New perspectives on ecological mechanisms affecting coral recruitment on reefs

Ritson‐Williams, Raphael; Arnold, Suzanne N.; Fogarty, Nicole D.; Steneck, Robert S.; Vermeij, Mark J. A.; Paul, Valerie J.

doi:10.5479/si.01960768.38.437

Cited by 312 publications

(245 citation statements)

References 557 publications

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“…It is possible that coral larvae may be able to assess the suitability of substrata for settlement at a fine scale (within a reef) based on the bacterial communities on the surface of the preferred CCA. Corals are especially vulnerable during their early life history stages and recruiting into a favorable environment is critical for their survival and persistence (Ritson-Williams et al, 2009). Some corals acquire their internal bacterial communities only after settlement and metamorphosis (Sharp et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crustose coralline algal species host distinct bacterial assemblages on their surfaces

2015

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Crustose coralline algae (CCA) are important components of many marine ecosystems. They aid in reef accretion and stabilization, create habitat for other organisms, contribute to carbon sequestration and are important settlement substrata for a number of marine invertebrates. Despite their ecological importance, little is known about the bacterial communities associated with CCA or whether differences in bacterial assemblages may have ecological implications. This study examined the bacterial communities on four different species of CCA collected in Belize using bacterial tagencoded FLX amplicon pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 region of the 16S rDNA. CCA were dominated by Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Actinomycetes. At the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level, each CCA species had a unique bacterial community that was significantly different from all other CCA species. Hydrolithon boergesenii and Titanoderma prototypum, CCA species that facilitate larval settlement in multiple corals, had higher abundances of OTUs related to bacteria that inhibit the growth and/or biofilm formation of coral pathogens. Fewer coral larvae settle on the surfaces of Paragoniolithon solubile and Porolithon pachydermum. These CCA species had higher abundances of OTUs related to known coral pathogens and cyanobacteria. Coral larvae may be able to use the observed differences in bacterial community composition on CCA species to assess the suitability of these substrata for settlement and selectively settle on CCA species that contain beneficial bacteria.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crustose coralline algal species host distinct bacterial assemblages on their surfaces

2015

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“…Indeed, small corals can easily be removed in a single bite by a predator or accidentally by grazing herbivorous fish (Sammarco and Carleton 1981;Christiansen et al 2009;Trapon et al 2013). Furthermore, just after settlement broadcast spawning corals are likely to have limited energy reserves available to deal with competitive interactions from benthic organisms and for sediment removal (Rylaarsdam 1983;Vermeij 2006;Birrell et al 2008;Ritson-Williams et al 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Clearly the biggest bottleneck for survival occurred during the first 7 months post-settlement. During the early life history stages, broadcast spawning corals are at their most vulnerable (Vermeij and Sandin 2008;Ritson-Williams et al 2009). The most plausible explanation for an inverse relationship between mortality rate and colony size is that a disturbance event (for example a predator) is more likely to kill an entire colony if the surface area is small (Jackson 1979).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Closing the circle: is it feasible to rehabilitate reefs with sexually propagated corals?

et al. 2013

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Sexual propagation of corals specifically for reef rehabilitation remains largely experimental. In this study, we refined low technology culture and transplantation approaches and assessed the role of colony size and age, at time of transfer from nursery to reef, on subsequent survival. Larvae from Acropora millepora were reared from gametes and settled on engineered substrates, called coral plug-ins, that were designed to simplify transplantation to areas of degraded reef. Plug-ins, with laboratory spawned and settled coral recruits attached, were maintained in nurseries until they were at least 7 months old before being transplanted to replicate coral limestone outcrops within a marine protected area until they were 31 months old. Survival rates of transplanted corals that remained at the protected in situ nursery the longest were 3.9-5.6 times higher than corals transplanted to the reef earlier, demonstrating that an intermediate ocean nursery stage is critical in the sexual propagation of corals for reef rehabilitation. 3 years post-settlement, colonies were reproductively mature, making this one of few published studies to date to rear a broadcasting scleractinian from eggs to spawning adults. While our data show that it is technically feasible to transplant sexually propagated corals and rear them until maturity, producing a single 2.5-year-old coral on the reef cost at least US$60. 'What if' scenarios indicate that the cost per transplantable coral could be reduced by almost 80 %, nevertheless, it is likely that the high cost per coral using sexual propagation methods would constrain delivery of new corals to relatively small scales in many countries with coral reefs.

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“…Because polluted rainwater enters sea water from the shore, the water near the shoreline is expected to be of a lower quality than water farther from it. Water quality is a known factor affecting coral development and poor water quality reduces coral establishment [13]. Thus higher coral coverage near the shore was unexpected and counter-intuitive.…”

Section: Mooring Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral Distribution on Artificial Structures in Bonaire, Leeward Antilles

Filkovsky¹,

Hoback²

2014

TOMBJ

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Distribution patterns of live scleractinian coral colonies on vertical faces of concrete blocks were compared with distribution patterns of environmental parameters known to affect coral recruitment and growth. Coral coverage was not random across the blocks and among regions of their faces. Variations in colonization did not correspond to differences in substrate type, illuminance, and water motion intensity. Coral distribution significantly correlated with blocks location and faces orientation, and these correlations depended on prevailing current direction. These correlations and dependencies are consistent with the hypothesis that the coral coverage was detrimentally affected by a low quality of water flow from the local marine port.

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New perspectives on ecological mechanisms affecting coral recruitment on reefs

Cited by 312 publications

References 557 publications

Crustose coralline algal species host distinct bacterial assemblages on their surfaces

Crustose coralline algal species host distinct bacterial assemblages on their surfaces

Closing the circle: is it feasible to rehabilitate reefs with sexually propagated corals?

Coral Distribution on Artificial Structures in Bonaire, Leeward Antilles

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