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Huang W, Meng L, Xiao Z, Tan R, Yang E, Wang Y, Huang X, Yu K. Heat-tolerant intertidal rock pool coral Porites lutea can potentially adapt to future warming. Mol Ecol 2024; 33:e17273. [PMID: 38265168 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 12/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
The growing threat of global warming on coral reefs underscores the urgency of identifying heat-tolerant corals and discovering their adaptation mechanisms to high temperatures. Corals growing in intertidal rock pools that vary markedly in daily temperature may have improved heat tolerance. In this study, heat stress experiments were performed on scleractinian coral Porites lutea from subtidal habitat and intertidal rock pool of Weizhou Island in the northern South China Sea. Thermotolerance differences in corals from the two habitats and their mechanisms were explored through phenotype, physiological indicators, ITS2, 16S rRNA, and RNA sequencing. At the extremely high temperature of 34°C, rock pool P. lutea had a stronger heat tolerance than those in the subtidal habitat. The strong antioxidant capacity of the coral host and its microbial partners was important in the resistance of rock pool corals to high temperatures. The host of rock pool corals at 34°C had stronger immune and apoptotic regulation, downregulated host metabolism and disease-infection-related pathways compared to the subtidal habitat. P. lutea, in this habitat, upregulated Cladocopium C15 (Symbiodiniaceae) photosynthetic efficiency and photoprotection, and significantly increased bacterial diversity and coral probiotics, including ABY1, Ruegeria, and Alteromonas. These findings indicate that rock pool corals can tolerate high temperatures through the integrated response of coral holobionts. These corals may be 'touchstones' for future warming. Our research provides new insights into the complex mechanisms by which corals resist global warming and the theoretical basis for coral reef ecosystem restoration and selection of stress-resistant coral populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen Huang
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Linqing Meng
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Zunyong Xiao
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
- School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Ronghua Tan
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Enguang Yang
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Yonggang Wang
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Xueyong Huang
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Kefu Yu
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou, China
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Davidson AT, Stunkle CR, Armstrong JT, Hamman EA, McCoy MW, Vonesh JR. Warming and top-down control of stage-structured prey: Linking theory to patterns in natural systems. Ecology 2024; 105:e4213. [PMID: 38029361 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Warming has broad and often nonlinear impacts on organismal physiology and traits, allowing it to impact species interactions like predation through a variety of pathways that may be difficult to predict. Predictions are commonly based on short-term experiments and models, and these studies often yield conflicting results depending on the environmental context, spatiotemporal scale, and the predator and prey species considered. Thus, the accuracy of predicted changes in interaction strength, and their importance to the broader ecosystems they take place in, remain unclear. Here, we attempted to link one such set of predictions generated using theory, modeling, and controlled experiments to patterns in the natural abundance of prey across a broad thermal gradient. To do so, we first predicted how warming would impact a stage-structured predator-prey interaction in riverine rock pools between Pantala spp. dragonfly nymph predators and Aedes atropalpus mosquito larval prey. We then described temperature variation across a set of hundreds of riverine rock pools (n = 775) and leveraged this natural gradient to look for evidence for or against our model's predictions. Our model's predictions suggested that warming should weaken predator control of mosquito larval prey by accelerating their development and shrinking the window of time during which aquatic dragonfly nymphs could consume them. This was consistent with data collected in rock pool ecosystems, where the negative effects of dragonfly nymph predators on mosquito larval abundance were weaker in warmer pools. Our findings provide additional evidence to substantiate our model-derived predictions while emphasizing the importance of assessing similar predictions using natural gradients of temperature whenever possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T Davidson
- Department of Integrative Life Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - C Ryland Stunkle
- Department of Integrative Life Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Joshua T Armstrong
- Department of Integrative Life Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Hamman
- Department of Biology, St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City, Maryland, USA
| | - Michael W McCoy
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, Florida, USA
| | - James R Vonesh
- Center for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
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Morris RL, Chapman MG, Firth LB, Coleman RA. Increasing habitat complexity on seawalls: Investigating large- and small-scale effects on fish assemblages. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:9567-9579. [PMID: 29187990 PMCID: PMC5696408 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2017] [Revised: 08/20/2017] [Accepted: 09/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The construction of artificial structures in the marine environment is increasing globally. Eco-engineering aims to mitigate the negative ecological impacts of built infrastructure through designing structures to be multifunctional, benefiting both humans and nature. To date, the focus of eco-engineering has largely been on benefits for benthic invertebrates and algae. Here, the potential effect of eco-engineered habitats designed for benthic species on fish was investigated. Eco-engineered habitats ("flowerpots") were added to an intertidal seawall in Sydney Harbour, Australia. Responses of fish assemblages to the added habitats were quantified at two spatial scales; large (among seawalls) and small (within a seawall). Data were collected during high tide using cameras attached to the seawall to observe pelagic and benthic fish. At the larger spatial scale, herbivores, planktivores, and invertebrate predators were generally more abundant at the seawall with the added flowerpots, although results were temporally variable. At the smaller spatial scale, certain benthic species were more abundant around flowerpots than at the adjacent control areas of seawall, although there was no general pattern of differences in species density and trophic group abundance of pelagic fish between areas of the seawall with or without added habitats. Although we did not find consistent, statistically significant findings throughout our study, the field of research to improve fish habitat within human-use constraints is promising and important, although it is in its early stages (it is experimental and requires a lot of trial and error). To advance this field, it is important to document when effects were detected, and when they were not, so that others can refine the designs or scale of habitat enhancements or their study approaches (e.g., sampling protocols).
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca L Morris
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities The University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
| | - M Gee Chapman
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities The University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Louise B Firth
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences Plymouth University Plymouth UK
| | - Ross A Coleman
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities The University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
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Armistead JS, Nishimura N, Escher RL, Lounibos LP. Larval competition between Aedes japonicus and Aedes atropalpus (Diptera: Culicidae) in simulated rock pools. J Vector Ecol 2008; 33:238-46. [PMID: 19263842 PMCID: PMC2652682 DOI: 10.3376/1081-1710-33.2.238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
The success of an invasive species becoming established in a new region often depends on its interactions with ecologically similar resident species. The propensity of the newly-established mosquito Aedes japonicus to inhabit rock pools throughout the eastern United States provides a natural setting for interspecific larval competition with the native Aedes atropalpus. A laboratory experiment conducted in simulated rock pools to evaluate larval interactions between and within these two species suggested that the performance of both species was more significantly impacted by intraspecific conditions than interspecific conditions of the same mosquito density. Aedes atropalpus was apparently more sensitive to larval densities than Ae. japonicus because it reproduces autogenously, requiring a lengthened period of larval development to obtain nutrient reserves for egg development, which may ultimately put Ae. atropalpus at a disadvantage under larval conditions of competition and limited resources. Excessively stressful experimental conditions, as evidenced by reduced body size, and thus fecundity and estimated finite rate of increase, may have obscured the effects of larval competition between these species. The impact of larval competition between these species in rock pool communities warrants further investigation under more ecologically realistic experimental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer S Armistead
- University of Florida, Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, 200 9th St. SE, Vero Beach, FL 32962 USA
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