TY - JOUR
T1 - Local-scale feedbacks influencing cold-water coral growth and subsequent reef formation
AU - Corbera, Guillem
AU - Lo Iacono, Claudio
AU - Simarro, Gonzalo
AU - Grinyó, Jordi
AU - Ambroso, Stefano
AU - Huvenne, Veerle A. I.
AU - Mienis, Furu
AU - Carreiro-silva, Marina
AU - Martins, Inês
AU - Mano, Beatriz
AU - Orejas, Covadonga
AU - Larsson, Ann
AU - Hennige, Sebastian
AU - Gori, Andrea
N1 - Funding Information:
Claudio Lo Iacono is supported by the UE H2020 MSC Action HABISS (GA 890815). J. Grinyó has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and Innovation programme. Action MSCA-IF-EF-ST fellowship, CWCC-Dynamics Grant Agreement No. 101028621. Inês Martins was co-financed by the Operational Program AZORES 2020, through the Fund 01-0145-FEDER-000140 “MarAZ Researchers: Consolidate a body of researchers in Marine Sciences in the Azores” of the European Union. Guillem Corbera was funded by the Graduate School of the National Oceanography Centre Southampton (GSNOCS). This work is also contributing to the ICM’s “Center of Excellence” Severo Ochoa (CEX2019-000928-S). This study acknowledges the European Union’s Horizon 2020 re-search and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 678760 (ATLAS) and the iAtlantic project under Grant Agreement No. 818123. This manuscript reflects the authors’ view alone, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.
Funding Information:
Claudio Lo Iacono is supported by the UE H2020 MSC Action HABISS (GA 890815). J. Grinyó has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and Innovation programme. Action MSCA-IF-EF-ST fellowship, CWCC-Dynamics Grant Agreement No. 101028621. Inês Martins was co-financed by the Operational Program AZORES 2020, through the Fund 01-0145-FEDER-000140 “MarAZ Researchers: Consolidate a body of researchers in Marine Sciences in the Azores” of the European Union. Guillem Corbera was funded by the Graduate School of the National Oceanography Centre Southampton (GSNOCS). This work is also contributing to the ICM’s “Center of Excellence” Severo Ochoa (CEX2019-000928-S). This study acknowledges the European Union’s Horizon 2020 re-search and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 678760 (ATLAS) and the iAtlantic project under Grant Agreement No. 818123. This manuscript reflects the authors’ view alone, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/11/27
Y1 - 2022/11/27
N2 - Despite cold-water coral (CWC) reefs being considered biodiversity hotspots, very little is known about the main processes driving their morphological development. Indeed, there is a considerable knowledge gap in quantitative experimental studies that help understand the interaction between reef morphology, near-bed hydrodynamics, coral growth, and (food) particle transport processes. In the present study, we performed a 2-month long flume experiment in which living coral nubbins were placed on a reef patch to determine the effect of a unidirectional flow on the growth and physiological condition of Lophelia pertusa. Measurements revealed how the presence of coral framework increased current speed and turbulence above the frontal part of the reef patch, while conditions immediately behind it were characterised by an almost stagnant flow and reduced turbulence. Owing to the higher current speeds that likely promoted a higher food encounter rate and intake of ions involved in the calcification process, the coral nubbins located on the upstream part of the reef presented a significantly enhanced average growth and a lower expression of stress-related enzymes than the downstream ones. Yet, further experiments would be needed to fully quantify how the variations in water hydrodynamics modify particle encounter and ion intake rates by coral nubbins located in different parts of a reef, and how such discrepancies may ultimately affect coral growth. Nonetheless, the results acquired here denote that a reef influenced by a unidirectional water flow would grow into the current: a pattern of reef development that coincides with that of actual coral reefs located in similar water flow settings. Ultimately, the results of this study suggest that at the local scale coral reef morphology has a direct effect on coral growth thus, indicating that the spatial patterns of living CWC colonies in reef patches are the result of spatial self-organisation.
AB - Despite cold-water coral (CWC) reefs being considered biodiversity hotspots, very little is known about the main processes driving their morphological development. Indeed, there is a considerable knowledge gap in quantitative experimental studies that help understand the interaction between reef morphology, near-bed hydrodynamics, coral growth, and (food) particle transport processes. In the present study, we performed a 2-month long flume experiment in which living coral nubbins were placed on a reef patch to determine the effect of a unidirectional flow on the growth and physiological condition of Lophelia pertusa. Measurements revealed how the presence of coral framework increased current speed and turbulence above the frontal part of the reef patch, while conditions immediately behind it were characterised by an almost stagnant flow and reduced turbulence. Owing to the higher current speeds that likely promoted a higher food encounter rate and intake of ions involved in the calcification process, the coral nubbins located on the upstream part of the reef presented a significantly enhanced average growth and a lower expression of stress-related enzymes than the downstream ones. Yet, further experiments would be needed to fully quantify how the variations in water hydrodynamics modify particle encounter and ion intake rates by coral nubbins located in different parts of a reef, and how such discrepancies may ultimately affect coral growth. Nonetheless, the results acquired here denote that a reef influenced by a unidirectional water flow would grow into the current: a pattern of reef development that coincides with that of actual coral reefs located in similar water flow settings. Ultimately, the results of this study suggest that at the local scale coral reef morphology has a direct effect on coral growth thus, indicating that the spatial patterns of living CWC colonies in reef patches are the result of spatial self-organisation.
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-24711-7
DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-24711-7
M3 - Article
VL - 12
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
IS - 1
M1 - 20389
ER -