Contrasting coral community structures between natural and artificial substrates at Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand

Monchanin, Coline; Mehrotra, Rahul; Haskin, Elouise; Scott, Chad M.; Plaza, Pau Urgell; Allchurch, Alyssa; Arnold, Spencer; Magson, Kirsty; Hoeksema, Bert W.

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105505

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…The genera found in this study reflect 38.7% (Transect: 34.7%; eDNA: 26.7%) of the known coral genera (in this region) and suggest a high overall coral biodiversity for the island of Koh Pha‐ngan, especially considering that only three reef sites were included in our study. Hence, our data obtained is in line with earlier published studies that found similar diversity patterns in the Samui archipelago (Monchanin et al, 2021; Sutthacheep et al, 2013; Veron et al, 2015). Of course, it must be kept in mind that the actual diversity could be much higher than described here.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…The primer pair used in our study was adopted from an eDNA metabarcoding study of stony corals in Hawai'i, where it reliably recognized the predominant coral diversity (Nichols & Marko, 2019). However, the primer pair was not optimized to compensate for the higher diversity of scleractinian corals in the Gulf of Thailand (Monchanin et al, 2021; Sutthacheep et al, 2013). DNA from representatives of Lobophyllidae, Diploastreidae, and Fungiidae could not be amplified to the quality required for our database.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the primer pair was not optimized to compensate for the higher diversity of scleractinian corals in the Gulf of Thailand (Monchanin et al, 2021;Sutthacheep et al, 2013). DNA from representatives of Lobophyllidae, Diploastreidae, and Fungiidae could not be amplified to the quality required for our database.…”

Section: Specific Methodical Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An environmental DNA metabarcoding approach versus a visual survey for reefs of Koh Pha‐ngan in Thailand

et al. 2022

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Information on diversity indices and abundance of individual species is crucial for the assessment of ecosystem health, especially for endangered ecosystems as coral reefs. The application of environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor coral biodiversity is, however, just beginning to come into focus for marine biologists. In this study, an eDNA metabarcoding approach of seawater samples in three different reefs on Koh Pha‐ngan, Thailand, was compared with simultaneously collected visual census data. In addition, differences in read abundance and number of genera detected between daytime and nighttime eDNA samples were examined, and a local coral barcode reference database (n = 23 genera; COI gene) was constructed to improve assignment of eDNA reads to the genus level. As a technical extension of existing assays, two methods for library construction were compared: a commercial kit and in‐house developed fusion primers. Combining eDNA metabarcoding and visual data, 29 different genera of scleractinian corals from 14 families were detected. In addition, a log‐linear correlation was found between the abundance of eDNA reads and visually determined relative coral cover at the genus level, suggesting a predictive relationship between eDNA reads and coral cover. Results also showed diurnal variation between day and night samples in the number of eDNA reads, purported to relate to the activity phases of corals. The use of uniquely labeled fusion primers, gave comparable results to a commercially available library preparation kit. Especially with frequent use, fusion primers can be very cost‐effective, and therefore a consideration for large‐scale studies. Using a custom reference database of 89 sequences from coral tissue samples of 23 different coral genera produced better results than querying against NCBI GenBank, highlighting the importance of locally optimized databases. We consider these results important for establishing eDNA as a complementary tool to visual surveys to track changes in coral diversity and cover.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An environmental DNA metabarcoding approach versus a visual survey for reefs of Koh Pha‐ngan in Thailand

et al. 2022

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“…Coral recruits to artificial structures versus natural reef habitats have been shown to consist of differing recruit densities and community compositions over time [48][49][50]. Recruitment varies due to different structures and orientation, with, for example, steel structures resulting in lower invertebrate abundance and diversity than sandstone, Perspex, and wood [51].…”

Section: Coral Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering, Ecological and Social Monitoring of the Largest Underwater Sculpture in the World at John Brewer Reef, Australia

Smith

Songcuan

Cook

et al. 2022

JMSE

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The largest underwater sculpture in the world, the ‘Coral Greenhouse’ by artist Jason deCaires Taylor, was commissioned by the Museum of Underwater Art and installed at John Brewer Reef, Australia, in December 2019. The planning process required certified engineering design drawings associated with design life, durability and suitability of materials, and baseline ecological surveys. Following approval, the operational phase required annual monitoring of substrate, ecology, social values, and marine debris. We geo-referenced three permanent transects and designed a before/after rapid monitoring assessment of substrate, fish, and invertebrates. Substrate surveys indicated 11% concrete and 89% sand. Fish surveys indicated significant increases of diversity and abundance, with 12 species and 65 individuals recorded in 2018 compared to 46 species and 365 individuals recorded in 2022. Macroinvertebrate species maintained no significant trends in abundance, species richness, and diversity with respect to time between 2018 and 2022. We monitored coral restoration and natural recruitment at the site, measuring aesthetics, survivorship of planted corals, and coral recruitment. Of 131 corals transplanted in March 2020, survivorship was 100% at 1 month, 92% at 6 months, and 91.6% at 12 months. Hard and soft corals were recruited to the structure at a density of 8.35 hard corals/m2 and 10.9 soft corals/m2 over 26 months.

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“…Coastal development and coastal defense around the world are undergoing to a profound paradigm shift, passing from large concrete structures to nature-based solutions, including the application of new eco-friendly materials and shapes (Airoldi et al, 2021;Sella et al, 2021) that can favor the settlement of local species and, over time, the restoration of coastal biogenic reefs, such as coral reef and oyster beds. A better understanding of the effectiveness of such manmade structures would require more long-term research comparing the development of their communities with that of adjacent biogenic reefs (Perkol-Finkel et al, 2006;Hill et al, 2021;Monchanin et al, 2021).…”

Section: Conservation Measures and Future Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial: Biogenic Reefs at Risk: Facing Globally Widespread Local Threats and Their Interaction With Climate Change

et al. 2021

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Contrasting coral community structures between natural and artificial substrates at Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand

Cited by 13 publications

References 109 publications

An environmental DNA metabarcoding approach versus a visual survey for reefs of Koh Pha‐ngan in Thailand

An environmental DNA metabarcoding approach versus a visual survey for reefs of Koh Pha‐ngan in Thailand

Engineering, Ecological and Social Monitoring of the Largest Underwater Sculpture in the World at John Brewer Reef, Australia

Editorial: Biogenic Reefs at Risk: Facing Globally Widespread Local Threats and Their Interaction With Climate Change

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