Shifts in coral clonality along a gradient of disturbance: insights on reproduction and dispersal of Pocillopora acuta

Torres, Andrew F.; Forsman, Zac H.; Ravago-Gotanco, Rachel

doi:10.1007/s00227-020-03777-9

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…For example, Pocillopora acuta in Kāneʻohe Bay release parthenogenetic larvae with moderate dispersal potential (comparatively lower than broadcast spawning larvae, but higher than fragmentation), achieving very high levels of clonality over the same spatial scale and in the same patch reef environments where we observed M. capitata (Gorospe & Karl, 2013). P. acuta in the Philippines can dominate reefs via asexual reproduction of ameiotic larvae, where clonality rates are highest with less wave energy (Torres, Forsman, & Ravago-Gotanco, 2020), but other studies have found no evidence of clonality regardless of habitat (Miller & Ayre, 2004). Another coral found in Kāneʻohe Bay, Lobactis scutaria (formerly Fungia scutaria) can form clones by budding and is often found in dense localized aggregations presumed to be largely derived from asexual reproduction (Lacks, 2000).…”

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confidence: 55%

Genetic patterns in Montipora capitata across an environmental mosaic in Kāne’ohe Bay

Caruso

Souza

Ruiz‐Jones

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Spatial genetic structure (SGS) is important to a population's ability to adapt to environmental change. For species that reproduce both sexually and asexually, the relative contribution of each reproductive mode has important ecological and evolutionary implications because asexual reproduction can have a strong effect on SGS. Reef building corals reproduce sexually, but many species also propagate asexually under certain conditions. In order to understand SGS and the relative importance of reproductive mode across environmental gradients, we evaluated genetic relatedness in almost 600 colonies of Montipora capitata across 30 environmentally characterized sites in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii using low-depth restriction digest associated sequencing. Clonal colonies were relatively rare overall but influenced SGS. Clones were located significantly closer to one another spatially than average colonies and were more frequent on sites where wave energy was relatively high, suggesting a strong role of mechanical breakage in their formation. Excluding clones, we found no evidence of isolation by distance within sites or across the bay. Several environmental characteristics were significant predictors of the underlying genetic variation (including degree heating weeks, time spent above 30°C, depth, sedimentation rate and wave height); however, they only explained 5% of this genetic variation. Our results show that colony fragmentation contributes to the ecology of M. capitata at local scales and that genetic diversity is maintained despite strong environmental gradients in a highly impacted ecosystem, suggesting potential for broad adaptation or acclimatization in this population.

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confidence: 55%

Genetic patterns in Montipora capitata across an environmental mosaic in Kāne’ohe Bay

Caruso

Souza

Ruiz‐Jones

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Another life-history characteristic common to many marine foundation species (e.g., corals, seagrasses, marsh grasses, some seaweeds) is a mixed reproductive system that includes both clonal and sexual reproduction. The degree of clonality observed in marine foundation species varies both geographically (e.g., Coyer et al, 2004;Baums et al, 2006;Torres et al, 2020) and across environmental gradients spanned by individual populations (e.g., Hughes and Lotterhos, 2014;Olesen et al, 2017;Hays et al, 2021). Both extrinsic and intrinsic factors contribute to realized mating system differences, such that difference in clonal structure within and across sites may reflect differential reproductive effort (genotypes that allocate more energy to sexual reproduction) or differential reproductive success (environments that favor the establishment of particular types of propagules).…”

Section: Life History and Mating Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in a continuously changing environment, partially clonal populations may be less likely to keep pace and persist: when the optimum phenotype was constantly changing, generating novel allele combinations quickly became more important than replicating past winners (Orive et al, 2019). Thus, mixed reproductive systems may be advantageous in spatially heterogeneous environments (Williams, 1975;Eckert et al, 2016;Torres et al, 2020) like those common in coastal and marine systems, especially if allocation of energy to sex is flexible and fitness dependent Otto, 2007, 2009).…”

Section: Life History and Mating Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Adaptation in Marine Foundation Species at Microgeographic Scales

Hays

Hanley

Hughes

et al. 2021

The Biological Bulletin

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Nearshore foundation species in coastal and estuarine systems (e.g., salt marsh grasses, mangroves, seagrasses, corals) drive the ecological functions of ecosystems and entire biomes by creating physical structure that alters local abiotic conditions and influences species interactions and composition. The resilience of foundation species and the ecosystem functions they provide depends on their phenotypic and genetic responses to spatial and temporal shifts in environmental conditions. In this review, we explore what is known about the causes and consequences of adaptive genetic differentiation in marine foundation species over spatial scales shorter than dispersal capabilities (i.e., microgeographic scales). We describe the strength of coupling field and laboratory experiments with population genetic techniques to illuminate patterns of local adaptation, and we illustrate this approach by using several foundation species. Among the major themes that emerge from our review include (1) adaptive differentiation of marine foundation species repeatedly evolves along vertical (i.e., elevation or depth) gradients, and (2) mating system and phenology may facilitate this differentiation. Microgeographic adaptation is an understudied mechanism potentially underpinning the resilience of many sessile marine species, and this evolutionary mechanism likely has particularly important consequences for the ecosystem functions provided by foundation species.

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“…To address this question, we used the emerging model species Pocillopora acuta, a reef-building coral with well characterised ecology, reproduction and microbiome (Torda et al 2013a;Schmidt-Roach et al 2014a, b;Nakajima et al 2018;Damjanovic et al 2020b;Ros et al 2021). Previous studies have revealed that the microbiomes of Pocillopora species are generally stable under changing environmental conditions (Pogoreutz et al 2018;Epstein et al 2019), with species such as P. acuta often hosting site-specific microbiomes (Torres et al 2020), perhaps due to the brooding reproductive strategy of the host (Torda et al 2013a). In this study, we characterised the impacts of a range of bleaching severities on the P. acuta microbiome within two reefs of the Palm Island archipelago on the Central GBR, following the 2016 mass bleaching event.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reef location has a greater impact than coral bleaching severity on the microbiome of Pocillopora acuta

et al. 2021

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Coral reefs are increasingly threatened by heat stress events leading to coral bleaching. In 2016, a mass bleaching event affected large parts of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Whilst bleaching severity and coral mortality are usually monitored throughout major bleaching events, other health indicators, such as changes in microbial partners, are rarely assessed. We examined the impact of the 2016 bleaching event on the composition of the microbial communities in the coral Pocillopora acuta at Havannah Island Pandora reef, separated by 12 km on the inshore central GBR. Corals experienced moderate heat stress (3.6 and 5.3 degree heating weeks), inducing major bleaching (30–60%) at the coral community level. Samples were partitioned according to Symbiodiniaceae densities into three bleaching severity categories (mild, moderate, and severe). Whilst Symbiodiniaceae densities were similar at both reef locations, sequencing of the Symbiodiniaceae ITS2 and prokaryotic 16S rRNA genes revealed that microbial communities were significantly different between reefs, but not according to bleaching severity. Symbiodiniaceae composition was dominated by the genus Cladocopium with low abundances of Durusdinium detected in moderately and severely bleached colonies at both sites, despite site-specific ITS2 profiles. Bacterial communities were dominated by Proteobacteria and were almost entirely lacking the common Pocilloporid associate Endozoicomonas regardless of bleaching severity. Strikingly, only 11.2% of the bacterial Amplicon Sequencing Variants (ASVs) were shared between sites. This reef specificity was driven by 165 ASVs, mainly from the family Rhodobacteraceae. Comparison with previous studies suggests that the moderate heat stress experienced on the central GBR in 2016 caused the near-complete absence of Endozoicomonas. Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria (particularly Rhodobacteraceae) can be vertically transmitted in P. acuta, and larval propagation can be spatially restricted for this brooding species. Our results demonstrate that, unlike bleaching severity, location-specific factors and species-specific life history traits might have been paramount in shaping the P. acuta microbiome.

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Shifts in coral clonality along a gradient of disturbance: insights on reproduction and dispersal of Pocillopora acuta

Cited by 16 publications

References 102 publications

Genetic patterns in Montipora capitata across an environmental mosaic in Kāne’ohe Bay

Genetic patterns in Montipora capitata across an environmental mosaic in Kāne’ohe Bay

Local Adaptation in Marine Foundation Species at Microgeographic Scales

Reef location has a greater impact than coral bleaching severity on the microbiome of Pocillopora acuta

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