Lipid based adaptive traits of a subtropical and temperate coral promoting survival in high-latitude reefs
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2024
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Sydney Harbour is situated in a major biogeographic transition zone on Australia’s east coast. This area, characterised by an overlap of temperate and subtropical species, has been proposed as a haven for subtropical species at their poleward range limits, such as coral, against the warming oceans occurring due to climate change. However, Sydney Harbour is not immune to ocean warming, and subtropical residents must tolerate dynamic conditions including periods of low temperature, changes in nutrient concentrations and high seasonal variation associated with temperate environments. Subtropical corals, like Pocillopora aliciae, are increasing in abundance in higher-latitude reefs, but warming oceans may push temperate species, like Plesiastrea versipora, closer to their upper thermal limits in this region. Determining the thermotolerance of subtropical and temperate coral species in biogeographic transition zones will increase understandings on coral range dynamics and help predict species composition in high-latitude reefs under climate change. Additionally, previous studies have observed that organisms can adapt by remodelling their lipid composition and abundances as a response to altered environmental conditions, allowing longer-term survival under stress. Lipid remodelling has previously been observed in corals and Symbiodiniaceae, including alterations to specific lipids, but a wholistic understanding of lipid remodelling across a wide temperature regime, and under altered nutrient concentrations had not yet been established. The aim of my thesis was thus to determine lipid based adaptive traits that govern survivability of two coral species with different distributions living at the extent of their thermal optima in Sydney. To achieve this, I explored lipid remodelling as a potential adaptation mechanism in three Symbiodiniaceae genera under varying temperature and nutrient conditions. Additionally, I tested lipid remodelling as a response to short-term temperature extremes (11 ºC to 32 ºC) in P. aliciae and P. versipora coral host and algal symbiont. Collectively, my findings reveal traits that enable P. aliciae and P. versipora to thrive at their thermal limits, offering new insights into lipid remodelling within coral and Symbiodiniaceae as an adaptive trait that may support coral survival in high-latitude reefs under a changing climate.
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