White but not bleached: photophysiological evidence from white Montastraea cavernosa reveals potential overestimation of coral bleaching

Cruz, Igor Cristino Silva; Leal, Miguel C.; Mendes, Carlos; Kikuchi, Ruy Kenji Papa de; Rosa, Rui; Soares, Amadeu M.V.M.; Serôdio, João; Calado, Ricardo; Rocha, Rui J. M.

doi:10.1007/s00227-015-2633-9

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 68 publications

(83 reference statements)

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“…In St. Kitts' O. faveolata, the alteration was stagnant, remaining unchanged for the entire study period; therefore, it is unclear if it is pathological. Similar pigmentation has been described in Montastraea cavernosa and affected colonies are believed to be physiologically healthy (Cruz et al 2015). While the origin of the white-grey color is unknown, in Favia spp.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Prevalence and progression of macroscopic lesions in Orbicella annularis and O. faveolata on shallow fringing reefs of St. Kitts

et al. 2020

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The endangered corals Orbicella annularis and O. faveolata are crucial to Caribbean reefs because of their large size and contribution to reef framework. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and progression of macroscopically evident lesions affecting Orbicella spp. in shallow fringing reefs in St. Kitts. Cross-sectional surveys in the spring of 2017 demonstrated 8 predominant lesion patterns affecting 59% of corals (95% CI: 55.8-62.1%), including annular yellow-brown pigmentation, focal brown pigmentation, focal bleaching, diffuse bleaching, annular black surface deposit, focal tissue loss with skeletal erosion, focal grey pigmentation, and growth anomaly. Longitudinal surveys of 47 tagged corals were performed from August 2016-May 2017 to track lesion progression. The 2 most common lesions, annular yellow-brown pigmentation (n = 30), and focal brown pigmentation (n = 21), showed mean (±SD) partial colony mortality growth of 0.26 ± 0.5 and 0.21 ± 0.45 cm2 d-1, respectively. Annular pigmentation progression severity was associated with a marginating band of bleaching (ordinal odds ratio [OOR] = 11.0), and yellow rather than brown color (OOR = 3.8). Bleaching lesions (n = 13), occurring during a time of elevated sea surface temperature, were most severe during October-December 2016, and persisted through April 2017, months after heat stress had subsided. Annular black surface deposits (n = 3) were associated with rapid progression of acute tissue loss, whereas focal tissue loss with skeletal erosion (n = 2) regressed within months, and focal grey pigmentation (n = 2) was quiescent for the length of the study. This study enforces concern for the extent to which Orbicella spp. are declining due to disease.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Prevalence and progression of macroscopic lesions in Orbicella annularis and O. faveolata on shallow fringing reefs of St. Kitts

et al. 2020

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“…[ 30 ]. There might be some degree of overestimation in previous surveys, as natural whitish coloration might have been wrongly ascribed to bleaching [ 31 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Genetic Structure, Abundance, and Health Status of Two Dominant Benthic Species in the Saba Bank National Park, Caribbean Netherlands: Montastraea cavernosa and Xestospongia muta

Bakker

Meesters²,

Bleijswijk

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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Saba Bank, a submerged atoll in the Caribbean Sea with an area of 2,200 km2, has attained international conservation status due to the rich diversity of species that reside on the bank. In order to assess the role of Saba Bank as a potential reservoir of diversity for the surrounding reefs, we examined the population genetic structure, abundance and health status of two prominent benthic species, the coral Montastraea cavernosa and the sponge Xestospongia muta. Sequence data were collected from 34 colonies of M. cavernosa (nDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2; 892 bp) and 68 X. muta sponges (mtDNA I3-M11 partition of COI; 544 bp) on Saba Bank and around Saba Island, and compared with published data across the wider Caribbean. Our data indicate that there is genetic connectivity between populations on Saba Bank and the nearby Saba Island as well as multiple locations in the wider Caribbean, ranging in distance from 100s–1000s km. The genetic diversity of Saba Bank populations of M. cavernosa (π = 0.055) and X. muta (π = 0.0010) was comparable to those in other regions in the western Atlantic. Densities and health status were determined along 11 transects of 50 m2 along the south-eastern rim of Saba Bank. The densities of M. cavernosa (0.27 ind. m-2, 95% CI: 0.12–0.52) were average, while the densities of X. muta (0.09 ind. m-2, 95% CI: 0.02–0.32) were generally higher with respect to other Caribbean locations. No disease or bleaching was present in any of the specimens of the coral M. cavernosa, however, we did observe partial tissue loss (77.9% of samples) as well as overgrowth (48.1%), predominantly by cyanobacteria. In contrast, the majority of observed X. muta (83.5%) showed signs of presumed bleaching. The combined results of apparent gene flow among populations on Saba Bank and surrounding reefs, the high abundance and unique genetic diversity, indicate that Saba Bank could function as an important buffer for the region. Either as a natural source of larvae to replenish genetic diversity or as a storehouse of diversity that can be utilized if needed for restoration practices.

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“…While the color cards are designed to reduce subjectivity, there are also issues regarding natural color variation among cnidarian symbioses. For example, the number of symbiont cells in a given colony increases and decreases seasonally ( Fitt et al, 2001 ), and coral colonies that appear white are not necessarily bleached or compromised ( Cruz et al, 2015 ). Both sources of variation presented challenges in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As noted in the original description of the color card technique, the relationship between color and other metrics is weakest among darker, healthier colonies ( Siebeck et al, 2006 ). This points to a general issue with color data; while it can be good for detecting bleached colonies (but see Cruz et al, 2015 ), it is potentially uninformative for healthy colonies above certain thresholds, which are likely species- or location-specific ( Kemp et al, 2006 ). A large degree of natural color variation makes P. tuberculosa a problematic focal species for bleaching monitoring.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A citizen science approach to monitoring bleaching in the zoantharianPalythoa tuberculosa

Parkinson

Yang

Kawamura

et al. 2016

PeerJ

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Coral reef bleaching events are expected to become more frequent and severe in the near future as climate changes. The zoantharian Palythoa tuberculosa bleaches earlier than many scleractinian corals and may serve as an indicator species. Basic monitoring of such species could help to detect and even anticipate bleaching events, especially in areas where more sophisticated approaches that rely on buoy or satellite measurements of sea surface temperature are unavailable or too coarse. One simple and inexpensive monitoring method involves training volunteers to record observations of host color as a proxy for symbiosis quality. Here, we trained university students to take the ‘color fingerprint’ of a reef by assessing the color of multiple randomly selected colonies of P. tuberculosa at one time point in Okinawa Island, Japan. We tested the reliability of the students’ color scores and whether they matched expectations based on previous monthly monitoring of tagged colonies at the same locations. We also measured three traditional metrics of symbiosis quality for comparison: symbiont morphological condition, cell density, and chlorophyll a content. We found that P. tuberculosa color score, although highly correlated among observers, provided little predictive power for the other variables. This was likely due to inherent variation in colony color among generally healthy zoantharians in midwinter, as well as low sample size and brief training owing to the course structure. Despite certain limitations of P. tuberculosa as a focal organism, the citizen science approach to color monitoring has promise, and we outline steps that could improve similar efforts in the future.

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White but not bleached: photophysiological evidence from white Montastraea cavernosa reveals potential overestimation of coral bleaching

Cited by 7 publications

References 68 publications

Prevalence and progression of macroscopic lesions in Orbicella annularis and O. faveolata on shallow fringing reefs of St. Kitts

Prevalence and progression of macroscopic lesions in Orbicella annularis and O. faveolata on shallow fringing reefs of St. Kitts

Population Genetic Structure, Abundance, and Health Status of Two Dominant Benthic Species in the Saba Bank National Park, Caribbean Netherlands: Montastraea cavernosa and Xestospongia muta

A citizen science approach to monitoring bleaching in the zoantharianPalythoa tuberculosa

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