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Elevated seawater temperature causes a microbial shift on crustose coralline algae with implications for the recruitment of coral larvae.

ABSTRACT: Crustose coralline algae (CCA) are key reef-building primary producers that are known to induce the metamorphosis and recruitment of many species of coral larvae. Reef biofilms (particularly microorganisms associated with CCA) are also important as settlement cues for a variety of marine invertebrates, including corals. If rising sea surface temperatures (SSTs) affect CCA and/or their associated biofilms, this may in turn affect recruitment on coral reefs. Herein, we report that the CCA Neogoniolithon fosliei, and its associated microbial communities do not tolerate SSTs of 32?°C, only 2-4?°C above the mean maximum annual SST. After 7 days at 32?°C, the CCA exhibited clear signs of stress, including bleaching, a reduction in maximum quantum yield (F(v)/F(m)) and a large shift in microbial community structure. This shift at 32?°C involved an increase in Bacteroidetes and a reduction in Alphaproteobacteria, including the loss of the primary strain (with high-sequence similarity to a described coral symbiont). A recovery in F(v)/F(m) was observed in CCA exposed to 31?°C following 7 days of recovery (at 27?°C); however, CCA exposed to 32?°C did not recover during this time as evidenced by the rapid growth of endolithic green algae. A 50% reduction in the ability of N. fosliei to induce coral larval metamorphosis at 32?°C accompanied the changes in microbiology, pigmentation and photophysiology of the CCA. This is the first experimental evidence to demonstrate how thermal stress influences microbial associations on CCA with subsequent downstream impacts on coral recruitment, which is critical for reef regeneration and recovery from climate-related mortality events.

SUBMITTER: Webster NS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3105747 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Elevated seawater temperature causes a microbial shift on crustose coralline algae with implications for the recruitment of coral larvae.

Webster Nicole S NS Soo Rochelle R Cobb Rose R Negri Andrew P AP

The ISME journal 20101014 4

Crustose coralline algae (CCA) are key reef-building primary producers that are known to induce the metamorphosis and recruitment of many species of coral larvae. Reef biofilms (particularly microorganisms associated with CCA) are also important as settlement cues for a variety of marine invertebrates, including corals. If rising sea surface temperatures (SSTs) affect CCA and/or their associated biofilms, this may in turn affect recruitment on coral reefs. Herein, we report that the CCA Neogonio ...[more]

PMID: 20944682

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Project description:The Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) is one of the most isolated and least studied regions in the world. This particularly applies to the coast of El Salvador, where the only reef between Guatemala and Nicaragua, called Los Cóbanos reef, is located. There is very little published information about the reef's biodiversity, and to our knowledge, no research on its ecology and responses to anthropogenic impacts, such as overfishing, has been conducted. The present study, therefore, described the benthic community of Los Cóbanos reef, El Salvador, using the Line-Point-Intercept-Transect method and investigated changes in the benthic community following the exclusion of piscine macroherbivores over a period of seven weeks. Results showed high benthic algae cover (up to 98%), dominated by turf and green algae, and low coral cover (0-4%). Porites lobata was the only hermatypic coral species found during the surveys. Surprisingly, crustose coralline algae (CCA) showed a remarkable total cover increase by 58%, while turf algae cover decreased by 82%, in experimental plots after seven weeks of piscine macroherbivore exclusion. These findings apparently contradict the results of most previous similar studies. While it was not possible to ascertain the exact mechanisms leading to these drastic community changes, the most likely explanation is grazing on turf by small grazing macroherbivores that had access to the cages during the experiment and clearing of CCA initially covered by epiphytes and sediments. A higher CCA cover would promote the succesful settlement by corals and prevent further erosion of the reef framework. Therefore it is crucial to better understand algal dynamics, herbivory, and implications of overfishing at Los Cóbanos to avoid further reef deterioration. This could be achieved through video surveys of the fish community, night-time observations of the macroinvertebrate community, exclusion experiments that also keep out herbivorous macroinvertebrates, and/or experimental assessments of turf algae/CCA interactions.

Dataset Information

Elevated seawater temperature causes a microbial shift on crustose coralline algae with implications for the recruitment of coral larvae.

Publications

Elevated seawater temperature causes a microbial shift on crustose coralline algae with implications for the recruitment of coral larvae.

Similar Datasets

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