Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals

Torda, Gergely; Donelson, Jennifer M.; Aranda, Manuel; Barshis, Daniel J.; Bay, Line K.; Berumen, Michael L.; Bourne, David G.; Cantin, Neal E.; Fôret, Sylvain; Matz, Mikhail V.; Miller, David J.; Moya, Aurélie; Putnam, Hollie M.; Ravasi, Timothy; Oppen, Madeleine J. H. van; Thurber, Rebecca Vega; Vidal-Dupiol, Jérémie; Voolstra, Christian R.; Watson, Sue‐Ann; Whitelaw, Emma; Willis, Bette L.

doi:10.1038/nclimate3374

Cited by 328 publications

(288 citation statements)

References 111 publications

(137 reference statements)

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“…For example, short-lived species can adapt and alter ecological responses to climate change of their longer lived symbionts (Gehring et al 2017, Torda et al 2017. For example, short-lived species can adapt and alter ecological responses to climate change of their longer lived symbionts (Gehring et al 2017, Torda et al 2017.…”

Section: Evolution-to-ecology Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco‐evolution on the edge during climate change

2019

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We urgently need to predict species responses to climate change to minimize future biodiversity loss and ensure we do not waste limited resources on ineffective conservation strategies. Currently, most predictions of species responses to climate change ignore the potential for evolution. However, evolution can alter species ecological responses, and different aspects of evolution and ecology can interact to produce complex ecoevolutionary dynamics under climate change. Here we review how evolution could alter ecological responses to climate change on species warm and cool range margins, where evolution could be especially important. We discuss different aspects of evolution in isolation, and then synthesize results to consider how multiple evolutionary processes might interact and affect conservation strategies. On species cool range margins, the evolution of dispersal could increase range expansion rates and allow species to adapt to novel conditions in their new range. However, low genetic variation and genetic drift in small range-front populations could also slow or halt range expansions. Together, these eco-evolutionary effects could cause a three-step, stop-and-go expansion pattern for many species. On warm range margins, isolation among populations could maintain high genetic variation that facilitates evolution to novel climates and allows species to persist longer than expected without evolution. This 'evolutionary extinction debt' could then prevent other species from shifting their ranges. However, as climate change increases isolation among populations, increasing dispersal mortality could select for decreased dispersal and cause rapid range contractions. Some of these eco-evolutionary dynamics could explain why many species are not responding to climate change as predicted. We conclude by suggesting that resurveying historical studies that measured trait frequencies, the strength of selection, or heritabilities could be an efficient way to increase our eco-evolutionary knowledge in climate change biology. ) and M. C. Urban (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3962-4091),

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Section: Evolution-to-ecology Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco‐evolution on the edge during climate change

2019

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“…The limitations of this and other studies of corals center around the difficulty of isolating generations; although this experiment documents different life histories responding to stress in a coordinated manner, it is not explicit evidence of nongenetic parental effects on larvae because larval brooding co‐occurred with the treatments. Transgenerational acclimatization can be adaptive if the conditions (such as thermal stress) experience by one generation lead to improved performance under those same conditions in the following generation (Torda et al, ), so this pathway is a potentially rapid and important mechanism by which corals may improve their capacity to deal with climate change. At present, the framework for understanding these impacts is complicated by the life‐history and symbiotic nature of corals (reviewed by Eirin‐Lopez & Putnam, ), but epigenetic changes or transgenerational acclimatization is an important area of research that should answer questions about changes in methylation, the downstream influence of these changes on gene expression and if these changes are adaptive.…”

Section: Ecological Signatures Of Acclimatization In Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience in reef‐building corals: The ecological and evolutionary importance of the host response to thermal stress

Drury

2020

Molecular Ecology

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Coral reefs are under extreme threat due to a number of stressors, but temperature increases due to changing climate are the most severe. Rising ocean temperatures coupled with local extremes lead to extensive bleaching, where the coral‐algal symbiosis breaks down and corals may die, compromising the structure and function of reefs. Although the symbiotic nature of the coral colony has historically been a focus of research on coral resilience, the host itself is a foundational component in the response to thermal stress. Fixed effects in the coral host set trait baselines through evolutionary processes, acting on many loci of small effect to create mosaics of thermal tolerance across latitudes and individual coral reefs. These genomic differences can be strongly heritable, producing wide variation among clones of different genotypes or families of a specific larval cross. Phenotypic plasticity is overlaid on these baselines and a growing body of knowledge demonstrates the potential for acclimatization of reef‐building corals through a variety of mechanisms that promote resilience and stress tolerance. The long‐term persistence of coral reefs will require many of these mechanisms to adjust to warmer temperatures within a generation, bridging the gap to reproductive events that allow recombination of standing diversity and adaptive change. Business‐as‐usual climate scenarios will probably lead to the loss of some coral populations or species in the future, so the interaction between intragenerational effects and evolutionary pressure is critical for the survival of reefs.

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“…Coral adaptation processes include genetic, epigenetic and physiological responses in the coral host, Symbiodiniaceae partners and associated microbes (reviewed by Barshis, ; Morrow, Muller, & Lesser, ; Quigley, Baker, Coffroth, Willis, & van Oppen, ; Torda et al, ). As bleaching is typically initiated by oxidative damage to Symbiodiniaceae and/or host cells (Oakley & Davy, ), any enhancements to the heat tolerance of Symbiodiniaceae partners is expected to confer bleaching resistance in the symbiosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corals in the hottest reefs in the world exhibit symbiont fidelity not flexibility

et al. 2020

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Reef‐building corals are at risk of extinction from ocean warming. While some corals can enhance their thermal limits by associating with dinoflagellate photosymbionts of superior stress tolerance, the extent to which symbiont communities will reorganize under increased warming pressure remains unclear. Here we show that corals in the hottest reefs in the world in the Persian Gulf maintain associations with the same symbionts across 1.5 years despite extreme seasonal warming and acute heat stress (≥35°C). Persian Gulf corals predominantly associated with Cladocopium (clade C) and most also hosted Symbiodinium (clade A) and/or Durusdinium (clade D). This is in contrast to the neighbouring and milder Oman Sea, where corals associated with Durusdinium and only a minority hosted background levels of Cladocopium. During acute heat stress, the higher prevalence of Symbiodinium and Durusdinium in bleached versus nonbleached Persian Gulf corals indicates that genotypes of these background genera did not confer bleaching resistance. Within symbiont genera, the majority of ITS2 rDNA type profiles were unique to their respective coral species, confirming the existence of host‐specific symbiont lineages. Notably, further differentiation among Persian Gulf sites demonstrates that symbiont populations are either isolated or specialized over tens to hundreds of kilometres. Thermal tolerance across coral species was associated with the prevalence of a single ITS2 intragenomic sequence variant (C3gulf), definitive of the Cladocopium thermophilum group. The abundance of C3gulf was highest in bleaching‐resistant corals and at warmer sites, potentially indicating a specific symbiont genotype (or set of genotypes) that may play a role in thermal tolerance that warrants further investigation. Together, our findings indicate that co‐evolution of host–Symbiodiniaceae partnerships favours fidelity rather than flexibility in extreme environments and under future warming.

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Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals

Cited by 328 publications

References 111 publications

Eco‐evolution on the edge during climate change

Eco‐evolution on the edge during climate change

Resilience in reef‐building corals: The ecological and evolutionary importance of the host response to thermal stress

Corals in the hottest reefs in the world exhibit symbiont fidelity not flexibility

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