Differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance

Abstract Ocean deoxygenation threatens the persistence of coastal ecosystems worldwide. Despite an increasing awareness that coastal deoxygenation impacts tropical habitats, there remains a paucity of empirical data on the effects of oxygen limitation on reef-building corals. To address this knowled...

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Autores principales:	Maggie D. Johnson, Sara D. Swaminathan, Emily N. Nixon, Valerie J. Paul, Andrew H. Altieri
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/5e08f0a56f174a2a9a5979a4412a6e27
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:5e08f0a56f174a2a9a5979a4412a6e272021-12-05T12:13:31ZDifferential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance10.1038/s41598-021-01078-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/5e08f0a56f174a2a9a5979a4412a6e272021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01078-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Ocean deoxygenation threatens the persistence of coastal ecosystems worldwide. Despite an increasing awareness that coastal deoxygenation impacts tropical habitats, there remains a paucity of empirical data on the effects of oxygen limitation on reef-building corals. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted laboratory experiments with ecologically important Caribbean corals Acropora cervicornis and Orbicella faveolata. We tested the effects of continuous exposure to conditions ranging from extreme deoxygenation to normoxia (~ 1.0 to 6.25 mg L−1 dissolved oxygen) on coral bleaching, photophysiology, and survival. Coral species demonstrated markedly different temporal resistance to deoxygenation, and within a species there were minimal genotype-specific treatment effects. Acropora cervicornis suffered tissue loss and mortality within a day of exposure to severe deoxygenation (~ 1.0 mg L−1), whereas O. faveolata remained unaffected after 11 days of continuous exposure to 1.0 mg L−1. Intermediate deoxygenation treatments (~ 2.25 mg L−1, ~ 4.25 mg L−1) elicited minimal responses in both species, indicating a low oxygen threshold for coral mortality and coral resilience to oxygen concentrations that are lethal for other marine organisms. These findings demonstrate the potential for variability in species-specific hypoxia thresholds, which has important implications for our ability to predict how coral reefs may be affected as ocean deoxygenation intensifies. With deoxygenation emerging as a critical threat to tropical habitats, there is an urgent need to incorporate deoxygenation into coral reef research, management, and action plans to facilitate better stewardship of coral reefs in an era of rapid environmental change.Maggie D. JohnsonSara D. SwaminathanEmily N. NixonValerie J. PaulAndrew H. AltieriNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Maggie D. Johnson Sara D. Swaminathan Emily N. Nixon Valerie J. Paul Andrew H. Altieri Differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance
description	Abstract Ocean deoxygenation threatens the persistence of coastal ecosystems worldwide. Despite an increasing awareness that coastal deoxygenation impacts tropical habitats, there remains a paucity of empirical data on the effects of oxygen limitation on reef-building corals. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted laboratory experiments with ecologically important Caribbean corals Acropora cervicornis and Orbicella faveolata. We tested the effects of continuous exposure to conditions ranging from extreme deoxygenation to normoxia (~ 1.0 to 6.25 mg L−1 dissolved oxygen) on coral bleaching, photophysiology, and survival. Coral species demonstrated markedly different temporal resistance to deoxygenation, and within a species there were minimal genotype-specific treatment effects. Acropora cervicornis suffered tissue loss and mortality within a day of exposure to severe deoxygenation (~ 1.0 mg L−1), whereas O. faveolata remained unaffected after 11 days of continuous exposure to 1.0 mg L−1. Intermediate deoxygenation treatments (~ 2.25 mg L−1, ~ 4.25 mg L−1) elicited minimal responses in both species, indicating a low oxygen threshold for coral mortality and coral resilience to oxygen concentrations that are lethal for other marine organisms. These findings demonstrate the potential for variability in species-specific hypoxia thresholds, which has important implications for our ability to predict how coral reefs may be affected as ocean deoxygenation intensifies. With deoxygenation emerging as a critical threat to tropical habitats, there is an urgent need to incorporate deoxygenation into coral reef research, management, and action plans to facilitate better stewardship of coral reefs in an era of rapid environmental change.
format	article
author	Maggie D. Johnson Sara D. Swaminathan Emily N. Nixon Valerie J. Paul Andrew H. Altieri
author_facet	Maggie D. Johnson Sara D. Swaminathan Emily N. Nixon Valerie J. Paul Andrew H. Altieri
author_sort	Maggie D. Johnson
title	Differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance
title_short	Differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance
title_full	Differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance
title_fullStr	Differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance
title_full_unstemmed	Differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance
title_sort	differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/5e08f0a56f174a2a9a5979a4412a6e27
work_keys_str_mv	AT maggiedjohnson differentialsusceptibilityofreefbuildingcoralstodeoxygenationrevealsremarkablehypoxiatolerance AT saradswaminathan differentialsusceptibilityofreefbuildingcoralstodeoxygenationrevealsremarkablehypoxiatolerance AT emilynnixon differentialsusceptibilityofreefbuildingcoralstodeoxygenationrevealsremarkablehypoxiatolerance AT valeriejpaul differentialsusceptibilityofreefbuildingcoralstodeoxygenationrevealsremarkablehypoxiatolerance AT andrewhaltieri differentialsusceptibilityofreefbuildingcoralstodeoxygenationrevealsremarkablehypoxiatolerance
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Differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance

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