Coscinaraea marshae corals that have survived prolonged bleaching exhibit signs of increased heterotrophic feeding

Bessell-Browne, Pia; Stat, Michael; Thomson, Damian P.; Clode, Peta L.

doi:10.1007/s00338-014-1156-z

Cited by 37 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…This trend was generally observed in treatment corals of P. astreoides as well as the other two coral species (figure 2; electronic supplementary material, figure S3 and table S1), although it was not always statistically significant, and is thus consistent with other studies showing d 15 N enrichment in singly bleached corals [14,24,42]. Overall, this suggests that even when translocation of photosynthetic carbon to the animal has been restored, recovery of energy reserves and possibly also calcification rates often requires additional time and energy or even depends on additional factors.…”

Section: N H and Dsupporting

confidence: 89%

Annual coral bleaching and the long-term recovery capacity of coral

et al. 2015

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Mass bleaching events are predicted to occur annually later this century. Nevertheless, it remains unknown whether corals will be able to recover between annual bleaching events. Using a combined tank and field experiment, we simulated annual bleaching by exposing three Caribbean coral species (Porites divaricata, Porites astreoides and Orbicella faveolata) to elevated temperatures for 2.5 weeks in 2 consecutive years. The impact of annual bleaching stress on chlorophyll a, energy reserves, calcification, and tissue C and N isotopes was assessed immediately after the second bleaching and after both short-and long-term recovery on the reef (1.5 and 11 months, respectively). While P. divaricata and O. faveolata were able to recover from repeat bleaching within 1 year, P. astreoides experienced cumulative damage that prevented full recovery within this time frame, suggesting that repeat bleaching had diminished its recovery capacity. Specifically, P. astreoides was not able to recover protein and carbohydrate concentrations. As energy reserves promote bleaching resistance, failure to recover from annual bleaching within 1 year will likely result in the future demise of heat-sensitive coral species.

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Section: N H and Dsupporting

confidence: 89%

Annual coral bleaching and the long-term recovery capacity of coral

et al. 2015

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“…This switch to heterotrophy would enable sponges to survive under reduced light conditions, as has been reported in Petrosia ficiformis (Poiret, 1789), Aplysina fulva (Pallas, 1766) and Neopetrosia subtriangularis (Duchassaing, 1850)67. The same switching has also been observed in photosymbiotic corals during low light associated with natural turbidity events34.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Effects of light attenuation on the sponge holobiont- implications for dredging management

Pineda

Strehlow

Duckworth

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Dredging and natural sediment resuspension events can cause high levels of turbidity, reducing the amount of light available for photosynthetic benthic biota. To determine how marine sponges respond to light attenuation, five species were experimentally exposed to a range of light treatments. Tolerance thresholds and capacity for recovery varied markedly amongst species. Whilst light attenuation had no effect on the heterotrophic species Stylissa flabelliformis and Ianthella basta, the phototrophic species Cliona orientalis and Carteriospongia foliascens discoloured (bleached) over a 28 day exposure period to very low light (<0.8 mol photons m−2 d−1). In darkness, both species discoloured within a few days, concomitant with reduced fluorescence yields, chlorophyll concentrations and shifts in their associated microbiomes. The phototrophic species Cymbastela coralliophila was less impacted by light reduction. C. orientalis and C. coralliophila exhibited full recovery under normal light conditions, whilst C. foliascens did not recover and showed high levels of mortality. The light treatments used in the study are directly relevant to conditions that can occur in situ during dredging projects, indicating that light attenuation poses a risk to photosynthetic marine sponges. Examining benthic light levels over temporal scales would enable dredging proponents to be aware of conditions that could impact on sponge physiology.

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“…In high-latitude corals, phenotypic plasticity may support their survival, through diverse coral symbiont communities (Wicks et al, 2010b), enhanced symbiont tolerance to extreme (low) temperatures (Wicks et al, 2010a), enhanced heterotrophic plasticity (Bessell-Browne et al, 2014) and evidence of shifted thermal optima for calcification at cooler temperatures (Ross et al, 2015). High-latitude coral communities around the world have also been found to reproduce sexually and are therefore not solely dependent on recruitment from tropical region coral stocks (e.g., Babcock et al, 1994;van Woesik, 1995;Wilson and Harrison, 2003;Miller and Ayre, 2004;Madsen et al, 2014).…”

Section: High-latitude Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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Coscinaraea marshae corals that have survived prolonged bleaching exhibit signs of increased heterotrophic feeding

Cited by 37 publications

References 67 publications

Annual coral bleaching and the long-term recovery capacity of coral

Annual coral bleaching and the long-term recovery capacity of coral

Effects of light attenuation on the sponge holobiont- implications for dredging management

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

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