Coral spawning in the Gulf of Oman and relationship to latitudinal variation in spawning season in the northwest Indian Ocean

Howells, Emily J.; Abrego, David; Vaughan, Grace O.; Burt, John A.

doi:10.1038/srep07484

Cited by 39 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…24 release sites across eight source areas were modeled (Figure 8). Release was started at peak high tide at full moon on 27 April (8 a.m.) and continued for 8 days, finishing on 4 May 2010 (23.00), as was observed to be peak spawning period in the study area Howells et al, 2014). Release periods occurred twice a day following the 2 high tides, covering 16 tidal cycles, again comparable to field observations.…”

Section: Oceanographic Model Of Connectivitysupporting

confidence: 63%

Demographic Mechanisms of Reef Coral Species Winnowing from Communities under Increased Environmental Stress

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Winnowing of poorly-adapted species from local communities causes shifts/declines in species richness, making ecosystems increasingly ecologically depauperate. Low diversity can be associated with marginality of environments, which is increasing as climate change impacts ecosystems globally. This paper demonstrates the demographic mechanisms (size-specific mortality, growth, fertility; and metapopulation connectivity) associated with population-level changes due to thermal stress extremes for five zooxanthellate reef-coral species. Effects vary among species, leading to predictable changes in population size and, consequently, community structure. The Persian/Arabian Gulf (PAG) is an ecologically marginal reef environment with a subset of Indo-Pacific species, plus endemics. Local heating correlates with changes in coral population dynamics and community structure. Recent population dynamics of PAG corals were quantified in two phases (medium disturbed MD 1998-2010, severely disturbed SD 1996/8, 2010 with two stable states of declining coral frequency and cover. The strongest changes in life-dynamics, as expressed by transition matrices solved for MD and SD periods were in Acropora downingi and Porites harrisoni, which showed significant partial and whole-colony mortality (termed "shrinkers"). But in Dipsastrea pallida, Platygyra daedalea, Cyphastraea microphthalma the changes to life dynamics were more subtle, with only partial tissue mortality (termed "persisters"). Metapopulation models suggested recovery predominantly in species experiencing partial rather than whole-colony mortality. Increased frequency of disturbance caused progressive reduction in coral size, cover, and population fecundity. Also, the greater the frequency of disturbance, the more larval connectivity is required to maintain the metapopulation. An oceanographic model revealed important local larval retention and connectivity primarily between adjacent populations, suggesting that correlated disturbances across populations will lead to winnowing of species due to colony, tissue, and fertility losses, with resultant insufficient dispersal potential to make up for losses-especially if disturbances increase under climate change. Variable extinction Riegl et al. Coral Winnowing in PAG Reefs thresholds exist based on the susceptibility of species to disturbance ("shrinkers" vs. "persisters"), determining which species will be winnowed from the community. Besides projected changes in coral community and population structure, no species are projected to increase in cover. Increased marginality due to climate change will lead to a net loss of coral cover and novel communities in PAG.

show abstract

Section: Oceanographic Model Of Connectivitysupporting

confidence: 63%

Demographic Mechanisms of Reef Coral Species Winnowing from Communities under Increased Environmental Stress

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…; Howells et al. , ), while spawning occurs in the early spring on the Yemeni island of Socotra, in the Arabian Sea (Baird et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spawning of coral reef invertebrates and a second spawning season for scleractinian corals in the central Red Sea

Bouwmeester

Gatins

Giles

et al. 2016

Invertebrate Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The absence of coral settlement to tiles in the Sea of Oman was surprising. Reproductive studies occurring near these sites have shown that common coral species were spawning during this study in April 2013 (Howells et al, 2014), and fecundity was substantially higher than conspecifics in the southern Gulf (Howells et al, 2016). Additionally, juvenile surveys on these sites in 2012 showed that corals were recruiting to these reefs, although densities were half of that observed in the southern Gulf (Pratchett et al, 2017), suggesting that recruitment is impaired here.…”

Section: Coral Settlement Patternsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Due to its greater depth and exchange with the wider Indian Ocean, SSTs in the Gulf of Oman are less extreme (mean summer maxima <32 • C, range 10 • C annually) and salinity is comparable to oceanic conditions (37 PSU) (Foster et al, 2012;Howells et al, 2014). Its waters are also highly productive compared with the Gulf and Musandam as a result of monsoon-induced upwelling (Sheppard et al, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7-10 days at the beginning/end of each season. These four seasons were selected based on the periods of highest (summer) and lowest (winter) sea surface temperatures, as well as the transitional spring and autumn periods that are known to be important discrete spawning and/or settlement seasons for a variety of marine fauna in this region (e.g., Bauman et al, 2011;John, 2012;Howells et al, 2014).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Settlement Patterns of Corals and other Benthos on Reefs with Divergent Environments and Disturbances Histories around the Northeastern Arabian Peninsula

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Larval supply is a principal factor determining the establishment, structure, and diversity of sessile benthic assemblages on coral reefs. Benthic reef communities in north-eastern Arabia have been subject to recurrent disturbances in recent years, and subsequent recovery will be, in part, driven by variation in the supply of available colonists. Using settlement tiles deployed seasonally over 1 year at eight sites encompassing three environmentally divergent regions (southern Arabian Gulf, the Musandam Peninsula in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman) we assessed spatial and seasonal variability in settlement of benthic reef organisms. There was strong spatial variation in composition of new colonists among regions, mainly driven by the high abundance of coralline algae in the Arabian Gulf, colonial ascidians on the Musandam Peninsula and barnacles in the Sea of Oman. Seasonal differences in composition of new colonists were less important than regional differences, with seasonal variation in settlement not consistent among regions. The number of corals settling to the tiles was low compared to those reported for other regions, with mean densities ranging from 0 corals m −2 year −1 in the Sea of Oman to 30 (± 0.6 SE) and 38 (± 0.5 SE) in Musandam and the Arabian Gulf, respectively. Peak coral settlement abundance in the Gulf occurred in summer and autumn and in Musandam in spring (averaging 82 and 70 settlers m −2 year −1 , respectively, during the peak settlement season). This work provides the first record of large-scale spatial and seasonal patterns of settlement in north-eastern Arabia and provides valuable information on the supply of settlers available to recolonize heavily disturbed reefs in this region. The extremely low rates of coral settlement suggest that these marginal reefs are likely to be extremely slow to recover from on-going and future disturbances.

show abstract

Coral spawning in the Gulf of Oman and relationship to latitudinal variation in spawning season in the northwest Indian Ocean

Cited by 39 publications

References 38 publications

Demographic Mechanisms of Reef Coral Species Winnowing from Communities under Increased Environmental Stress

Demographic Mechanisms of Reef Coral Species Winnowing from Communities under Increased Environmental Stress

Spawning of coral reef invertebrates and a second spawning season for scleractinian corals in the central Red Sea

Settlement Patterns of Corals and other Benthos on Reefs with Divergent Environments and Disturbances Histories around the Northeastern Arabian Peninsula

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About