Subtropical thermal variation supports persistence of corals but limits productivity of coral reefs
Autor: | Felix Landry Yuan, Timothy C. Bonebrake, Philip D. Thompson, David M. Baker, Shelby E. McIlroy |
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Rok vydání: | 2019 |
Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Hot Temperature Range (biology) Coral Acclimatization Climate Change Species distribution Subtropics 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Models Biological General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Species Specificity Temperate climate Animals Reef General Environmental Science geography geography.geographical_feature_category Global Change and Conservation General Immunology and Microbiology Ecology Coral Reefs 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology fungi technology industry and agriculture General Medicine Coral reef biochemical phenomena metabolism and nutrition Anthozoa Productivity (ecology) Environmental science Hong Kong General Agricultural and Biological Sciences |
Zdroj: | Proc Biol Sci |
ISSN: | 1471-2954 |
Popis: | Concomitant to the decline of tropical corals caused by increasing global sea temperatures is the potential removal of barriers to species range expansions into subtropical and temperate habitats. In these habitats, species must tolerate lower annual mean temperature, wider annual temperature ranges and lower minimum temperatures. To understand ecophysiological traits that will impact geographical range boundaries, we monitored populations of five coral species within a marginal habitat and used a year of in situ measures to model thermal performance of vital host, symbiont and holobiont physiology. Metabolic responses to temperature revealed two acclimatization strategies: peak productivity occurring at annual midpoint temperatures (4–6°C lower than tropical counterparts), or at annual maxima. Modelled relationships between temperature and P:R were compared to a year of daily subtropical sea temperatures and revealed that the relatively short time spent at any one temperature, limited optimal performance of all strategies to approximately half the days of the year. Thus, while subtropical corals can adjust their physiology to persist through seasonal lows, seasonal variation seems to be the key factor limiting coral productivity. This constraint on rapid reef accretion within subtropical environments provides insight into the global distribution of future coral reefs and their ecosystem services. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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