Changes in coral reef communities across a natural gradient in seawater pH

Barkley, Hannah C.; Cohen, Anne L.; Golbuu, Yimnang; Starczak, Victoria R.; DeCarlo, Thomas M.; Shamberger, Kathryn E. F.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500328

Cited by 107 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Interestingly, one of the low pH Palau communities was not dominated by Porites but instead, Leptastrea, Platygyra, Favites, and Dipsastraea, contributing to the emerging evidence that a range of species are tolerant to low pH conditions. These findings suggest that acidification conditions are not deterministic, and that other local factors are also important in shaping coral community composition under low pH and low arag (Barkley et al, 2015).…”

Section: Shallow In-shore Variable Reef Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…For the abundant Porites sp. skeletal extension and density remained unchanged but macrobioerosion increased at the lower arag sites (Barkley et al, 2015). Interestingly, one of the low pH Palau communities was not dominated by Porites but instead, Leptastrea, Platygyra, Favites, and Dipsastraea, contributing to the emerging evidence that a range of species are tolerant to low pH conditions.…”

Section: Shallow In-shore Variable Reef Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Nutrient run-off and freshwater input can influence A T , while the metabolic activity of local benthos can change pCO 2 levels. Sites in Palau (Shamberger et al, 2014;Barkley et al, 2015), Puerto Rico (Gray et al, 2012), Florida (Millero et al, 2001;Yates et al, 2007), and the GBR (Santos et al, 2011;Shaw et al, 2012Shaw et al, , 2015Kline et al, 2015) have all been characterized as having extreme in-shore low pH reef systems. In the in-shore low pH bays of Palau, coral cover and richness remained similar to control areas, but community composition shifted, with replacement of Acropora, Montipora, and Pocillopora with Porites (Barkley et al, 2015).…”

Section: Shallow In-shore Variable Reef Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

et al. 2018

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Global climate change and localized anthropogenic stressors are driving rapid declines in coral reef health. In vitro experiments have been fundamental in providing insight into how reef organisms will potentially respond to future climates. However, such experiments are inevitably limited in their ability to reproduce the complex interactions that govern reef systems. Studies examining coral communities that already persist under naturally-occurring extreme and marginal physicochemical conditions have therefore become increasingly popular to advance ecosystem scale predictions of future reef form and function, although no single site provides a perfect analog to future reefs. Here we review the current state of knowledge that exists on the distribution of corals in marginal and extreme environments, and geographic sites at the latitudinal extremes of reef growth, as well as a variety of shallow reef systems and reef-neighboring environments (including upwelling and CO 2 vent sites). We also conduct a synthesis of the abiotic data that have been collected at these systems, to provide the first collective assessment on the range of extreme conditions under which corals currently persist. We use the review and data synthesis to increase our understanding of the biological and ecological mechanisms that facilitate survival and success under sub-optimal physicochemical conditions. This comprehensive assessment can begin to: (i) highlight the extent of extreme abiotic scenarios under which corals can persist, (ii) explore whether there are commonalities in coral taxa able to persist in such extremes, (iii) provide evidence for key mechanisms required to support survival and/or persistence under sub-optimal environmental conditions, and (iv) evaluate the potential of current sub-optimal coral environments to act as potential refugia under changing environmental conditions. Such a collective approach is critical to better understand the future survival of corals in our changing environment. We finally outline priority areas for future research on extreme and marginal coral environments, and discuss the additional management options they may provide for corals through refuge or by providing genetic stocks of stress tolerant corals to support proactive management strategies.

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Section: Shallow In-shore Variable Reef Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Shallow In-shore Variable Reef Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Shallow In-shore Variable Reef Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

et al. 2018

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“…The water is clear and oceanic with high light transmission [50], cooler temperatures, higher pH [53] and lower dissolved inorganic carbon [53] than Nikko Bay (Table 1). Initial genetic assays at this location showed a variety of Symbiodinium spp.…”

Section: Rebotel Reef-offshorementioning

confidence: 99%

“…associated with coral taxa, however, very few instances of symbioses with S. trenchii have been found from this habitat. The inshore Nikko Bay reef experiences higher temperatures (yearly mean), lower pH [53], lower Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) [53], and greater diffuse light attenuation (K PAR ) [50] than offshore barrier reefs. Data for offshore reefs is from multiple locations in Palau.…”

Section: Rebotel Reef-offshorementioning

confidence: 99%

Spectral Reflectance of Palauan Reef-Building Coral with Different Symbionts in Response to Elevated Temperature

et al. 2016

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Spectral reflectance patterns of corals are driven largely by the pigments of photosynthetic symbionts within the host cnidarian. The warm inshore bays and cooler offshore reefs of Palau share a variety of coral species with differing endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (genus: Symbiodinium), with the thermally tolerant Symbiodinium trenchii (S. trenchii) (= type D1a or D1-4) predominating under the elevated temperature regimes inshore, and primarily Clade C types in the cooler reefs offshore. Spectral reflectance of two species of stony coral, Cyphastrea serailia (C. serailia) and Pachyseris rugosa (P. rugosa), from both inshore and offshore locations shared multiple features both between sites and to similar global data from other studies. No clear reflectance features were evident which might serve as markers of thermally tolerant S. trenchii symbionts compared to the same species of coral with different symbionts. Reflectance from C. serailia colonies from inshore had a fluorescence peak at approximately 500 nm which was absent from offshore animals. Integrated reflectance across visible wavelengths had an inverse correlation to symbiont cell density and could be used as a relative indicator of the symbiont abundance for each type of coral. As hypothesized, coral colonies from offshore with Clade C symbionts showed a greater response to experimental heating, manifested as decreased symbiont density and increased reflectance or "bleaching" than their inshore counterparts with S. trenchii. Although no unique spectral features were found to distinguish species of symbiont, spectral differences related to the abundance of symbionts could prove useful in field and remote sensing studies.

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Twentieth century warming of the tropical Atlantic captured by Sr‐U paleothermometry

et al. 2017

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Coral skeletons are valuable archives of past ocean conditions. However, interpretation of coral paleotemperature records is confounded by uncertainties associated with single‐element ratio thermometers, including Sr/Ca. A new approach, Sr‐U, uses U/Ca to constrain the influence of Rayleigh fractionation on Sr/Ca. Here we build on the initial Pacific Porites Sr‐U calibration to include multiple Atlantic and Pacific coral genera from multiple coral reef locations spanning a temperature range of 23.15–30.12°C. Accounting for the wintertime growth cessation of one Bermuda coral, we show that Sr‐U is strongly correlated with the average water temperature at each location (r2 = 0.91, P < 0.001, n = 19). We applied the multispecies spatial calibration between Sr‐U and temperature to reconstruct a 96 year long temperature record at Mona Island, Puerto Rico, using a coral not included in the calibration. Average Sr‐U derived temperature for the period 1900–1996 is within 0.12°C of the average instrumental temperature at this site and captures the twentieth century warming trend of 0.06°C per decade. Sr‐U also captures the timing of multiyear variability but with higher amplitude than implied by the instrumental data. Mean Sr‐U temperatures and patterns of multiyear variability were replicated in a second coral in the same grid box. Conversely, Sr/Ca records from the same two corals were inconsistent with each other and failed to capture absolute sea temperatures, timing of multiyear variability, or the twentieth century warming trend. Our results suggest that coral Sr‐U paleothermometry is a promising new tool for reconstruction of past ocean temperatures.

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Changes in coral reef communities across a natural gradient in seawater pH

Abstract: Coral reef community responses vary but bioerosion increases under natural ocean acidification.

Cited by 107 publications

References 52 publications

The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

Spectral Reflectance of Palauan Reef-Building Coral with Different Symbionts in Response to Elevated Temperature

Twentieth century warming of the tropical Atlantic captured by Sr‐U paleothermometry

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