Diversity of subtidal benthic and hard coral communities on sloping and vertical seawalls in Singapore

Kikuzawa, Yuichi Preslie; Ng, Chin Soon Lionel; Toh, Tai Chong; Sam, Shu Qin; Lee, YL; Loo, Poh Leong; Chua, Y. Z.; Tan, Koh Siang; Chou, Loke Ming

doi:10.1007/s12526-020-01118-z

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Spatial structuring of hard coral communities is generally attributed to the surrounding environment in which presence or absence of species reflects their tolerance limits (Chow et al, 2019;Muir et al, 2015). This is commonly exhibited as depth ranges, but also applies to salinity, wave energy, and sediment tolerances (Bongaerts et al, 2017;Kikuzawa et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2021;Ng et al, 2012). It is assumed that organisms living at extreme environments are more stress-resistant (Davison & Pearson, 1996;de Pedro et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While previous reports have documented rich coral communities thriving in intertidal nearshore habitats (Lee et al, 2021;Ng et al, 2012;Richards et al, 2015), few studies have attempted to determine how these intertidal corals survive such stressful conditions. Generally, intertidal species exhibit massive morphological forms (e.g.Porites ) but branching corals, including acroporids and pocilloporids, also exist in these areas (Kikuzawa et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2021;Shinzato et al, 2015). In particular, the pocilloporid species Pocillopora acuta can inhabit a relatively wide range of habitats, including the upper subtidal and lower intertidal zones (Baums et al, 2014;Ros et al, 2021;Schmidt-Roach et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How does the coral, Pocillopora acuta, survive the challenging intertidal environment? A genome-wide analysis

Poquita-Du

Huang

Todd

2023

Preprint

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Characterisation of genomic variation among corals can help uncover variants underlying trait differences and contribute towards genotype prioritisation in coastal restoration projects. For example, there is growing interest in identifying resilient genotypes for transplantation, and to better understand the genetic processes that allow some individuals to survive in specific conditions better than others. The coral species Pocillopora acuta is known to survive in a wide range of habitats, from reefs to seawalls, suggesting its potential use as a starter species for ecological engineering efforts involving coral transplantation onto intertidal seawalls. However, the intertidal section of coastal armour is a challenging environment for corals, with conditions during periods of emersion being particularly stressful. Here, we scanned the entire genome of P. acuta corals for DNA polymorphisms to identify the regions harbouring SNPs and copy number variations (CNVs) that separate intertidal colonies (n=18) from those found in subtidal areas (n=21). Findings revealed 74,391 high quality SNPs distributed across 386 regions of the P. acuta genome. While the majority of the detected SNPs were in non-coding regions, 12% were identified in exons (i.e. coding regions). Functional SNPs that were significantly associated with intertidal colonies were found in overrepresented genomic regions linked to cellular homeostasis, metabolism, and signalling process, which can represent local environmental adaptation in the intertidal. Interestingly, regions that exhibited CNVs were also associated with metabolic and signalling processes, suggesting intertidal corals have a high capacity to perform biological functions critical for survival in extreme environments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does the coral, Pocillopora acuta, survive the challenging intertidal environment? A genome-wide analysis

Poquita-Du

Huang

Todd

2023

Preprint

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“…However, this has also resulted in the extensive loss of coastal habitats such as seagrass meadows, mangroves and coral reefs, along with the associated biodiversity and ecosystem functions. In spite of these impacts, studies have recently documented how artificial structures can provide habitats to molluscs [5], corals [6][7][8][9] and fish [10][11][12], although some biotic assemblages can be less diverse compared to their natural counterparts [9,12,13]. As it is crucial to preserve the myriad ecosystem services that human communities are reliant on, strategies such as ecological engineering, which aim to enhance biodiversity on artificial structures such as seawalls, are increasingly being studied see [14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Greater fluctuations in environmental parameters such as temperature [31,32] and wave motion [33,34] in the vicinity of seawalls appear to be more stressful to branching corals. Recent studies have shown that more massive species were found naturally on seawalls than branching species [8,35,36]. Nevertheless, knowledge gaps exist in the enhancement of coral cover on seawalls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study seeks to evaluate the feasibility of histoincompatible coral fusion as a technique to improve the success of transplanting fragments of Platygyra sinensis (Milne Edwards and Haime, 1849), a massive species frequently found on seawalls [8] and commonly used in reef restoration and ecological engineering initiatives [17,30]. Here, we compared the survivorship and growth of fragments of P. sinensis transplanted in close contact ("adjoining") with those transplanted apart ("separate").…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transplanting Coral Fragments in Close Contact Enhances Their Survival and Growth on Seawalls

Kikuzawa

Sam

et al. 2021

JMSE

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Accelerated urbanisation has replaced many natural shorelines with coastal defences, resulting in the loss of natural habitats. However, structures such as seawalls can support some biotic assemblages, albeit of lower species richness. Ecological engineering techniques such as coral transplantation can enhance biodiversity on these artificial structures, but its success is circumscribed by high costs. Little is known about the fusion of discrete coral colonies that could potentially improve coral transplantation success on seawalls, particularly for the slow-growing massive species that are generally well-adapted to living on seawalls. Here, we investigated the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of transplanting Platygyra sinensis on seawalls by comparing the survivability and growth of fragments transplanted adjoining with those transplanted further apart. Fragments (approximately 3 cm diameter; n = 24) derived from three individuals were randomly grouped into two treatments, transplanted at 0.5 cm and 5 cm apart. Fragments in the former treatment came into contact with each other after three months. We observed that in all cases, the contact zones were characterised by a border of raised skeletal ridges without tissue necrosis, often termed nonfusion (=histoincompatible fusion). The adjoining transplants showed better survival (75 vs. 43%) and grew at a rate that was significantly higher than fragments transplanted 5 cm apart (3.7 ± 1.6 vs. 0.6 ± 1.1 cm2 month−1). Our projections demonstrated the possibility of reducing transplantation cost (USD cm−2) by 48.3% through nonfusion. These findings present nonfusion as a possible strategy to increase the overall cost-effectiveness of transplanting slow-growing massive species on seawalls.

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The effects of wave exposure and host cover on coral-associated fauna of a centuries-old artificial reef in the Caribbean

Lymperaki

Hill

Hoeksema

2022

Ecological Engineering

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Diversity of subtidal benthic and hard coral communities on sloping and vertical seawalls in Singapore

Cited by 10 publications

References 75 publications

How does the coral, Pocillopora acuta, survive the challenging intertidal environment? A genome-wide analysis

How does the coral, Pocillopora acuta, survive the challenging intertidal environment? A genome-wide analysis

Transplanting Coral Fragments in Close Contact Enhances Their Survival and Growth on Seawalls

The effects of wave exposure and host cover on coral-associated fauna of a centuries-old artificial reef in the Caribbean

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