Coral communities of Hong Kong: long-lived corals in a marginal reef environment

Goodkin, Nathalie F.; Switzer, Adam D.; McCorry, Denise; DeVantier, Lyndon; True, James; Hughen, Konrad A; Angeline, N; Yang, Teng Teng

doi:10.3354/meps09019

Cited by 81 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Hong Kong (Table 1) is located at 22°10′N to 22°30′N and has a subtropical climate with low levels of salinity in the summer16, in which the sea surface temperature (SST) ranges from 13 to 30 °C which is marginal for hard coral growth17. Because of its extreme seasonal temperature changes and relatively low salinity, there are mainly northern marginal corals distributed in Hong Kong.…”

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confidence: 99%

Temperature shapes coral-algal symbiosis in the South China Sea

Tong

Lin

Zhou

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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With the increase in sea surface temperature (SST), scleractinian corals are exposed to bleaching threats but may possess certain flexibilities in terms of their associations with symbiotic algae. Previous studies have shown a close symbiosis between coral the and Symbiodinium; however, the spatial variation of the symbiosis and the attribution underlying are not well understood. In the present study, we examined coral-algal symbiosis in Galaxea fascicularis and Montipora spp. from three biogeographic regions across ~10° of latitude in the South China Sea. Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) indicated a highly flexible coral-algal symbiosis in both G. fascicularis and Montipora spp. and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that temperature explained 83.2% and 60.1% of the explanatory subclade variations in G. fascicularis and Montipora spp., respectively, which suggested that temperature was the main environmental factor contributing to the diversity of Symbiodinium across the three regions. The geographic specificity of the Symbiodinium phylogeny was identified, revealing possible environmental selection across the three regions. These results suggest that scleractinian corals may have the ability to regulate Symbiodinium community structures under different temperatures and thus be able to adapt to gradual climate change.

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confidence: 99%

Temperature shapes coral-algal symbiosis in the South China Sea

Tong

Lin

Zhou

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…Coral cover and biodiversity increase toward the eastern and northeastern waters, reaching greater than 50% coral cover, and 36% of all species found in Hong Kong are found here [8], [12]. Soft corals dominate the western region, and long-lived corals (>50 years) are only found in the previously defined south, east, and northeast regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Soft corals dominate the western region, and long-lived corals (>50 years) are only found in the previously defined south, east, and northeast regions. Century-old Porites in Hong Kong grow <4 mm yr −1 [12], half the rate for the same species in non-marginal environments [9], [13], [20], [25]. In this study, we collected six Porites coral cores from Hong Kong waters from three sites - Lamma Island (22°11.336′N; 114°7.942′E, depth 7.3 and 7.9 m), Pak Lap Tsai (22°21.141′N; 114°22.152′E, depth 9.0 and 9.5 m) and Crescent Island (22°31.848′N; 114°18.897′E, depth 2.2 and 3.4 m) (Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wet Season Upwelling and Dry Season Chlorophyll-a Describe Interannual Growth Rates of Porites in Southern China

Yang

Goodkin

2014

PLoS ONE

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Southern China hosts coral communities in marginal environments that are characterized by low linear extension rates, low coral cover and/or no reef formation, thus providing natural laboratories to study coral communities with below average growth rates. Here we compare the annual linear extension rates over 10 years (range 1.2 to 11.4 mm yr−1) of six Porites sp. coral cores collected from Hong Kong with monthly hydrographic data from the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department. At all sites, low-density, dry season extension were more variable than high-density, wet season extension and on average, was lower at two of the three sites. We applied multi-variate linear regressions that revealed high-density, wet season band extension to inversely correlate most significantly to temperature (r = −0.39, p<0.01). In contrast, low-density, dry season band extension was more variable and correlated most significantly with dry season chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) (r = 0.64, p<0.001). Additionally, we find that corals at the site with highest dry season Chl-a have the highest dry season extension lengths. Our findings indicate that relative mixing of fresh and salt water in the wet season and primary productivity in the dry season, and their influences on aragonite saturation, are likely to impact interannual coral extension variability in marginal environments.

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“…As a baseline for the description and interpretation of the data from the fossils, we use calcification data from recent corals reported in the literature deriving equally from tropical and high latitudinal localities within the shallow-water reef belt (Baker and Weber, 1975;Bessat and Buigues, 2001;Carricart-Ganivet et al, 2000; Carricart-Ganivet and Merino, 2001; Dodge and Brass, 1984;Dustan, 1975;ElizaldeRendon et al, 2010;Fabricius et al, 2011;Goodkin et al, 2011;Graus and Macintyre, 1982;Helmle et al, 2011;Highsmith et al, 1983;Hudson et al, 1989;Lough, 2008;Mallela and Perry, 2007;Tanzil et al, 2009), and one unpublished record of Solenastrea from FB (FB-6). We present a set of three descriptive diagrams for a comparison of the patterns of calcification (extension rate, bulk density, calcification rate) in the modern and fossil z corals on the basis of linear regression.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Florida coral calcification rates in the Plio-Pleistocene

et al. 2016

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Abstract. In geological outcrops and drill cores from reef frameworks, the skeletons of scleractinian corals are usually leached and more or less completely transformed into sparry calcite because the highly porous skeletons formed of metastable aragonite (CaCO 3 ) undergo rapid diagenetic alteration. Upon alteration, ghost structures of the distinct annual growth bands often allow for reconstructions of annual extension (= growth) rates, but information on skeletal density needed for reconstructions of calcification rates is invariably lost. This report presents the bulk density, extension rates and calcification rates of fossil reef corals which underwent minor diagenetic alteration only. The corals derive from unlithified shallow water carbonates of the Florida platform (south-eastern USA), which formed during four interglacial sea level highstands dated approximately 3.2, 2.9, 1.8, and 1.2 Ma in the mid-Pliocene to early Pleistocene. With regard to the preservation, the coral skeletons display smooth growth surfaces with minor volumes of marine aragonite cement within intra-skeletal porosity. Within the skeletal structures, voids are commonly present along centres of calcification which lack secondary cements. Mean extension rates were 0.44 ± 0.19 cm yr −1 (range 0.16 to 0.86 cm yr −1 ), mean bulk density was 0.96 ± 0.36 g cm −3 (range 0.55 to 1.83 g cm −3 ) and calcification rates ranged from 0.18 to 0.82 g cm −2 yr −1 (mean 0.38 ± 0.16 g cm −2 yr −1 ), values which are 50 % of modern shallow-water reef corals. To understand the possible mechanisms behind these low calcification rates, we compared the fossil calcification rates with those of modern zooxanthellate corals (z corals) from the Western Atlantic (WA) and Indo-Pacific calibrated against sea surface temperature (SST). In the fossil data, we found a widely analogous relationship with SST in z corals from the WA, i.e. density increases and extension rate decreases with increasing SST, but over a significantly larger temperature window during the Plio-Pleistocene. With regard to the environment of coral growth, stable isotope proxy data from the fossil corals and the overall structure of the ancient shallow marine communities are consistent with a well-mixed, open marine environment similar to the present-day Florida Reef Tract, but variably affected by intermittent upwelling. Upwelling along the platform may explain low rates of reef coral calcification and inorganic cementation, but is too localised to account also for low extension rates of Pliocene z corals throughout the tropical WA region. Low aragonite saturation on a more global scale in response to rapid glacialinterglacial CO 2 cyclicity is also a potential factor, but PlioPleistocene atmospheric pCO 2 is generally believed to have been broadly similar to the present day. Heat stress related to globally high interglacial SST only episodically moderated by intermittent upwelling affecting the Florida platform seems to be another likely reason for low calcification rates. From these observatio...

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Coral communities of Hong Kong: long-lived corals in a marginal reef environment

Cited by 81 publications

References 44 publications

Temperature shapes coral-algal symbiosis in the South China Sea

Temperature shapes coral-algal symbiosis in the South China Sea

Wet Season Upwelling and Dry Season Chlorophyll-a Describe Interannual Growth Rates of Porites in Southern China

Low Florida coral calcification rates in the Plio-Pleistocene

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