Seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets

Abstract Seabirds concentrate nutrients from large marine areas on their nesting islands playing an important ecological role in nutrient transfer between marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Here we investigate the role of guano on corals reefs across scales by analyzing the stable nitrogen isotopic...

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Autores principales:	Anne Lorrain, Fanny Houlbrèque, Francesca Benzoni, Lucie Barjon, Laura Tremblay-Boyer, Christophe Menkes, David P. Gillikin, Claude Payri, Hervé Jourdan, Germain Boussarie, Anouk Verheyden, Eric Vidal
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/8b64fc0c18724f208aa01e3582887b33
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:8b64fc0c18724f208aa01e3582887b332021-12-02T15:05:24ZSeabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets10.1038/s41598-017-03781-y2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/8b64fc0c18724f208aa01e3582887b332017-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03781-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Seabirds concentrate nutrients from large marine areas on their nesting islands playing an important ecological role in nutrient transfer between marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Here we investigate the role of guano on corals reefs across scales by analyzing the stable nitrogen isotopic (δ15N) values of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis on fringing reefs around two Pacific remote islets with large seabird colonies. Marine stations closest to the seabird colonies had higher nitrate + nitrite concentrations compared to more distant stations. Coral and zooxanthellae δ15N values were also higher at these sites, suggesting that guano-derived nitrogen is assimilated into corals and contributes to their nitrogen requirements. The spatial extent of guano influence was however restricted to a local scale. Our results demonstrate that seabird-derived nutrients not only spread across the terrestrial ecosystem, but also affect components of the adjacent marine ecosystem. Further studies are now needed to assess if this nutrient input has a positive or negative effect for corals. Such studies on remote islets also open fresh perspectives to understand how nutrients affect coral reefs isolated from other anthropogenic stressors.Anne LorrainFanny HoulbrèqueFrancesca BenzoniLucie BarjonLaura Tremblay-BoyerChristophe MenkesDavid P. GillikinClaude PayriHervé JourdanGermain BoussarieAnouk VerheydenEric VidalNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Anne Lorrain Fanny Houlbrèque Francesca Benzoni Lucie Barjon Laura Tremblay-Boyer Christophe Menkes David P. Gillikin Claude Payri Hervé Jourdan Germain Boussarie Anouk Verheyden Eric Vidal Seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets
description	Abstract Seabirds concentrate nutrients from large marine areas on their nesting islands playing an important ecological role in nutrient transfer between marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Here we investigate the role of guano on corals reefs across scales by analyzing the stable nitrogen isotopic (δ15N) values of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis on fringing reefs around two Pacific remote islets with large seabird colonies. Marine stations closest to the seabird colonies had higher nitrate + nitrite concentrations compared to more distant stations. Coral and zooxanthellae δ15N values were also higher at these sites, suggesting that guano-derived nitrogen is assimilated into corals and contributes to their nitrogen requirements. The spatial extent of guano influence was however restricted to a local scale. Our results demonstrate that seabird-derived nutrients not only spread across the terrestrial ecosystem, but also affect components of the adjacent marine ecosystem. Further studies are now needed to assess if this nutrient input has a positive or negative effect for corals. Such studies on remote islets also open fresh perspectives to understand how nutrients affect coral reefs isolated from other anthropogenic stressors.
format	article
author	Anne Lorrain Fanny Houlbrèque Francesca Benzoni Lucie Barjon Laura Tremblay-Boyer Christophe Menkes David P. Gillikin Claude Payri Hervé Jourdan Germain Boussarie Anouk Verheyden Eric Vidal
author_facet	Anne Lorrain Fanny Houlbrèque Francesca Benzoni Lucie Barjon Laura Tremblay-Boyer Christophe Menkes David P. Gillikin Claude Payri Hervé Jourdan Germain Boussarie Anouk Verheyden Eric Vidal
author_sort	Anne Lorrain
title	Seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets
title_short	Seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets
title_full	Seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets
title_fullStr	Seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets
title_full_unstemmed	Seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets
title_sort	seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote pacific islets
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/8b64fc0c18724f208aa01e3582887b33
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Seabirds supply nitrogen to reef-building corals on remote Pacific islets

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