Calcification of coral assemblages in the eastern Pacific: Reshuffling calcification scenarios under climate change

Cabral-Tena, Rafael A.; López-Pérez, Andrés; Reyes‐Bonilla, Héctor; Calderón-Aguilera, Luis E.; Norzagaray-López, Carlos Orión; Rodríguez‐Zaragoza, Fabián Alejandro; Cupul-Magaña, Amílcar Leví; Rodríguez-Troncoso, Alma Paola; Ayala‐Bocos, Arturo

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.08.021

Cited by 30 publications

(47 citation statements)

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“…Coral reefs create structurally complex ecosystems due to the ability of scleractinian corals to build calcium carbonate skeletons and form three-dimensional structures as they grow (Allemand et al, 2011a;Cabral-Tena et al, 2018;Carricart-Ganivet et al, 2012;Norzagaray-López et al, 2015). The metabolic process of calcification (calcium carbonate precipitation) is the basis for coral growth and is essential for the resilience of reef ecosystems since it allows coral reefs to build and maintain themselves over time (Manzello, 2010;Medellín-Maldonado et al, 2016;Pratchett et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that Pocillopora corals are the primary reef builders in the ETP, calcium carbonate production and reef structural complexity in the ETP are closely related to the abundance and calcifying abilities of these corals (Cabral-Tena et al, 2018Glynn, 1976;Jiménez & Cortés, 2003;Manzello, 2010;Reyes-Bonilla, 2003). In this sense, decreases in the coverage of Pocillopora corals may negatively affect the functionality, stability, and biodiversity associated with these coral ecosystems (Cabral-Tena et al, 2018. The loss of coral cover may be influenced by various factors, such as thermal anomalies that promote coral bleaching events and coral mortality (Hughes et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low calcification rate, structural complexity, and calcium carbonate production of Pocillopora corals in a biosphere reserve of the central Mexican Pacific

et al. 2021

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The capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services is widely recognized, but this ability depends on continued carbonate production within the coral community.The Islas Marías archipelago (21° 29.5′ N-106° 15′ W) is subject to minimal anthropic pressures. This archipelago serves as a model to study the influence of environmental variables [e.g., sea surface temperature (SST), upwelling periods, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and pH] on the structure of the coral community. The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth parameters, ecological volume, and CaCO 3 production of Pocillopora corals, which comprise the dominant genus in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP). During an annual period (2016-2017), 10 colonies were stained with alizarin red and height, major diameter, and minor diameter measurements were recorded. Live coral cover, the annual extension rate (cm/year), skeletal density (g/ cm 3 ), the calcification rate (g/cm 2 year −1 ), ecological volume (cm −3 ), and carbonate production (kg m −2 year −1 ) were also calculated. The average extension rate (± SD), skeletal density, and the calcification rate were 1.86 ± 0.31 cm/year, 2.28 ± 0.34 g CaCO 3 cm −3 , and 4.34 ± 1.28 g CaCO 3 cm −2 year −1 , respectively. The average live coral coverage was 3.19 ± 3.17%, and the relative cover of Pocillopora corals was 65%.Ecological volume increased 140.6 ± 84.28% with respect to the initial volume, and the average production of CaCO 3 was 0.46 ± 0.41 kg CaCO 3 m −2 year −1 . This study shows evidence of low growth rates, low generation of three-dimensionality, and low CaCO 3 production in the study area when compared to other sites in the ETP. These results are relevant because they indicate compromised long-term maintenance and reef development in Islas Marías, which may result in low reef functionality and compromise the stability of reef-associated biodiversity and ecosystem services.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low calcification rate, structural complexity, and calcium carbonate production of Pocillopora corals in a biosphere reserve of the central Mexican Pacific

et al. 2021

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“…In scleractinian corals, growth rates vary across different colony forms with arborescent branching forms often growing faster vertically than massive forms (Anderson et al, 2017;Cabral-Tena et al, 2018). Differences occur as massive forms require more calcium carbonate to increase vertically (Anderson et al, 2017;Cabral-Tena et al, 2018). In branching forms, the thickness of the branches as well as the porosity of the skeleton allow some species to vertically grow faster.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variable Growth Across Species and Life Stages in Caribbean Reef Octocorals

2020

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Growth rates often measured as linear extension rates can serve as a proxy for organismal performance across environments, yet few estimates of these growth rates exist, and fewer are reported from multi-year monitoring. We studied the effect of species, depth, exposure, and life stages on the linear extension rates of common octocorals inhabiting Caribbean reefs. We monitored 16 species from the families Briareidae, Gorgoniidae, and Plexauridae, including eight genera: Antillogorgia, Briareum, Eunicea, Gorgonia, Muricea, Muriceopsis, Plexaura, and Plexaurella. We surveyed over 2,000 colonies across eight reefs in Southwest Puerto Rico from 2003 to 2006. Our surveys include reefs along a gradient of water motion from inside protected reefs to offshore unprotected reefs and from shallow (5 m) forereefs to deeper environments reaching 25 m. We observed that linear extension rates vary across species and largely follow branch thickness variation and colony architecture, with thin plume-like shapes growing faster. We also found that in 7 out of the 16 species, colonies from shallow habitats with brighter and warmer environments have higher growth rates than colonies in deep, low energy, and darker areas. Importantly, small/juvenile corals of most species (<10 cm) grew faster than adult colonies. Our data highlight the possibility that, as climate change continues to deteriorate Caribbean reefs by decimating scleractinian corals and opening new habitat for less vulnerable species, plume-like corals with fast growth rates such as species within the genus Antillogorgia may become the most abundant benthic cnidarians on Caribbean shallow forereefs.

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“…However, these morphospecies show low relative abundance at Carrizales Reef (Reyes-Bonilla et al 2013). Furthermore, taking into account that Pocillopora corals on the Pacific coast of Mexico are of great importance for the local formation of reefs and show less calcification, as opposed to corals in other geographic regions of the world (Cabral-Tena et al 2018), we believe that continuing to study these organisms, and to locally protect them, is essential to better understand the stress response of coral communities in this region under a scenario of worldwide changes in the ocean.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sin embargo, estas últimas morfoespecies presentan una baja abundancia relativa en el arrecife Carrizales (Reyes-Bonilla et al 2013). Además, tomando en cuenta que los corales Pocillopora de la costa mexicana del Pacífico son de gran importancia para la formación local de los arrecifes y presentan una menor calcificación en contraste con otras regiones geográficas del planeta (Cabral-Tena et al 2018), consideramos que el continuar el estudio de estos organismos, así como su protección local, resulta imprescindible para entender mejor la respuesta al estrés de las comunidades coralinas en esta región en escenarios de cambio global en el océano.…”

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Gene expression plasticity in Pocillopora corals from 2 locations on the Carrizales Reef, Pacific coast of Mexico

et al. 2020

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The greatest threat scleractinian corals face today is accelerated climate change. Assuming that most scleractinians are incapable of genetic adaptation to rapid global changes, the alternative response would be phenotypic plasticity, which is classically described as acclimatization. With the purpose of establishing a baseline for the study of acclimatization in corals of the Pacific coast of Mexico, we assessed the molecular and physiological response of 36 colonies of 3 Pocillopora morphospecies (Pocillopora cf. capitata, Pocillopora cf. damicornis, and Pocillopora cf. verrucosa) located at 2 sites (east and west) on Carrizales Reef. Our results show higher incidence of light and chlorophyll concentrations in seawater samples from the west side, suggesting the presence of at least 2 microenvironments with more and less light in the reef. In response, coral morphospecies from the west side showed higher gene expression and significant differences in pigment concentrations, endosymbiont densities, and metabolic markers (RNA, DNA, and proteins). Given the present concern about the future of coral reefs, we consider that the present study could be used as a baseline for the study of the physiological and molecular plasticity of Pocillopora corals in Mexican waters, so conservation strategies could be developed for key morphospecies in coral reefs on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

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Calcification of coral assemblages in the eastern Pacific: Reshuffling calcification scenarios under climate change

Cited by 30 publications

References 46 publications

Low calcification rate, structural complexity, and calcium carbonate production of Pocillopora corals in a biosphere reserve of the central Mexican Pacific

Low calcification rate, structural complexity, and calcium carbonate production of Pocillopora corals in a biosphere reserve of the central Mexican Pacific

Variable Growth Across Species and Life Stages in Caribbean Reef Octocorals

Gene expression plasticity in Pocillopora corals from 2 locations on the Carrizales Reef, Pacific coast of Mexico

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