Environmental Setting and Temporal Trends in Southeastern Gulf Coral Communities

Foster, Kristi; Foster, Greg; Al-Cibahy, Ashraf S.; Al-Harthi, Suaad; Purkis, Sam J.; Riegl, Bernhard

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-3008-3_4

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The prevalence of Symbiodinium C3 in Abu Dhabi corals is surprising, given that this type is considered a ''generalist'' on Indo-Pacific reefs (LaJeunesse et al, 2003). The fact that Abu Dhabi corals routinely experience summer temperature of up to 36°C (Foster et al, 2012) indicates that this Symbiondinium clade can also support symbiotic associations with an exceptional thermotolerance. Therefore, Symbiondinium C3 in Abu Dhabi corals represent an ideal model system for in-depth analyses of the role of algal symbionts in the thermal tolerance of the coral holobiont.…”

Section: Differences In Algal Symbiont Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Corals from the Persian/Arabian Gulf as models for thermotolerant reef-builders: Prevalence of clade C3 Symbiodinium, host fluorescence and ex situ temperature tolerance

Hume

D’Angelo

Burt

et al. 2013

Marine Pollution Bulletin

157

148

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a b s t r a c tCorals in the Arabian/Persian Gulf endure summer temperatures of up to 36°C, making them ideal subjects to study the mechanisms underlying thermal tolerance. Unexpectedly, we found the ''generalist'' Symbiodinium clade C3 to be the prevalent symbiont among seven coral species from Abu Dhabi (UAE) waters. Moreover, C3 represented the only dominant symbiont type in Porites spp. from this region. The ''thermotolerant'' symbionts D1a and C15 were not encountered, indicating that the association with these symbionts cannot be the sole reason for the heat tolerance of Gulf corals. The association of Porites lobata with specific symbiont types (C3 vs. C15) in samples from habitats with very different temperature regimes (Abu Dhabi vs. Fiji) remained unaffected by laboratory culture. During temperature stress experiments specimens from both locations strongly downregulated green fluorescent protein (GFP)-like pigments. However, the Abu Dhabi samples were less prone to bleaching and showed lower mortality.Crown

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Section: Differences In Algal Symbiont Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Corals from the Persian/Arabian Gulf as models for thermotolerant reef-builders: Prevalence of clade C3 Symbiodinium, host fluorescence and ex situ temperature tolerance

Hume

D’Angelo

Burt

et al. 2013

Marine Pollution Bulletin

157

148

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The southern Gulf represents one of the most extreme coral reef environments on earth, with sea surface temperatures ranging >25 • C annually, daily mean maxima >34 • C for several months during summer, and salinities that consistently exceed 44 PSU (Sheppard et al, 1992;Coles, 2003;Foster et al, 2012). In addition, these reefs have experienced numerous large-scale bleaching events over the past two decades (Riegl and Purkis, 2015), resulting in widespread shifts in benthic community structure from which there has been only limited recovery (George and John, 2000;Sheppard and Loughland, 2002;Burt et al, 2008Burt et al, , 2011.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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%

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

2017

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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.

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“…The most isolated populations would be winnowed first due to the absence of larval rescue. Highly isolated western Abu Dhabi (Figure 8), with higher temperature extremes than eastern Abu Dhabi ) is home to dense coral growth devoid of Acropora, Monipora, Stylophora, and Pocillopora (Foster et al, 2012;Bauman et al, 2013)-the most heat-sensitive coral genera showing whole-colony mortality and, as demonstrated for A. downingi, a high connectivity requirement. Species winnowing as envisaged in this paper seems to have already occurred in PAG, certainly helped by its apparent reproductive isolation.…”

Section: Connectivity Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These data, along with data from published literature (Purser, 1973;Sheppard, 1988;Fatemi and Shokri, 2001;Rezai et al, 2004Rezai et al, , 2010Purkis and Riegl, 2005;Aramco, 2007;Burt et al, 2011Burt et al, , 2013Kavousi et al, 2011;Foster et al, 2012;Riegl and Purkis, 2012;Bauman et al, 2013Bauman et al, , 2014Mohammadizadeh et al, 2013;Grizzle et al, 2016;Shuail et al, 2016), were used to produce Figure 1.…”

Section: Environmental Conditions and Coral Conditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2017

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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.

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Environmental Setting and Temporal Trends in Southeastern Gulf Coral Communities

Cited by 19 publications

References 16 publications

Corals from the Persian/Arabian Gulf as models for thermotolerant reef-builders: Prevalence of clade C3 Symbiodinium, host fluorescence and ex situ temperature tolerance

Corals from the Persian/Arabian Gulf as models for thermotolerant reef-builders: Prevalence of clade C3 Symbiodinium, host fluorescence and ex situ temperature tolerance

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

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

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