Variability in thermal stress thresholds of corals across depths

Frontiers in Marine Science

Marine Science

Parviz Tavakoli-Kolour¹  Takashi Nakamura²  Saki Harii³  Frederic Sinniger³  Masaya Morita³ 

[1] Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan;Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan;Sesoko Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan;Sesoko Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan;

关键词: mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs);    stress response;    resilience;    threshold;    temperatures;    heat stress;    bleaching;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmars.2023.1210662

 received in 2023-04-23, accepted in 2023-08-21,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Mesophotic habitats are potential refugia for corals in the context of climate change. The seawater temperature in a mesophotic habitat is generally lower than in a shallow habitat. However, the susceptibility and threshold temperatures of mesophotic corals are not well understood. We compared 11 mesophotic and shallow species to understand their thermal stress thresholds using physiological parameters. Coral fragments were exposed to two thermal stress treatments, with temperatures set at ~30°C and ~31°C, and a low-temperature treatment set at ~28°C as the “no stress” condition for 14 days. We found that the threshold temperature of coral species at mesophotic depths is slightly lower or equal to that of corals in shallow depths. The results suggest that species in the mesophotic coral ecosystems can survive low (<4 degree heating weeks) thermal stress. However, mass bleaching and high mortality can be expected when temperatures rise above 4 degree heating weeks.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Tavakoli-Kolour, Sinniger, Morita, Nakamura and Harii