BIOMAT Database Logo BIOMAT Database Logo

Which environmental factors predict seasonal variation in the coral health of Acropora digitifera and Acropora spicifera at Ningaloo Reef? 2013

Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
School of Environmental Systems Engineering and The Oceans Institute M470, University of Western Australia, Perth,Western Australia, Australia. saskia-hinrichs@gmx.de

The impact of physico-chemical factors on percent coral cover and coral health was examined on a spatial basis for two dominant Acropora species, A. digitifera and A. spicifera, at Ningaloo Reef (north-western Australia) in the southeast Indian Ocean. Coral health was investigated by measuring metabolic indices (RNA/DNA ratio and protein concentration), energy levels (lipid ratio) and autotrophic indices (chlorophyll a (chl a) and zooxanthellae density) at six stations during typical seasons (austral autumn 2010 (March and April), austral winter 2010 (August)) and during an extreme La Niña event in summer 2011 (February). These indices were correlated with 15 physico-chemical factors (measured immediately following coral sampling) to identify predictors for health indices. Variations in metabolic indices (protein concentration and RNA/DNA ratio) for A. spicifera were mainly explained by nitrogen, temperature and zooplankton concentrations under typical conditions, while for A. digitifera, light as well as phytoplankton, in particular picoeukaryotes, were important, possibly due to higher energy requirement for lipid synthesis and storage in A. digitifera. Optimum metabolic values occurred for both Acropora species at 26-28°C when autotrophic indices (chl a and zooxanthellae density) were lowest. The extreme temperature during the La Niña event resulted in a shift of feeding modes, with an increased importance of water column plankton concentrations for metabolic rates of A. digitifera and light and plankton for A. spicifera. Our results suggest that impacts of high sea surface temperatures during extreme events such as La Niña may be mitigated via reduction on metabolic rates in coral host. The high water column plankton concentrations and associated low light levels resulted in a shift towards high symbiont densities, with lower metabolic rates and energy levels than the seasonal norm for the coral host.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D010788 Photosynthesis The synthesis by organisms of organic chemical compounds, especially carbohydrates, from carbon dioxide using energy obtained from light rather than from the oxidation of chemical compounds. Photosynthesis comprises two separate processes: the light reactions and the dark reactions. In higher plants; GREEN ALGAE; and CYANOBACTERIA; NADPH and ATP formed by the light reactions drive the dark reactions which result in the fixation of carbon dioxide. (from Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2001) Calvin Cycle,Calvin-Benson Cycle,Calvin-Benson-Bassham Cycle,Carbon Fixation, Photosynthetic,Reductive Pentose Phosphate Cycle,Dark Reactions of Photosynthesis,Calvin Benson Bassham Cycle,Calvin Benson Cycle,Cycle, Calvin,Cycle, Calvin-Benson,Cycle, Calvin-Benson-Bassham,Photosynthesis Dark Reaction,Photosynthesis Dark Reactions,Photosynthetic Carbon Fixation
D006262 Health The state of the organism when it functions optimally without evidence of disease. Individual Health,Normalcy,Normality,Health, Individual,Normalcies,Normalities
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012621 Seasons Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Seasonal Variation,Season,Seasonal Variations,Variation, Seasonal,Variations, Seasonal
D014887 Weather The state of the ATMOSPHERE over minutes to months. Fog,Fogs
D055598 Chemical Phenomena The composition, structure, conformation, and properties of atoms and molecules, and their reaction and interaction processes. Chemical Concepts,Chemical Processes,Physical Chemistry Concepts,Physical Chemistry Processes,Physicochemical Concepts,Physicochemical Phenomena,Physicochemical Processes,Chemical Phenomenon,Chemical Process,Physical Chemistry Phenomena,Physical Chemistry Process,Physicochemical Phenomenon,Physicochemical Process,Chemical Concept,Chemistry Process, Physical,Chemistry Processes, Physical,Concept, Chemical,Concept, Physical Chemistry,Concept, Physicochemical,Concepts, Chemical,Concepts, Physical Chemistry,Concepts, Physicochemical,Phenomena, Chemical,Phenomena, Physical Chemistry,Phenomena, Physicochemical,Phenomenon, Chemical,Phenomenon, Physicochemical,Physical Chemistry Concept,Physicochemical Concept,Process, Chemical,Process, Physical Chemistry,Process, Physicochemical,Processes, Chemical,Processes, Physical Chemistry,Processes, Physicochemical
D057894 Coral Reefs Marine ridges composed of living CORALS, coral skeletons, calcareous algae, and other organisms, mixed with minerals and organic matter. They are found most commonly in tropical waters and support other animal and plant life. Coral Reef,Reef, Coral,Reefs, Coral
D019156 Indian Ocean A body of water covering approximately one-fifth of the total ocean area of the earth, extending amidst Africa in the west, Australia in the east, Asia in the north, and Antarctica in the south. Including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, it constitutes the third largest ocean after the ATLANTIC OCEAN and the PACIFIC OCEAN. (New Encyclopaedia Britannica Micropaedia, 15th ed, 1990, p289) Persian Gulf,Red Sea
D037421 Anthozoa A class in the phylum CNIDARIA, comprised mostly of corals and anemones. All members occur only as polyps; the medusa stage is completely absent. Coral,Corals

Related Publications

Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
Using the Acropora digitifera genome to understand coral responses to environmental change.
July 2011, Nature,
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
In vitro fertilization efficiency in coral Acropora digitifera.
August 2009, Zygote (Cambridge, England),
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
Fluorescent protein candidate genes in the coral Acropora digitifera genome.
April 2012, Zoological science,
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
Telomere shortening in the colonial coral Acropora digitifera during development.
March 2014, Zoological science,
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
Correlation between Organelle Genetic Variation and RNA Editing in Dinoflagellates Associated with the Coral Acropora digitifera.
March 2020, Genome biology and evolution,
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
Genetic connectivity in the broadcast-spawning coral Acropora digitifera analyzed by microsatellite markers on the Sekisei Reef, southwestern Japan.
March 2009, Zoological science,
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
The repertoire of chemical defense genes in the coral Acropora digitifera genome.
August 2012, Zoological science,
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
Expression of hsp70, hsp90 and hsf1 in the reef coral Acropora digitifera under prospective acidified conditions over the next several decades.
February 2012, Biology open,
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
Embryogenesis in the reef-building coral Acropora spp.
December 2007, Zoological science,
Saskia Hinrichs, and Nicole L Patten, and Ming Feng, and Daniel Strickland, and Anya M Waite
Environmental factors controlling the distribution of symbiodinium harboured by the coral Acropora millepora on the Great Barrier Reef.
January 2011, PloS one,
Copied contents to your clipboard!