Jones, Alison, Berkelmans, Ray, Van Oppen, M.J.H., Mieog, J.C. and Sinclair, Billy (2008) A community change in the algal endosymbionts of a scleractinian coral following a natural bleaching event: field evidence of acclimatization. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B: Biological Sciences, 275 (1641). pp. 1359-1365. Full text not available from this repository.
Abstract
The symbiosis between reef-building corals and their algal endosymbionts (zooxanthellae of the genus Symbiodinium) is highly sensitive to temperature stress, which makes coral reefs vulnerable to climate change. Thermal tolerance in corals is known to be substantially linked to the type of zooxanthellae they harbour and, when multiple types are present, the relative abundance of types can be experimentally manipulated to increase the thermal limits of individual corals. Although the potential exists for this to translate into substantial thermal acclimatization of coral communities, to date there is no evidence to show that this takes place under natural conditions. In this study, we show field evidence of a dramatic change in the symbiont community of Acropora millepora, a common and widespread Indo-Pacific hard coral species, after a natural bleaching event in early 2006 in the Keppel Islands (Great Barrier Reef). Before bleaching, 93.5% (n=460) of the randomly sampled and tagged colonies predominantly harboured the thermally sensitive Symbiodinium type C2, while the remainder harboured a tolerant Symbiodinium type belonging to clade D or mixtures of C2 and D. After bleaching, 71% of the surviving tagged colonies that were initially C2 predominant changed to D or C1 predominance. Colonies that were originally C2 predominant suffered high mortality (37%) compared with D-predominant colonies (8%). We estimate that just over 18% of the original A. millepora population survived unchanged leaving 29% of the population C2 and 71% D or C1 predominant six months after the bleaching event. This change in the symbiont community structure, while it persists, is likely to have substantially increased the thermal tolerance of this coral population. Understanding the processes that underpin the temporal changes in symbiont communities is key to assessing the acclimatization potential of reef corals.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Journal / Publication Title: | Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B: Biological Sciences |
| Publisher: | Royal Society Publishing |
| ISSN: | online: 1359-1365 |
| Related URL(s): | |
| Departments: | Academic Departments > Science, Natural Resources & Outdoor Studies (SNROS) > Forestry and Conservation |
| Depositing User: | Insight Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Jan 2012 15:21 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Jan 2024 20:45 |
| URI: | https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/1083 |
Share
Share
