Consequences of Ecological, Evolutionary and Biogeochemical Uncertainty for Coral Reef Responses to Climatic Stress

Mumby, Peter J.; Woesik, Robert van

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.029

Cited by 60 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 113 publications

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“…One way such effects could appear is through a small-scale modification of chemical conditions in the seawater between the colonies (see Anthony et al 2013, Mumby & van Woesik 2014. Collectively, the corals in competitive pairings are likely to release more photosynthetically fixed carbon per volume of seawater (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of pCO2 on spatial competition between the corals Montipora aequituberculata and Porites lutea

Evensen¹,

Edmunds²,

Sakai³

2015

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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We tested the hypothesis that ocean acidification (OA) affects spatial competition among scleractinian corals. Competitive ability was evaluated indirectly by linear extension of Porites lutea and Montipora aequituberculata placed in intraspecific, interspecific, and control pairings (paired with dead coral skeleton) and exposed to ambient (~400 µatm) and elevated (~1000 µatm) pCO 2 in experiments conducted in Moorea, French Polynesia, and Okinawa, Japan. High pCO 2 had no effect on linear extension of M. aequituberculata in Moorea, but in Okinawa, it reduced linear extension 37%; high pCO 2 had no significant effect on linear extension of P. lutea in Okinawa. Much of the negative effect of high pCO 2 on linear extension for M. aequituberculata in Okinawa was due to reduced extension in control pairings, with corals engaged in intra-and interspecific competition unaffected by OA. Linear extension of M. aequituberculata and P. lutea in interspecific pairings decreased relative to control pairings at ambient pCO 2 by 39 and 71%, respectively, indicating a strong effect of competition on extension rates. These differences however disappeared at elevated pCO 2 when the linear extension of controls was depressed. Together, our results show that OA can negatively affect the linear extension of corals not engaged in competition, as shown in the control pairings, and suggest that OA does not directly affect the ability of corals to compete with one another for space.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of pCO2 on spatial competition between the corals Montipora aequituberculata and Porites lutea

Evensen¹,

Edmunds²,

Sakai³

2015

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…calcification) can occur at less of an energetic cost. A key question is therefore how species will respond to stress according to different exposure timeframes (Mumby and Van Woesik, 2014). To better resolve how environmental history influences the survival of extreme and marginal corals, continuous, multi-physicochemical data sets are required that show both the mean and range of environmental conditions.…”

Section: Discussion What Are the Extreme Abiotic Scenarios Extant Cormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The interaction between taxa will be important in shaping the realized niche of corals into the future as environmental conditions change. As such, caution should be taken in making simple projections on future reef form and function when only a limited number of species are considered (Mumby and Van Woesik, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ability of seagrasses to modify the local environment may result in non-genetic ecological inheritance (Bonduriansky and Day, 2009), influencing the evolutionary selection pressure on themselves and other local taxa (Mumby and Van Woesik, 2014). Seagrass meadows have not typically been considered important coral habitats due to a lack of solid substrate (Jackson, 1986;Manzello et al, 2012).…”

Section: Highly Variable Ph/co 2 Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

et al. 2018

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Global climate change and localized anthropogenic stressors are driving rapid declines in coral reef health. In vitro experiments have been fundamental in providing insight into how reef organisms will potentially respond to future climates. However, such experiments are inevitably limited in their ability to reproduce the complex interactions that govern reef systems. Studies examining coral communities that already persist under naturally-occurring extreme and marginal physicochemical conditions have therefore become increasingly popular to advance ecosystem scale predictions of future reef form and function, although no single site provides a perfect analog to future reefs. Here we review the current state of knowledge that exists on the distribution of corals in marginal and extreme environments, and geographic sites at the latitudinal extremes of reef growth, as well as a variety of shallow reef systems and reef-neighboring environments (including upwelling and CO 2 vent sites). We also conduct a synthesis of the abiotic data that have been collected at these systems, to provide the first collective assessment on the range of extreme conditions under which corals currently persist. We use the review and data synthesis to increase our understanding of the biological and ecological mechanisms that facilitate survival and success under sub-optimal physicochemical conditions. This comprehensive assessment can begin to: (i) highlight the extent of extreme abiotic scenarios under which corals can persist, (ii) explore whether there are commonalities in coral taxa able to persist in such extremes, (iii) provide evidence for key mechanisms required to support survival and/or persistence under sub-optimal environmental conditions, and (iv) evaluate the potential of current sub-optimal coral environments to act as potential refugia under changing environmental conditions. Such a collective approach is critical to better understand the future survival of corals in our changing environment. We finally outline priority areas for future research on extreme and marginal coral environments, and discuss the additional management options they may provide for corals through refuge or by providing genetic stocks of stress tolerant corals to support proactive management strategies.

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“…To date, researchers have been constrained to extrapolating short term individual or community level responses observed in aquaria or mesocosm experiments to larger functional (e.g., ecosystems), spatial (e.g., regions or world), and/or temporal (e.g., years) scales. This approach often assumes that the whole response of coral reefs is equal to the sum of their individual components and frequently lacks consideration for the natural complexity of coral reefs, where organisms do not exist in isolation, but rather interact with other organisms and their physical environment (Mumby and van Woesik, 2014;Andersson et al, 2015;Edmunds et al, 2016). Being able to integrate effects of environmental perturbations on metabolic rates across functional scales, from organisms to reefs, however, is critical to better understand the fate of coral reefs in a future warmer and less alkaline ocean.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Net Community Metabolism and Seawater Carbonate Chemistry Scale Non-intuitively with Coral Cover

et al. 2017

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Coral cover and reef health have been declining globally as reefs face local and global stressors including higher temperature and ocean acidification (OA). Ocean warming and acidification will alter rates of benthic reef metabolism (i.e., primary production, respiration, calcification, and CaCO 3 dissolution), but our understanding of community and ecosystem level responses is limited in terms of functional, spatial, and temporal scales. Furthermore, dramatic changes in coral cover and benthic metabolism could alter seawater carbonate chemistry on coral reefs, locally alleviating or exacerbating OA. This study examines how benthic metabolic rates scale with changing coral cover (0-100%), and the subsequent influence of these coral communities on seawater carbonate chemistry based on mesocosm experiments in Bermuda and Hawaii. In Bermuda, no significant differences in benthic metabolism or seawater carbonate chemistry were observed for low (40%) and high (80%) coral cover due to large variability within treatments. In contrast, significant differences were detected between treatments in Hawaii with benthic metabolic rates increasing with increasing coral cover. Observed increases in daily net community calcification and nighttime net respiration scaled proportionally with coral cover. This was not true for daytime net community organic carbon production rates, which increased the most between 0 and 20% coral cover and then less so between 20 and 100%. Consequently, diel variability in seawater carbonate chemistry increased with increasing coral cover, but absolute values of pH, a , and pCO 2 were not significantly different during daytime. To place the results of the mesocosm experiments into a broader context, in situ seawater carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) at three reef sites in Bermuda and Hawaii were also evaluated; reefs with higher coral cover experienced a greater range of diel CO 2 levels, complementing the mesocosm results. The results from this study highlight the need to consider the natural complexity of reefs and additional biological and physical factors that influence seawater carbonate chemistry on larger spatial and longer temporal scales. Coordinated efforts combining various research approaches (e.g., experiments, field studies, and models) will be required to better understand how benthic metabolism integrates across functional, spatial, and temporal scales, and for making predictions on how coral reefs will respond to climate change.

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Consequences of Ecological, Evolutionary and Biogeochemical Uncertainty for Coral Reef Responses to Climatic Stress

Cited by 60 publications

References 113 publications

Effects of pCO2 on spatial competition between the corals Montipora aequituberculata and Porites lutea

Effects of pCO2 on spatial competition between the corals Montipora aequituberculata and Porites lutea

The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

Net Community Metabolism and Seawater Carbonate Chemistry Scale Non-intuitively with Coral Cover

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