skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Mesophotic corals in Hawai‘i maintain autotrophy to survive low-light conditions
In mesophotic coral ecosystems, reef-building corals and their photosynthetic symbionts can survive with less than 1% of surface irradiance. How depth-specialist corals rely upon autotrophically and heterotrophically derived energy sources across the mesophotic zone remains unclear. We analysed the stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope values of aLeptoseriscommunity from the ‘Au‘au Channel, Maui, Hawai‘i (65–125 m) including four coral host species living symbiotically with three algal haplotypes. We characterized the isotope values of hosts and symbionts across species and depth to compare trophic strategies. Symbiontδ13C was consistently 0.5‰ higher than hostδ13C at all depths. Mean colony host and symbiontδ15N differed by up to 3.7‰ at shallow depths and converged at deeper depths. These results suggest that both heterotrophy and autotrophy remained integral to colony survival across depth. The increasing similarity between host and symbiontδ15N at deeper depths suggests that nitrogen is more efficiently shared between mesophotic coral hosts and their algal symbionts to sustain autotrophy. Isotopic trends across depth did not generally vary by host species or algal haplotype, suggesting that photosynthesis remains essential toLeptoserissurvival and growth despite low light availability in the mesophotic zone.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2044840 1655682
PAR ID:
10520531
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
The Royal Society Publishing
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume:
291
Issue:
2017
ISSN:
0962-8452
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution)
    The persistence of coral reefs requires the survival of adult coral colonies and their continued sexual reproduction despite thermal stress. To assess the trophic pathway (i.e., autotrophy and/or heterotrophy) used to develop gametes following bleaching, we thermally stressedMontipora capitatafor one month at a time when corals in Hawai’i typically experience elevated seawater temperatures. After six and nine months of recovery, we pulse-chased non-bleached and previously bleached colonies using a dual-label design to compare the allocation of carbon and nitrogen at significant stages of gamete development. Dissolved inorganic carbon- (DI13C) and nitrogen- (DI15N) labelled seawater or13C- and15N-labelled rotifers were used to assess the autotrophic and heterotrophic pathways, respectively. At multiple time points for up to two years later, we collected adult coral fragments and isolated host tissue, Symbiodiniaceae cells, and developing eggs and captured gamete bundles to analyze their carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotopes. We found that the presence of Symbiodiniaceae was important for gametogenesis in both non-bleached and previously bleached colonies in two main ways. First, autotrophically-acquired carbon and nitrogen were both allocated to gametes during development, suggesting that recovery of photosynthesis after bleaching is critical for gametogenesis. Second, only heterotrophically-acquired nitrogen, not carbon, was incorporated into gametes and was readily recycled between host tissues and Symbiodiniaceae cells. This suggests that one of the purposes of heterotrophy following coral bleaching forM. capitatamay be to supplement the nitrogen pool, providing available nutrients for endosymbiotic algal growth. Allocation of carbon and nitrogen to eggs coincided with the period when vertical transmission of symbionts to gametes occurs, further supporting the important relationship between gametogenesis and availability of Symbiodiniaceae forM. capitata. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; (, Limnology and Oceanography)
    Abstract Corals obtain nutrition from the photosynthetic products of their algal endosymbionts and the ingestion of organic material and zooplankton from the water column. Here, we use stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes to assess the proportionate contribution of photoautotrophic and heterotrophic sources to seven Hawaiian coral species collected from six locations around the island of O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi. We analyzed the δ13C and δ15N of coral tissues and their algal endosymbionts, as well as that of dissolved inorganic matter, particulate organic matter, and zooplankton from each site. Estimates of heterotrophic contribution varied among coral species and sites. Bayesian mixing models revealed that heterotrophic sources (particulate organic material and zooplankton) contributed the most toPocillopora acutaandMontipora patulacoral tissues at 49.3% and 48.0%, respectively, and the least toPorites lobataat 28.7%, on average. Estimates of heterotrophic contribution based on the difference between δ13C of the host and algal endosymbiont (δ13Ch–e) and isotopic niche overlap often differed, while estimates based on δ15Nh–ewere slightly more aligned with the estimates produced using Bayesian mixing models. These findings suggest that the utility of each approach may vary with coral health status, regions, and coral species. Overall, we find that the mean heterotrophic contribution to Hawaiian coral tissues ranges from 20% to 50%, suggesting a variety of trophic strategies. However, these findings did not always match past direct measurements of heterotrophic feeding, indicating that heterotrophically acquired nutrition does not necessarily get incorporated into tissues but can be respired or exuded in mucus. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Marine Science)
    The resilience of coral reefs in oligotrophic, (sub)tropical oceans is largely due to the symbiotic relationship between scleractinian corals and Symbiodiniaceae algae, which enables efficient internal nutrient recycling. Investigating the history of this coral symbiosis can provide insights into its role in sustaining the health of both present and future coral reefs. The isotopic composition of organic nitrogen (15N/14N or δ15N) bound within coral skeletons has been utilized to trace the existence of symbiosis in fossil corals, suggesting that coral symbiosis dates back to at least 210 million years ago. The basis of this proxy is that symbiotic corals are expected to exhibit lower δ15N compared to their non-symbiotic (aposymbiotic) counterparts within the same environments, owing to internal nitrogen recycling between the coral host and algal symbiont, and reduced leakage of low-δ15N ammonium into seawater. However, this hypothesis has not been adequately tested in contemporary settings. In a laboratory experiment, we examined the δ15N differences between the symbiotic and aposymbiotic branches within the same genetic backgrounds of the facultatively symbiotic coralOculina arbusculaunder well-fed conditions. Across five different genotypes in two separate experiments, symbiotic branches consistently showed lower δ15N than their aposymbiotic counterparts. These findings corroborate the use of δ15N as a proxy for identifying coral symbiosis in the past, particularly when multiple species of corals coexisted in the same environments. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Marine Science)
    null (Ed.)
    Energy sources of corals, ultimately sunlight and plankton availability, change dramatically from shallow to mesophotic (30–150 m) reefs. Depth-generalist corals, those that occupy both of these two distinct ecosystems, are adapted to cope with such extremely diverse conditions. In this study, we investigated the trophic strategy of the depth-generalist hermatypic coral Stylophora pistillata and the ability of mesophotic colonies to adapt to shallow reefs. We compared symbiont genera composition, photosynthetic traits and the holobiont trophic position and carbon sources, calculated from amino acids compound-specific stable isotope analysis (AA-CSIA), of shallow, mesophotic and translocated corals. This species harbors different Symbiodiniaceae genera at the two depths: Cladocopium goreaui (dominant in mesophotic colonies) and Symbiodinium microadriaticum (dominant in shallow colonies) with a limited change after transplantation. This allowed us to determine which traits stem from hosting different symbiont species compositions across the depth gradient. Calculation of holobiont trophic position based on amino acid δ 15 N revealed that heterotrophy represents the same portion of the total energy budget in both depths, in contrast to the dogma that predation is higher in corals growing in low light conditions. Photosynthesis is the major carbon source to corals growing at both depths, but the photosynthetic rate is higher in the shallow reef corals, implicating both higher energy consumption and higher predation rate in the shallow habitat. In the corals transplanted from deep to shallow reef, we observed extensive photo-acclimation by the Symbiodiniaceae cells, including substantial cellular morphological modifications, increased cellular chlorophyll a , lower antennae to photosystems ratios and carbon signature similar to the local shallow colonies. In contrast, non-photochemical quenching remains low and does not increase to cope with the high light regime of the shallow reef. Furthermore, host acclimation is much slower in these deep-to-shallow transplanted corals as evident from the lower trophic position and tissue density compared to the shallow-water corals, even after long-term transplantation (18 months). Our results suggest that while mesophotic reefs could serve as a potential refuge for shallow corals, the transition is complex, as even after a year and a half the acclimation is only partial. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Conservation Physiology)
    Cooke, Steven (Ed.)
    Abstract Coral reefs are increasingly experiencing stressful conditions, such as high temperatures, that cause corals to undergo bleaching, a process where they lose their photosynthetic algal symbionts. Bleaching threatens both corals’ survival and the health of the reef ecosystems they create. One possible mechanism for corals to resist bleaching is through association with stress-tolerant symbionts, which are resistant to bleaching but may be worse partners in mild conditions. Some corals have been found to associate with multiple symbiont species simultaneously, which potentially gives them access to the benefits of both stress-sensitive and -tolerant symbionts. However, within-host competition between symbionts may lead to competitive exclusion of one partner, and the consequences of associating with multiple partners simultaneously are not well understood. We modify a mechanistic model of coral-algal symbiosis to investigate the effect of environmental conditions on within-host competitive dynamics between stress-sensitive and -tolerant symbionts and the effect of access to a tolerant symbiont on the dynamics of recovery from bleaching. We found that the addition of a tolerant symbiont can increase host survival and recovery from bleaching in high-light conditions. Competitive exclusion of the tolerant symbiont occurred slowly at intermediate light levels. Interestingly, there were some cases of post-bleaching competitive exclusion after the tolerant symbiont had helped the host recover. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email