Impact of the 1997-98 El Niño event on the coral reef-associated echinoderm assemblage from northern Bahia, northeastern Brazil

Attrill, Martin J.; Kelmo, Francisco; Jones, M. B.

doi:10.3354/cr026151

Cited by 38 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…Most invertebrate taxa were severely impacted and experienced mass mortalities: this included corals and other cnidarians [41]; echinoderms [42], [43]; bryozoans [44]; and ascidians [45], attributed to increased Sea Surface Temperature (SST). In Brazil, our understanding of sponge biodiversity has increased significantly over the last two decades, although the majority of the sponge studies in this region are of a taxonomic nature, and so little is known about sponge ecology in this region (see [46], [47], [48], [49], [50] for example) and how these organisms respond to major environmental perturbations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tolerance of Sponge Assemblages to Temperature Anomalies: Resilience and Proliferation of Sponges following the 1997–8 El-Niño Southern Oscillation

Kelmo

Bell

Attrill³

2013

PLoS ONE

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Coral reefs across the world are under threat from a range of stressors, and while there has been considerable focus on the impacts of these stressors on corals, far less is known about their effect on other reef organisms. The 1997–8 El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) had notable and severe impacts on coral reefs worldwide, but not all reef organisms were negatively impacted by this large-scale event. Here we describe how the sponge fauna at Bahia, Brazil was influenced by the 1997–8 ENSO event. Sponge assemblages from three contrasting reef habitats (reef tops, walls and shallow banks) at four sites were assessed annually from 1995 to 2011. The within-habitat sponge diversity did not vary significantly across the study period; however, there was a significant increase in density in all habitats. Multivariate analyses revealed no significant difference in sponge assemblage composition (ANOSIM) between pre- and post-ENSO years for any of the habitats, suggesting that neither the 1997–8 nor any subsequent smaller ENSO events have had any measurable impact on the reef sponge assemblage. Importantly, this is in marked contrast to the results previously reported for a suite of other taxa (including corals, echinoderms, bryozoans, and ascidians), which all suffered mass mortalities as a result of the ENSO event. Our results suggest that of all reef taxa, sponges have the potential to be resilient to large-scale thermal stress events and we hypothesize that sponges might be less affected by projected increases in sea surface temperature compared to other major groups of reef organisms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tolerance of Sponge Assemblages to Temperature Anomalies: Resilience and Proliferation of Sponges following the 1997–8 El-Niño Southern Oscillation

Kelmo

Bell

Attrill³

2013

PLoS ONE

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“…For instance, tissue necrosis or mortality was observed in 30 benthic species from several different phyla in the Mediterranean Sea following positive summertime thermal anomalies that occurred between 1998 and 20038. Similarly, benthic communities in tropical coral reefs and atoll lagoons have shown significant declines in diversity and catastrophic losses in coral cover10111213 as well as local mortalities in a wide range of species such as echinoderms14 or intertidal barnacles15 due to heat waves and thermal anomalies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterotrophy promotes the re-establishment of photosynthate translocation in a symbiotic coral after heat stress

Tremblay

Gori

Maguer

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Symbiotic scleractinian corals are particularly affected by climate change stress and respond by bleaching (losing their symbiotic dinoflagellate partners). Recently, the energetic status of corals is emerging as a particularly important factor that determines the corals’ vulnerability to heat stress. However, detailed studies of coral energetic that trace the flow of carbon from symbionts to host are still sparse. The present study thus investigates the impact of heat stress on the nutritional interactions between dinoflagellates and coral Stylophora pistillata maintained under auto- and heterotrophy. First, we demonstrated that the percentage of autotrophic carbon retained in the symbionts was significantly higher during heat stress than under non-stressful conditions, in both fed and unfed colonies. This higher photosynthate retention in symbionts translated into lower rates of carbon translocation, which required the coral host to use tissue energy reserves to sustain its respiratory needs. As calcification rates were positively correlated to carbon translocation, a significant decrease in skeletal growth was observed during heat stress. This study also provides evidence that heterotrophic nutrient supply enhances the re-establishment of normal nutritional exchanges between the two symbiotic partners in the coral S. pistillata, but it did not mitigate the effects of temperature stress on coral calcification.

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“…Live coral cover is declining rapidly, with reports of up to an 80% decrease in the Caribbean and East Africa (Wilkinson 2002, Gardner et al 2003 and 50% decrease in the Red Sea (Loya 2007). The decline in live coral cover has a negative effect on other reef inhabitants (Pandolfi et al 2003, Attrill et al 2004, Feary et al 2007). However, the conditions that are deleterious for corals (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population dynamics of a coral reef ascidian in a deteriorating environment

Shenkar¹,

Bronstein

Loya³

2008

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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In the coral reefs of Eilat, a newly described colonial ascidian, Botryllus eilatensis, has been observed overgrowing dead coral skeletons and rapidly colonizing artificial substrates. To study overgrowth dynamics and the relationship between coral morphology, size, and orientation and ascidian overgrowth we monitored (monthly) the interaction of 50 to 70 tagged coral colonies with B. eilatensis. The rate of B. eilatensis overgrowth on corals was influenced by the coral's morphology and orientation combined with a seasonal appearance of the ascidian. During spring, the average ascidian cover was 27 ± 4.6 % (mean ± SE), decreasing rapidly during the summer months when sexual reproduction took place. This seasonality is linked to the vertical mixing phenomenon that occurs in Eilat every winter. Moreover, fragments of B. eilatensis translocated to a nutrient-rich site increased 3-fold in size and exhibited higher survivorship rates in comparison to the fragments at the original site. Increased anthropogenic activity, particularly the eutrophication occurring along the Israeli coasts, creates favorable conditions for filter-feeding organisms such as ascidians, providing them with an advantage in competition for space over reef-building corals and other organisms.

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Impact of the 1997-98 El Niño event on the coral reef-associated echinoderm assemblage from northern Bahia, northeastern Brazil

Cited by 38 publications

References 25 publications

Tolerance of Sponge Assemblages to Temperature Anomalies: Resilience and Proliferation of Sponges following the 1997–8 El-Niño Southern Oscillation

Tolerance of Sponge Assemblages to Temperature Anomalies: Resilience and Proliferation of Sponges following the 1997–8 El-Niño Southern Oscillation

Heterotrophy promotes the re-establishment of photosynthate translocation in a symbiotic coral after heat stress

Population dynamics of a coral reef ascidian in a deteriorating environment

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