TY - JOUR
T1 - Ontogenetic differences in the response of the cold-water coral Caryophyllia huinayensis to ocean acidification, warming and food availability
AU - Beck, Kristina K.
AU - Nierste, Jan
AU - Schmidt-Grieb, Gertraud M.
AU - Lüdtke, Esther
AU - Naab, Christoph
AU - Held, Christoph
AU - Nehrke, Gernot
AU - Steinhoefel, Grit
AU - Laudien, Jürgen
AU - Richter, Claudio
AU - Wall, Marlene
PY - 2023/11/1
Y1 - 2023/11/1
N2 - Cold-water corals (CWCs) are considered vulnerable to environmental changes. However, previous studies have focused on adult CWCs and mainly investigated the short-term effects of single stressors. So far, the effects of environmental changes on different CWC life stages are unknown, both for single and multiple stressors and over long time periods. Therefore, we conducted a six-month aquarium experiment with three life stages of Car- yophyllia huinayensis to study their physiological response (survival, somatic growth, calcification and respira- tion) to the interactive effects of aragonite saturation (0.8 and 2.5), temperature (11 and 15 ◦C) and food availability (8 and 87 μg C L−1). The response clearly differed between life stages and measured traits. Elevated temperature and reduced feeding had the greatest effects, pushing the corals to their physiological limits. Highest mortality was observed in adult corals, while calcification rates decreased the most in juveniles. We observed a three-month delay in response, presumably because energy reserves declined, suggesting that short-term ex- periments overestimate coral resilience. Elevated summer temperatures and reduced food supply are likely to have the greatest impact on live CWCs in the future, leading to reduced coral growth and population shifts due to delayed juvenile maturation and high adult mortality.
AB - Cold-water corals (CWCs) are considered vulnerable to environmental changes. However, previous studies have focused on adult CWCs and mainly investigated the short-term effects of single stressors. So far, the effects of environmental changes on different CWC life stages are unknown, both for single and multiple stressors and over long time periods. Therefore, we conducted a six-month aquarium experiment with three life stages of Car- yophyllia huinayensis to study their physiological response (survival, somatic growth, calcification and respira- tion) to the interactive effects of aragonite saturation (0.8 and 2.5), temperature (11 and 15 ◦C) and food availability (8 and 87 μg C L−1). The response clearly differed between life stages and measured traits. Elevated temperature and reduced feeding had the greatest effects, pushing the corals to their physiological limits. Highest mortality was observed in adult corals, while calcification rates decreased the most in juveniles. We observed a three-month delay in response, presumably because energy reserves declined, suggesting that short-term ex- periments overestimate coral resilience. Elevated summer temperatures and reduced food supply are likely to have the greatest impact on live CWCs in the future, leading to reduced coral growth and population shifts due to delayed juvenile maturation and high adult mortality.
KW - Life stage
KW - Calcification
KW - Somatic growth
KW - Respiration
KW - pH
KW - Aragonite saturation
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165565
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165565
M3 - Article
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 900
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 165565
ER -