The size-structure of corals with contrasting life-histories: A multi-scale analysis across environmental conditions

Adjeroud, Mehdi; Mauguit, Quentin; Penin, Lucie

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.10.004

Cited by 14 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The present study compared the size-frequency distributions at the morphology level (six growth forms) and for locally abundant representatives coral species, along a wide depth gradient, from the shallow reef to the mesophotic ecosystem. As shown in previous studies, the size-structure of scleractinian coral populations is often linked to various environmental conditions, such as temperature, hydrodynamic regimes, and light (Vermeij and Bak, 2003;Bauman et al, 2013;Adjeroud et al, 2015;Goodbody-Gringley et al, 2015). Overall, the reefs along the shore of Eilat are characterized by heterogonous SFDs, dominated mostly by a higher number of small colonies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Ecological processes occurring at the population level are strongly related to size and can provide information about recruitment, fecundity, mortality, and population responses to stressful environmental conditions (Hughes and Jackson, 1985;Baird and Marshall, 2002;Neal et al, 2017;Kramer et al, 2019). Furthermore, these processes are directly linked to the species' inherent life-history traits, such as reproductive strategy and maturity, colonization characteristics, growth, and longevity (Darling et al, 2012;Anderson and Pratchett, 2014;Adjeroud et al, 2015). Thus, any change in one of these traits could alter the population structure and impair its resilience to local and/or global climate-driven changes, which could eventually reshape the reef habitat (Darling et al, 2013;Hughes et al, 2018b;Shlesinger and Loya, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may be indicative of a population at risk of decline due to unsuccessful recruitment or impaired reproductive performances (Shlesinger et al, 2018;Shlesinger and Loya, 2019). However, the degree of skewness may vary among coral species and can shed light on their life-history strategy (Adjeroud et al, 2015). Likewise, the skewness may be biased by a variation in colony size within and among species at different depths (Adjeroud et al, 2007;Einbinder et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While it has been demonstrated that mesophotic scleractinian corals (∼30-150 m) thrive under limited light and constitute a major component of coral reefs (Eyal et al, 2019;Pyle and Copus, 2019), the ecological and biological processes driving their distribution and population structure have remained insufficiently studied worldwide, including in the otherwise highly investigated mesophotic reefs of the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba (GoE/A) (Turner et al, 2017). Although SFD is one of the most appropriate methods for studying coral demographics, its use to date has been limited to the shallow reefs and performed mostly at a single depth (Bauman et al, 2013;Anderson and Pratchett, 2014;Adjeroud et al, 2015;Shlesinger and Loya, 2019), or focused on only one genus or growth form along a wide depth gradient (Vermeij and Bak, 2003;Goodbody-Gringley et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coral Morphology Portrays the Spatial Distribution and Population Size-Structure Along a 5–100 m Depth Gradient

et al. 2020

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Population size structure provides information on demographic characteristics, such as growth and decline, enabling post-hoc assessment of spatial differences in susceptibility to disturbance. Nevertheless, very few studies have quantified size data of scleractinian corals along a shallow-mesophotic gradient, partly because of previously inaccessible depths. Here, we report the coral size-frequency distributions at the morphology level (six growth forms) and at the species level for ten representative locally abundant species along a broad depth gradient (5-100 m) in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba (GoE/A). A total of 18,865 colonies belonging to 14 families and 45 genera were recorded and measured over four reef sites. Colonies were found to be 11.2% more abundant at mesophotic (40-100 m; 55.6%) depths compared with shallow (5-30 m; 44.4%). The coral taxa exhibited heterogeneity in their size-structure, with marked differences among depths, morphological growth forms, and species. Branching and corymbose corals were more prevalent in shallow waters, while encrusting and laminar forms comprised the majority of mesophotic corals. Nevertheless, massive morphology was the most abundant growth form across all sites and depths (39%), followed by laminar (26%) and encrusting (20%). Corymbose corals (primarily Acroporidae) revealed constrained size at all depths; with the lack of small-size groups indicating populations at risk of decline. Depth-generalist species belonging to massive and laminar morphologies generally exhibited a larger colony size at the mesophotic depths, but were typified by a higher number of small colonies. Furthermore, we refute the widely and longaccepted assertion that Stylophora pistillata is the most abundant coral in the northern GoE/A, and assert that Leptoseris glabra is the one. Here, we provide a baseline for future monitoring of coral population structures, insights to recent ecological dynamics, retrospective assessment of coral community recovery following disturbances and grounds for conservation assessments and management actions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coral Morphology Portrays the Spatial Distribution and Population Size-Structure Along a 5–100 m Depth Gradient

et al. 2020

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“…back, fringing and patch reefs) fire coral colonies occurred in low densities, where the number of recruits and juvenile was low and colonies grew in a random pattern of distribution. Variability in density among fore reef and lagoonal habitats has been described for numerous other sessile organisms and related to a large number of environmental factors such as water flow, solar irradiance, sedimentation and/or species’ life history traits (e.g., reproductive mode, competitive ability, morphological plasticity; [20,62–65]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population structure of the hydrocoral Millepora platyphylla in habitats experiencing different flow regimes in Moorea, French Polynesia

et al. 2017

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While the fire coral Millepora platyphylla is an important component of Indo-Pacific reefs, where it thrives in a wide range of environments, the ecological and biological processes driving its distribution and population structure are not well understood. Here, we quantified this species’ population structure in five habitats with contrasting hydrodynamic regimes in Moorea, French Polynesia; two in the fore reef: mid and upper slopes, and three in the lagoon: back, fringing and patch reefs. A total of 3651 colonies of fire corals were mapped and measured over 45,000 m2 of surveyed reef. Due to the species’ sensitivity to fragmentation in response to strong water movement, hydrodynamic conditions (e.g. waves, pass and lagoonal circulation) corresponded to marked differences in colony size distributions, morphology and recruitment dynamics among habitats. The size structure varied among reef habitats with higher proportions of larger colonies in calm nearshore reefs (fringing and patch reefs), while populations were dominated by smaller colonies in the exposed fore reefs. The highest densities of fire corals were recorded in fore reef habitats (0.12–0.20 n.m-2) where the proportion of recruits and juveniles was higher at mid slope populations (49.3%) than on the upper slope near where waves break (29.0%). In the latter habitat, most colonies grew as vertical sheets on encrusting bases making them more vulnerable to colony fragmentation, whereas fire corals were encrusting or massive in all other habitats. The lowest densities of M. platyphylla occurred in lagoonal habitats (0.02–0.04 n.m-2) characterized by a combination of low water movement and other physical and biological stressors. This study reports the first evidence of population structure of fire corals in two common reef environments and illustrates the importance of water flow in driving population dynamic processes of these reef-building species.

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Notes on the distribution, ecology and open sea mariculture trials of the Philippine blue sponge, Xestospongia sp. (Porifera)

Lalas

Manzano

Desabelle

et al. 2023

Aquaculture Fish & Fisheries

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The Philippine blue sponge, Xestospongia sp., is a potential source of natural products for pharmaceutical use. However, knowledge on different aspects of its biology and ecology is still lacking, and improvement on biomass production through mariculture is still needed. In this study, we conducted ecological surveys and open sea mariculture trials of the Philippine blue sponge. The ecological surveys conducted were abundance and size-frequency surveys, as well as monitoring of wild blue sponge colonies. Mariculture trials were done by monitoring explant health and survival using different farming methods and consistent observation of various factors (i.e., predation, biofouling, maintenance effort, presence of disease). We also compared growth rates of explants and wild colonies. Colonies were highly abundant, and all size classes were wellrepresented in stations characterised by previous studies to have low water movement and high nutrient levels. These pieces of information were critical in selecting the sites for establishing mariculture setups. We additionally demonstrated the survival and growth of explants using artificial substrates made of polyvinyl chloride pipes.Several factors affecting sponge survival and health included predation, biofouling, habitat, and maintenance effort. We observed a higher growth rate of sponge explants compared with wild colonies. This study provides novel information on the ecology of the Philippine blue sponge and highlights the process of establishing an open sea mariculture setup for biomass production, which can potentially lead to increased production of biomedically important chemicals.

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The size-structure of corals with contrasting life-histories: A multi-scale analysis across environmental conditions

Cited by 14 publications

References 48 publications

Coral Morphology Portrays the Spatial Distribution and Population Size-Structure Along a 5–100 m Depth Gradient

Coral Morphology Portrays the Spatial Distribution and Population Size-Structure Along a 5–100 m Depth Gradient

Population structure of the hydrocoral Millepora platyphylla in habitats experiencing different flow regimes in Moorea, French Polynesia

Notes on the distribution, ecology and open sea mariculture trials of the Philippine blue sponge, Xestospongia sp. (Porifera)

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