Larval connectivity across temperature gradients and its potential effect on heat tolerance in coral populations

Kleypas, Joan A.; Thompson, D. M.; Castruccio, Frédéric; Curchitser, Enrique N.; Pinsky, Malin L.; Watson, James R.

doi:10.1111/gcb.13347

Cited by 56 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(93 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We contend that currently the best approach to improve reef resilience via direct, restoration‐focused intervention is to harness and foster the adaptive genetic diversity that is already present in coral populations while efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions continue (Kleypas et al. , Bay et al. , Matz et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We contend that currently the best approach to improve reef resilience via direct, restoration-focused intervention is to harness and foster the adaptive genetic diversity that is already present in coral populations while efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions continue (Kleypas et al 2016, Bay et al 2017. Every coral species exists across a variety of environmental gradients, some of which occur over small spatial scales (e.g., fore, back, and patch reefs) while others occur over very large ones (e.g., across ocean-basins).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Considerations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic

Baums

Baker

Davies

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

193

198

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Active coral restoration typically involves two interventions: crossing gametes to facilitate sexual larval propagation; and fragmenting, growing, and outplanting adult colonies to enhance asexual propagation. From an evolutionary perspective, the goal of these efforts is to establish self-sustaining, sexually reproducing coral populations that have sufficient genetic and phenotypic variation to adapt to changing environments. Here, we provide concrete guidelines to help restoration practitioners meet this goal for most Caribbean species of interest. To enable the persistence of coral populations exposed to severe selection pressure from many stressors, a mixed provenance strategy is suggested: genetically unique colonies (genets) should be sourced both locally as well as from more distant, environmentally distinct sites. Sourcing three to four genets per reef along environmental gradients should be sufficient to capture a majority of intraspecies genetic diversity. It is best for practitioners to propagate genets with one or more phenotypic traits that are predicted to be valuable in the future, such as low partial mortality, high wound healing rate, high skeletal growth rate, bleaching resilience, infectious disease resilience, and high sexual reproductive output. Some effort should also be reserved for underperforming genets because colonies that grow poorly in nurseries sometimes thrive once returned to the reef and may harbor genetic variants with as yet unrecognized value. Outplants should be clustered in groups of four to six genets to enable successful fertilization upon maturation. Current evidence indicates that translocating genets among distant reefs is unlikely to be problematic from a population genetic perspective but will likely provide substantial adaptive benefits. Similarly, inbreeding depression is not a concern given that current practices only raise first-generation offspring. Thus, proceeding with the proposed management strategies even in the absence of a detailed population genetic analysis of the focal species at sites targeted for restoration is the best course of action. These basic guidelines should help maximize the adaptive potential of reef-building corals facing a rapidly changing environment.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic

Baums

Baker

Davies

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

193

198

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Yet coral reefs occur in a variety of different temperature regimes, with corals in one area able to withstand the same warm temperatures that cause bleaching in their conspecifics from other areas. As the climate warms, natural variation in thermal tolerance will be a key driver in the capacity of corals to cope with rapid environmental change Dixon et al, 2015;Kleypas et al, 2016); however, there is still much to learn about the underlying mechanisms driving thermal tolerance in reef-building corals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of Thermal Tolerance in Reef-Building Corals across a Fine-Grained Environmental Mosaic: Lessons from Ofu, American Samoa

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental heterogeneity gives rise to phenotypic variation through a combination of phenotypic plasticity and fixed genetic effects. For reef-building corals, understanding the relative roles of acclimatization and adaptation in generating thermal tolerance is fundamental to predicting the response of coral populations to future climate change. The temperature mosaic in the lagoon of Ofu, American Samoa, represents an ideal natural laboratory for studying thermal tolerance in corals. Two adjacent back-reef pools approximately 500 m apart have different temperature profiles: the highly variable (HV) pool experiences temperatures that range from 24.5 to 35 • C, whereas the moderately variable (MV) pool ranges from 25 to 32 • C. Standardized heat stress tests have shown that corals native to the HV pool have consistently higher levels of bleaching resistance than those in the MV pool. In this review, we summarize research into the mechanisms underlying this variation in bleaching resistance, focusing on the important reef-building genus Acropora. Both acclimatization and adaptation occur strongly and define thermal tolerance differences between pools. Most individual corals shift physiology to become more heat resistant when moved into the warmer pool. Lab based tests show that these shifts begin in as little as a week and are equally sparked by exposure to periodic high temperatures as constant high temperatures. Transcriptome-wide data on gene expression show that a wide variety of genes are co-regulated in expression modules that change expression after experimental heat stress, after acclimatization, and even after short term environmental fluctuations. Population genetic scans show associations between a corals' thermal environment and its alleles at 100s to 1000s of nuclear genes and no single gene confers strong environmental effects within or between species. Symbionts also tend to differ between pools and species, and the thermal tolerance of a coral is a reflection of individual host genotype and specific symbiont types. We conclude the review by placing this work in the context of parallel research going on in other species, reefs, and ecosystems around the world and into the broader framework of reef coral resilience in the face of climate change.

show abstract

“…Although coral-larval dispersal models are becoming predictive (Kleypas et al, 2016;Wood et al, 2016), species-distribution models seldom account for genetic connectivity, because genetic data are sparse for corals, especially across large ocean basins. A rare exception is a recent gene-flow study by Baums, Boulay, Polato, and Hellberg (2012), of the ubiquitous coral P. lobata in the Indo-Pacific region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine species distribution modelling and the effects of genetic isolation under climate change

Cacciapaglia

Woesik

2017

Journal of Biogeography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim: Coral reefs are experiencing both an increasing frequency and intensity of anomalously warm ocean temperatures because of climate change. Studies show that the majority of coral populations will likely decline as temperatures continue to increase, although some previous species-distribution models predict that ubiquitous species, such as the primary reef-building coral species Porites lobata, will increase their distribution under projected climate change. These predictive models, however, assume that all individuals of a population are able to tolerate the entire range of environmental conditions within the species' geographic range. The effects of genetic isolation and local adaptation are not considered in species-distribution models that assume genetically contiguous populations. We aim to determine the effects of genetic isolation and local adaptation in species-distribution modelling of the ubiquitous species P. lobata under three climate change scenarios by comparing contiguous and isolated subpopulations.Location: Indian and Pacific Oceans. Methods:We ran a novel species-distribution model for P. lobata, segregated as five geographically isolated regions across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and examined the species response to three climate-change scenarios (i.e., A2, A1B and B1, most recently considered as Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5, 6.0, and 4.5 Wm À2 ) by the year 2100.Results: In contrast with previous homogeneous species-distribution models that predict a global expansion of P. lobata, (~5 AE 1%), we predict major losses of suitable habitat for P. lobata in four of the five regions examined, particularly in the central Pacific Ocean (>99% AE <0.1% for all climate scenarios). Indeed, when geographic and genetic isolation were considered, our predictions suggested that P.lobata would lose between 50-52 AE 4% of its habitat, depending on the climatechange scenario, mainly in the Pacific Ocean.Main conclusions: Genetic isolation will likely play a major role in the persistence of coral species under climate change, and small isolated populations may be more vulnerable to climate change than populations in large, highly connected regions.

show abstract

Larval connectivity across temperature gradients and its potential effect on heat tolerance in coral populations

Cited by 56 publications

References 56 publications

Considerations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic

Considerations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic

Mechanisms of Thermal Tolerance in Reef-Building Corals across a Fine-Grained Environmental Mosaic: Lessons from Ofu, American Samoa

Marine species distribution modelling and the effects of genetic isolation under climate change

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About