Reef-building corals thrive within hot-acidified and deoxygenated waters

Camp, EF; Nitschke, MR; Rodolfo-Metalpa, R; Houlbreque, F; Gardner, SG; Smith, DJ; Zampighi, M; Suggett, DJ

Reef-building corals thrive within hot-acidified and deoxygenated waters

Camp, EF

Nitschke, MR

Rodolfo-Metalpa, R Houlbreque, F Gardner, SG

Smith, DJ Zampighi, M Suggett, DJ

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Scientific Reports, 2017, 7 (1)
Issue Date:: 2017-12-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Camp, EF https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1962-1336	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Nitschke, MR https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7573-5920	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rodolfo-Metalpa, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Houlbreque, F	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gardner, SG https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8359-1835	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Smith, DJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Zampighi, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Suggett, DJ https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5326-2520	en_US
dc.date.available	2017-04-27	en_US
dc.date.issued	2017-12-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Scientific Reports, 2017, 7 (1)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/106758
dc.description.abstract	© The Author(s) 2017. Coral reefs are deteriorating under climate change as oceans continue to warm and acidify and thermal anomalies grow in frequency and intensity. In vitro experiments are widely used to forecast reef-building coral health into the future, but often fail to account for the complex ecological and biogeochemical interactions that govern reefs. Consequently, observations from coral communities under naturally occurring extremes have become central for improved predictions of future reef form and function. Here, we present a semi-enclosed lagoon system in New Caledonia characterised by diel fluctuations of hot-deoxygenated water coupled with tidally driven persistently low pH, relative to neighbouring reefs. Coral communities within the lagoon system exhibited high richness (number of species = 20) and cover (24-35% across lagoon sites). Calcification rates for key species (Acropora formosa, Acropora pulchra, Coelastrea aspera and Porites lutea) for populations from the lagoon were equivalent to, or reduced by ca. 30-40% compared to those from the reef. Enhanced coral respiration, alongside high particulate organic content of the lagoon sediment, suggests acclimatisation to this trio of temperature, oxygen and pH changes through heterotrophic plasticity. This semi-enclosed lagoon therefore provides a novel system to understand coral acclimatisation to complex climatic scenarios and may serve as a reservoir of coral populations already resistant to extreme environmental conditions.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT130100202
dc.relation.ispartof	Scientific Reports	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1038/s41598-017-02383-y	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Animals	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Anthozoa	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Acids	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Oxygen	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Ecosystem	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Temperature	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Seasons	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Seawater	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adaptation, Physiological	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Hydrogen-Ion Concentration	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Geography	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	New Caledonia	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Climate Change	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Coral Reefs	en_US
dc.title	Reef-building corals thrive within hot-acidified and deoxygenated waters	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	7	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - C3 - Climate Change Cluster
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	7	en_US

Abstract:

© The Author(s) 2017. Coral reefs are deteriorating under climate change as oceans continue to warm and acidify and thermal anomalies grow in frequency and intensity. In vitro experiments are widely used to forecast reef-building coral health into the future, but often fail to account for the complex ecological and biogeochemical interactions that govern reefs. Consequently, observations from coral communities under naturally occurring extremes have become central for improved predictions of future reef form and function. Here, we present a semi-enclosed lagoon system in New Caledonia characterised by diel fluctuations of hot-deoxygenated water coupled with tidally driven persistently low pH, relative to neighbouring reefs. Coral communities within the lagoon system exhibited high richness (number of species = 20) and cover (24-35% across lagoon sites). Calcification rates for key species (Acropora formosa, Acropora pulchra, Coelastrea aspera and Porites lutea) for populations from the lagoon were equivalent to, or reduced by ca. 30-40% compared to those from the reef. Enhanced coral respiration, alongside high particulate organic content of the lagoon sediment, suggests acclimatisation to this trio of temperature, oxygen and pH changes through heterotrophic plasticity. This semi-enclosed lagoon therefore provides a novel system to understand coral acclimatisation to complex climatic scenarios and may serve as a reservoir of coral populations already resistant to extreme environmental conditions.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/106758