Corals live in symbiosis with a variety of microscopic algae that provide most of the energy corals need, and some algae can make corals more resilient to heat stress. In evaluating Montipola capitata or rice corals, one of Hawaii’s major reef formers, researchers found that the symbiont communities of these corals differed greatly at different locations in Kaneohe Bay. .
In this study, recently published in Royal Society Open Science, researchers tagged and collected 600 rice coral colonies in Kaneohe Bay, off the windward side of Oahu, Hawaii. They identified algae symbionts within the colony and collected environmental data such as temperature and sedimentation in each part of the bay.
Scientists know that corals host diverse symbionts, but whether algae species change from one area to another and what drives those changes are uncertain. Unknown.
Cladocopium and Durusdinium are two genera of algae most commonly hosted by Pacific corals. Cladcopium is ubiquitous, but dursdinium is usually found in shallow corals exposed to light or rising sea surface temperatures, or in areas of high temperature fluctuations. Associated with improved resilience to thermal stress.
“The far north and south corals of Kaneohe Bay did not host many stress-tolerant commensals,” said lead author of the study, Mariana B., who was a graduate student at the University of Manoa Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Rocha de Souza said. study time. “This makes sense because there is less light, less warming and less temperature variation in these areas. I was surprised to see that they really responded to other studies’.
Heat stress is a major threat affecting corals worldwide. Ocean temperatures in many tropical regions have increased by nearly 1 degree Celsius over the past 100 years and continue to warm.
“Fine sampling of coral colonies at relatively small spatial gradients (about 10 km) within Kaneohe Bay showed that algal symbiont community structures can accommodate the conditions in which the corals live,” said Rocha de Souza. I’m here. “This sets the groundwork for understanding the role of environmental conditions in shaping how algal communities are distributed spatially and temporally.”
Healthy coral reefs are some of the most biologically diverse and economically valuable ecosystems on the planet. However, corals in Hawaii and around the world are being impacted by climate change, which can lead to coral bleaching and coral death.
“Understanding the symbionts present in Hawaiian corals and the factors that drive symbiont community composition predicts how these corals will respond to future heat stress,” said Rocha de Souza. It helps to
During the 2019 bleaching event at Kaneohe Bay, the research team resampled these corals and is currently analyzing the data. Their next step is to investigate how corals with different symbionts from different parts of the bay responded to bleaching events.
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