Developing best practices for the restoration of massive corals and the mitigation of predation impacts: influences of physical protection, colony size, and genotype on outplant mortality

Rivas, Nicolas; Hesley, Dalton; Kaufman, Madeline; Unsworth, Joseph; D’Alessandro, Martine; Lirman, Diego

doi:10.1007/s00338-021-02127-5

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 62 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, outplanting of nursery corals throughout the Caribbean and particularly in Florida, initially focused on acroporid corals per their conservation status and the implementation of species recovery plans (National Marine Fisheries Service, 2015) in addition to their fast growth and contribution to reef structure, yet high mortality rates occur a few years after outplanting (Ware et al, 2020;van Woesik et al, 2021). For massive species, outplanting has been bottlenecked due to stony coral tissue loss disease (Aeby et al, 2019), size-and tissue-selection predation risk (Rivas et al, 2021), and slow growth despite advances in microfragmentation (Forsman et al, 2015;Page et al, 2018). The success of outplanted corals reared from in situ and ex situ nurseries often have mixed results due to variable performance of outplants (Lirman et al, 2014), as some reef sites have unfavorable water quality (Muehllehner et al, 2016) or high levels of coral predators (Schopmeyer and Lirman, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite local challenges associated with coral outplanting success, it is imperative to understand the responses of nursery-reared coral to the major threats owing to coral reef decline -OW and OA -and investigate which coral species and/or individual genotypes are resistant to these stressors to aid in effective ecological restoration of FCR. Although massive coral species outplanting projects are lagging that of acroporids (Forsman et al, 2015;Page et al, 2018;Aeby et al, 2019;Rivas et al, 2021), this provides a window of opportunity to screen the vast biomass of restoration broodstock to understand phenotypic response and resistance to environmental stressors persistent along FCR that are likely to increase in frequency and severity (Manzello, 2015). Since 2016, Mote Marine Laboratory's (MML) Coral Health and Disease Program has conducted long-term experimental exposures using end-of-century ocean warming and acidification scenarios on their nursery broodstock coral species to understand physiological responses to such stressors, which ultimately influences long-term survival after outplanting at restoration reef sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Symbiont composition and coral genotype determines massive coral species performance under end-of-century climate scenarios

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recent decline of coral health and substantial loss of coral cover along Florida’s Coral Reef (FCR) results from local stressors such as degraded water quality and disease outbreaks in addition to anthropogenically driven global stressors including ocean warming and acidification. Intervention strategies intended for the restoration of degraded reef habitats need a better understanding of the influence of ocean warming and acidification on coral health to target coral species and individual genotypes that may be more resistant or resilient to such stressors. Here, we examined a suite of physiological traits (coral host and algal symbiont) in response to experimentally elevated water temperatures and pCO2 levels, both separately and in concert, using threatened reef-building corals Pseudodiploria clivosa and Orbicella faveolata reared within a land-based coral nursery. After two months of exposure, responses differed by coral species, where P. clivosa showed declined physiology in response to combined ocean warming and acidification stress and ocean warming alone, whereas O. faveolata showed a positive response under ocean acidification. Responses to temperature could be associated with the algal symbionts harbored, as P. clivosa was dominated by the thermally sensitive Breviolum, and O. faveolata was dominated by the thermally tolerant Durusdinium. Additionally, corals were raised in well-sourced seawater that was naturally high in pCO2, which could have led to corals acclimating to acidified conditions. Of the three P. clivosa genets tested, we determined a top-performing genotype under the combined warming and acidification treatment. O. faveolata, however, displayed high genet variation by treatment and phenotypic trait, making genotype performance rankings challenging to discern. The evidence provided in this study demonstrates that high phenotypic variation in nursery-reared corals contributes to variable warming-acidification responses, suggesting that high-standing genetic variation in nursery-reared corals could support diverse coral restoration population outcomes along FCR.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbiont composition and coral genotype determines massive coral species performance under end-of-century climate scenarios

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To address this knowledge gap, we conducted paired ex-situ transmission and in-situ intervention experiments, and examined whole-transcriptome gene expression patterns of corals in response to disease exposure and antibiotic treatment, respectively. These experiments focused on the coral species M. cavernosa and O. faveolata due to their ongoing use in field-based disease intervention and monitoring efforts (Shilling et al, 2021;Walker et al, 2021), ecological importance as primary reef-builders (González-Barrios & Álvarez-Filip, 2018;Walton et al, 2018), and growing use in reef restoration (Koval et al, 2020;Rivas et al, 2021). Through these experiments, we 1) identified transcriptomic responses to SCTLD exposure in a controlled lab setting, 2) compared responses to disease exposure between species, 3) examined transcriptomic modulation following antibiotic treatment in a field-based time series, and 4) compared trends between diseased and treated corals in lab and field settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating stony coral tissue loss disease intervention success through whole-transcriptome gene expression profiling

Studivan

Eckert

Shilling

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) remains an unprecedented disease outbreak due to its high mortality rate and rapid spread throughout Florida’s Coral Reef and wider Caribbean. A collaborative effort is underway to evaluate disease intervention strategies that mitigate the spread of SCTLD across coral colonies and reefs. We conducted an in-situ experiment in Southeast Florida to assess molecular responses among SCTLD-affected Montastraea cavernosa pre- and post-application of the most widely-used intervention method, CoreRx Base 2B with amoxicillin. Through Tag-Seq gene expression profiling of apparently healthy, diseased, and treated corals, we identified modulation of metabolomic and immune pathways following antibiotic treatment. In a complementary ex-situ disease challenge experiment, we exposed nursery-cultured M. cavernosa and Orbicella faveolata fragments to SCTLD-affected donor corals to compare transcriptomic profiles among clonal individuals from unexposed controls, those exposed and displaying disease signs, and corals exposed and not displaying disease signs. Suppression of metabolic functional groups and activation of stress gene pathways as a result of SCTLD exposure were apparent in both species. Amoxicillin treatment led to a ‘reversal’ of the majority of gene pathways implicated in disease response, suggesting potential recovery of corals following antibiotic application. In addition to increasing our understanding of molecular responses to SCTLD, we provide resource managers with transcriptomic evidence that disease interventions with antibiotics appear to be successful and may help to modulate coral immune responses to SCTLD. These results contribute to feasibility assessments of intervention efforts following disease outbreaks and improved predictions of coral reef health in Southeast Florida.

show abstract

“…To address this knowledge gap, we conducted paired ex‐situ transmission and in‐situ intervention experiments and examined whole‐transcriptome gene expression patterns of corals in response to disease exposure and antibiotic treatment, respectively. These experiments focused on the coral species Montastraea cavernosa and Orbicella faveolata due to their ongoing use in field‐based disease intervention and monitoring efforts (Shilling et al, 2021; Walker et al, 2021), ecological importance as primary reef‐builders (González‐Barrios & Álvarez‐Filip, 2018; Walton et al, 2018), and growing use in reef restoration (Koval et al, 2020; Rivas et al, 2021). Through these experiments, we (1) identified transcriptomic responses to SCTLD exposure in a controlled lab setting, (2) compared responses to disease exposure between species, (3) examined transcriptomic modulation following antibiotic treatment in a field‐based time series and (4) compared trends between diseased and treated corals in lab and field settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These experiments focused on the coral species Montastraea cavernosa and Orbicella faveolata due to their ongoing use in field-based disease intervention and monitoring efforts (Shilling et al, 2021;Walker et al, 2021), ecological importance as primary reef-builders (González-Barrios & Álvarez-Filip, 2018;Walton et al, 2018), and growing use in reef restoration (Koval et al, 2020;Rivas et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stony coral tissue loss disease intervention with amoxicillin leads to a reversal of disease‐modulated gene expression pathways

Studivan,

Eckert,

Shilling

et al. 2023

Molecular Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) remains an unprecedented disease outbreak due to its high mortality rate and rapid spread throughout Florida's Coral Reef and wider Caribbean. A collaborative effort is underway to evaluate strategies that mitigate the spread of SCTLD across coral colonies and reefs, including restoration of disease‐resistant genotypes, genetic rescue, and disease intervention with therapeutics. We conducted an in‐situ experiment in Southeast Florida to assess molecular responses among SCTLD‐affected Montastraea cavernosa pre‐ and post‐application of the most widely used intervention method, CoreRx Base 2B with amoxicillin. Through Tag‐Seq gene expression profiling of apparently healthy, diseased, and treated corals, we identified modulation of metabolomic and immune gene pathways following antibiotic treatment. In a complementary ex‐situ disease challenge experiment, we exposed nursery‐cultured M. cavernosa and Orbicella faveolata fragments to SCTLD‐affected donor corals to compare transcriptomic profiles among clonal individuals from unexposed controls, those exposed and displaying disease signs, and corals exposed and not displaying disease signs. Suppression of metabolic functional groups and activation of stress gene pathways as a result of SCTLD exposure were apparent in both species. Amoxicillin treatment led to a ‘reversal’ of the majority of gene pathways implicated in disease response, suggesting potential recovery of corals following antibiotic application. In addition to increasing our understanding of molecular responses to SCTLD, we provide resource managers with transcriptomic evidence that disease intervention with antibiotics appears to be successful and may help to modulate coral immune responses to SCTLD. These results contribute to feasibility assessments of intervention efforts following disease outbreaks and improved predictions of coral reef health across the wider Caribbean.

show abstract

Developing best practices for the restoration of massive corals and the mitigation of predation impacts: influences of physical protection, colony size, and genotype on outplant mortality

Cited by 14 publications

References 62 publications

Symbiont composition and coral genotype determines massive coral species performance under end-of-century climate scenarios

Symbiont composition and coral genotype determines massive coral species performance under end-of-century climate scenarios

Evaluating stony coral tissue loss disease intervention success through whole-transcriptome gene expression profiling

Stony coral tissue loss disease intervention with amoxicillin leads to a reversal of disease‐modulated gene expression pathways

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About