Different calcification rates in males and females of the coral Porites panamensis in the Gulf of California

Cabral-Tena, Rafael A.; Reyes‐Bonilla, Héctor; Lluch-Cota, Salvador E.; Paz‐García, David A.; Calderón-Aguilera, Luis E.; Norzagaray-López, Orión; Balart, Eduardo F.

doi:10.3354/meps10269

Cited by 40 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Differences between genders were documented both herein and previously founded (Cabral-Tena et al, 2013;CarricartGanivet et al, 2013). Males in columnar and corallith morphotypes present higher growth rates than female colonies.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…The sex of coral can also affect its growth and timing of densityband formation, due males and females invest in different proportions the energy available for physiological processes such as reproduction and calcification (Harrison, 2011;CarricartGanivet et al, 2013). In consequence, genders may present different annual growth parameters between them (Cabral-Tena et al, 2013). Therefore, the coral's genders may affect the interpretation of the environmental proxies bound within the skeleton (Carricart-Ganivet et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in Growth and Calcification Rates in the Reef-Building Coral Porites lobata: The Implications of Morphotype and Gender on Coral Growth

et al. 2016

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Corals display different growth forms as an adaptive response to both local and global environmental conditions. Despite the importance of morphologic variability on corals, growth and calcification rates of different coral morphotypes have been poorly recorded in the Eastern Pacific. The purpose of this study was to compare annual extension rate (cm yr −1 ), skeletal density (g cm −3 ), calcification rate (g cm −2 yr −1 ), and tissue thickness (mm) of males and females colonies in three different morphotypes of the common reef-building coral Porites lobata; columnar, massive, and free-living (corallith) forms. The results show significant differences in all four-growth parameters between morphotypes over a 6-year interval, and also differences between males and females in most morphotypes. Massive colonies presented 15-33% faster annual rates compared with columnar and free-living. Male colonies showed 30-40% faster annual rates than females for both columnar and corallith morphologies. These data exhibit the extensive plasticity of this species and highlight the fact that each morphotype × gender group produced a different physiological response to environmental conditions. Therefore, these information reveal that P. lobata from the Eastern Tropical Pacific develops different morphologies to allow it to maintain coral species population, characteristics that enhance the species possibility to further its distribution across the reef-framework.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Growth and Calcification Rates in the Reef-Building Coral Porites lobata: The Implications of Morphotype and Gender on Coral Growth

et al. 2016

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“…Fossil coral specimens from the same site displaying reciprocal calcification rhythms relative to the oxygen isotope cycles may, therefore, reflect gender differences as well. Sex proportions of female : male colonies in the modern P. panamensis are 2 : 1 (Cabral- Tena et al, 2013), however, our set of data is too small for a statistical evaluation, and gender differences are not documented in the skeleton. Nonetheless, the observed variations in calcification are likely not gender specific, because in some specimens no relationship exists between the δ 18 O cycle and the rhythm of growth banding, whereas it changes in others from the summer mode of HDB formation to the winter mode or vice versa upon continual growth.…”

Section: Relationships Between Stable Isotope Signatures and Calcificmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…For these three inferences we suggest the oxygen isotope cycle to represent the more reliable internal chronology than the patterns of density banding, and the rhythm of density banding to have been variable from coral to coral and to some degree within corals. Disparities in skeletal growth rhythms have been reported recently from female and male colonies within one taxon (Porites panamensis), with female colonies growing slower and calcification rates being lower than in males (Cabral-Tena et al, 2013). Fossil coral specimens from the same site displaying reciprocal calcification rhythms relative to the oxygen isotope cycles may, therefore, reflect gender differences as well.…”

Section: Relationships Between Stable Isotope Signatures and Calcificmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…"sacrificing density" in order to occupy space on a reef efficiently near the lower temperature threshold of distribution (Carricart-Ganivet, 2004). In addition to the environment, gender seems to represent another poorly understood component controlling calcification (Cabral-Tena et al, 2013). Some evidence has been documented that calcification does not respond in a linear way to temperature or environmental changes in general (Worum et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Upwellings mitigated Plio-Pleistocene heat stress for reef corals on the Florida platform (USA)

et al. 2016

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Abstract. The fast growing calcareous skeletons of zooxanthellate reef corals (z corals) represent unique environmental proxy archives through their oxygen and carbon stable isotope composition (δ 18 O, δ 13 C). In addition, the accretion of the skeleton itself is ultimately linked to the environment and responds with variable growth rates (extension rate) and density to environmental changes. Here we present classical proxy data (δ 18 O, δ 13 C) in combination with calcification records from 15 massive z corals. The z corals were sampled from four interglacial units of the Florida carbonate platform (USA) dated approximately 3.2, 2.9, 1.8 and 1.2 Ma (middle Pliocene to early Pleistocene). The z corals (Solenastrea, Orbicella, Porites) derive from unlithified shallow marine carbonates and were carefully screened for primary preservation suited for proxy analysis. We show that skeletal accretion responded with decreasing overall calcification rates (decreasing extension rate but increasing density) to warmer water temperatures. Under high annual water temperatures, inferred from sub-annually resolved δ 18 O data, skeletal bulk density was high, but extension rates and overall calcification rates were at a minimum (endmember scenario 1). Maximum skeletal density was reached during the summer season giving rise to a growth band of high density within the annually banded skeletons ("high density band", HDB). With low mean annual water temperatures (endmember scenario 2), bulk skeletal density was low but extension rates and calcification rates reached a maximum, and under these conditions the HDB formed during winter. Although surface water temperatures in the Western Atlantic warm pool during the interglacials of the late Neogene were ∼ 2 • C higher than they are in the present day, intermittent upwelling of cool, nutrient-rich water mitigated water temperatures off southwestern Florida and created temporary refuges for z coral growth. Based on the sub-annually resolved δ 18 O and δ 13 C records, the duration of the upwelling episodes causing the endmember 2 conditions was variable and lasted from a few years to a number of decades. The episodes of upwelling were interrupted by phases without upwelling (endmember 1) which lasted for at least a few years and led to high surface water temperatures. This variable environment is likely one of the reasons why the coral fauna is dominated by the eurytopic genus Solenastrea, also a genus resistant to high turbidity. Over a period of ∼ 50 years, the oldest sub annually resolved proxy record available (3.2 Ma) documents a persistent occurrence of the HDB during winter. In contrast, the HDB forms in summer in modern z corals from the Florida reef tract. We suggest this difference should be tested as being the expression of a tendency towards decreasing interglacial upwelling since the middle Pliocene. The number of z coral sclerochronological records for the Plio-Pleistocene is still rather low, however, and requires more data and an improved resolution, through records from...

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Aragonite saturation and pH variation in a fringing reef are strongly influenced by oceanic conditions

Norzagaray-López¹,

Hernández-Ayón²,

Calderón-Aguilera

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

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Seasonal variations of the CO2 system in seawater for coral reefs are often controlled by both chemical‐biological processes and by regional oceanographic features in combination with the residence time of adjacent water. This study reports the seasonal variability of the CO2 system along a year though dissolved inorganic carbon and pH measurements in Cabo Pulmo, a fringing reef from the Mexican Pacific. Two conditions were found on the reef: summer with the presence of Tropical Surface Water (TSW), characterized by high temperature, lower DIC levels, and a higher aragonite saturation (Ωarag); and winter with Gulf of California Water (GCW), when the opposite occurred. This seasonal variation was due to the horizontal advection of two surface water masses: Gulf of California water during winter and Tropical Surface Water the rest of the year as a result of the ocean circulation at the entrance of the Gulf of California. Therefore, the reef is significantly influenced by open ocean waters, where the depth is less than 20 m. The seasonal variability in Ωarag between months with the presence of GCW and TSW is one of the largest ranges reported in coral reefs (ΔΩarag = 0.5 units). Our results suggest that the reef community cannot modify the aragonite or pH of incoming ocean water. This might be the case in other fringing reefs, where the use of ocean acidification forecast models is suitable.

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Different calcification rates in males and females of the coral Porites panamensis in the Gulf of California

Cited by 40 publications

References 35 publications

Differences in Growth and Calcification Rates in the Reef-Building Coral Porites lobata: The Implications of Morphotype and Gender on Coral Growth

Differences in Growth and Calcification Rates in the Reef-Building Coral Porites lobata: The Implications of Morphotype and Gender on Coral Growth

Upwellings mitigated Plio-Pleistocene heat stress for reef corals on the Florida platform (USA)

Aragonite saturation and pH variation in a fringing reef are strongly influenced by oceanic conditions

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