) control (~3 h d−1) for three consecutive days during spring low tide. We examined the post-experimental photophysiological responses and expression level of a stress-associated gene, Hsp16. Relative to the controls, coral fragments that were exposed to longer daily emersion duration displayed significantly reduced effective quantum yield, while endosymbiont density varied significantly among genotypes across the experimental conditions. We found no significant differences in chlorophyll a concentration and Hsp16 gene expression level, suggesting that changes in these processes may be gradual and the duration of treatment that the corals were subjected to is likely within their tolerance limits. Taken together, it appears that D. cf. lizardensis displays substantial capacity to cope with sup-optimal conditions associated with emersion which makes it a promising candidate for transplantation onto intertidal seawalls. However, within-species variation in their stress response indicates that not all genotypes respond similarly to emersion, and this should be taken into account when selecting donor colonies for transplantation.

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Section: Study Site Species and Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Emersion-Associated Responses of an Intertidal Coral and Its Suitability for Transplantation to Ecologically Engineer Seawalls

Yong

Poquita-Du

Huang

et al. 2021

JMSE

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“…Reef connectivity is increasingly being considered in the design and establishment of marine protected areas (Beger et al, 2015; Magris et al, 2016; Crandall et al, 2019; but see Balbar & Metaxas, 2019). For example, when Singapore enacted its first coral‐reef marine park, authorities explicitly chose areas with both high reproductive potential and high genetic diversity (Afiq‐Rosli et al, 2021). Moreover, studies along the Australian Great Barrier Reef showed that a small fraction of reefs can serve both as potential thermal refugia and as ‘robust source reefs’ for a substantial portion of the reef network (Cheung et al, 2021; Hock et al, 2017).…”

Section: From Science To Management Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral‐bleaching responses to climate change across biological scales

Woesik

Shlesinger

Grottoli

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

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“…To date, most studies that examine genome-wide DNA polymorphisms in corals aim to determine population structure and genetic connectivity (Afiq-Rosli et al, 2021) while the structural and functional effects of these variants are rarely examined. Nevertheless, a few studies have highlighted genomic signatures of adaptation in corals to challenging conditions (Bay & Palumbi, 2014;Cooke et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does the coral, Pocillopora acuta, survive the challenging intertidal environment? A genome-wide analysis

Poquita-Du

Huang

Todd

2023

Preprint

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Characterisation of genomic variation among corals can help uncover variants underlying trait differences and contribute towards genotype prioritisation in coastal restoration projects. For example, there is growing interest in identifying resilient genotypes for transplantation, and to better understand the genetic processes that allow some individuals to survive in specific conditions better than others. The coral species Pocillopora acuta is known to survive in a wide range of habitats, from reefs to seawalls, suggesting its potential use as a starter species for ecological engineering efforts involving coral transplantation onto intertidal seawalls. However, the intertidal section of coastal armour is a challenging environment for corals, with conditions during periods of emersion being particularly stressful. Here, we scanned the entire genome of P. acuta corals for DNA polymorphisms to identify the regions harbouring SNPs and copy number variations (CNVs) that separate intertidal colonies (n=18) from those found in subtidal areas (n=21). Findings revealed 74,391 high quality SNPs distributed across 386 regions of the P. acuta genome. While the majority of the detected SNPs were in non-coding regions, 12% were identified in exons (i.e. coding regions). Functional SNPs that were significantly associated with intertidal colonies were found in overrepresented genomic regions linked to cellular homeostasis, metabolism, and signalling process, which can represent local environmental adaptation in the intertidal. Interestingly, regions that exhibited CNVs were also associated with metabolic and signalling processes, suggesting intertidal corals have a high capacity to perform biological functions critical for survival in extreme environments.

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Barriers and corridors of gene flow in an urbanized tropical reef system

Abstract: Tropical coral reefs are in rapid decline due to climate change impacts and multiple local-scale stressors (

Cited by 18 publications

References 147 publications

Emersion-Associated Responses of an Intertidal Coral and Its Suitability for Transplantation to Ecologically Engineer Seawalls

Emersion-Associated Responses of an Intertidal Coral and Its Suitability for Transplantation to Ecologically Engineer Seawalls

Coral‐bleaching responses to climate change across biological scales

How does the coral, Pocillopora acuta, survive the challenging intertidal environment? A genome-wide analysis

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