in

Photosynthetic usable energy explains vertical patterns of biodiversity in zooxanthellate corals

  • Field, C. B., Behrenfeld, M. J., Randerson, J. T. & Falkowski, P. Primary production of the biosphere: Integrating terrestrial and oceanic components. Science 281, 237–240. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.281.5374.237 (1998).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Valladares, F. In Progress in Botany Vol. 64 (eds Esser, K. et al.) 439–471 (Springer, 2003).

    Chapter 

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthony, K. R. N., Ridd, P. V., Orpin, A. R., Larcombe, P. & Lough, J. Temporal variation of light availability in coastal benthic habitats: Effects of clouds, turbidity, and tides. Limnol. Oceanogr. 49, 2201–2211. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2004.49.6.2201 (2004).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Gattuso, J. P. et al. Light availability in the coastal ocean: Impact on the distribution of benthic photosynthetic organisms and their contribution to primary production. Biogeosciences 3, 489–513. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-3-489-2006 (2006).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, D. H. Species-energy theory: An extension of species-area theory. Oikos 41, 496–506 (1983).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Cusens, J., Wright, S. D., McBride, P. D. & Gillman, L. N. What is the form of the productivity–animal-species-richness relationship? A critical review and meta-analysis. Ecology 93, 2241–2252. https://doi.org/10.1890/11-1861.1 (2012).

    Article 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M. L. & Abramsky, Z. in Species Diversity in Ecological Communities. Historical and Geographical Perspectives (eds Ricklefs, R. E. & Schluter, D.) Ch. 5, 52–65 (The University of Chicago Press, 1993).

  • Abrams, P. A. Monotonic or unimodal diversity-productivity gradients: What does competition theory predict?. Ecology 76, 2019–2027 (1995).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Huston, M. A. Disturbance, productivity, and species diversity: Empiricism vs. logic in ecological theory. Ecology 95, 2382–2396 (2014).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, T. E. et al. Testing biodiversity theory using species richness of reef-building corals across a depth gradient. Biol. Lett. 15, 20190493. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0493 (2019).

    Article 
    PubMed 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Frankowiak, K. et al. Photosymbiosis and the expansion of shallow-water corals. Sci. Adv. 2, e1601122. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601122 (2016).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Goreau, T. F. & Goreau, N. I. The physiology of skeleton formation in corals. II. Calcium deposition by hermatypic corals under various conditions in the reef. Biol. Bull. 117, 239–250. https://doi.org/10.2307/1538903 (1959).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, J. T. O. Light and Photosynthesis in Aquatic Ecosystems 3rd edn. (Cambridge University Press, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoddart, D. R. Ecology and morphology of recent coral reefs. Biol. Rev. 44, 433–498. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.1969.tb00609.x (1969).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesser, M. P., Slattery, M. & Leichter, J. J. Ecology of mesophotic coral reefs. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 375, 1–8 (2009).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Ackleson, S. G. Light in shallow waters: A brief research review. Limnol. Oceanogr. 48, 323–328. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2003.48.1_part_2.0323 (2003).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, J. H. Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. High diversity of trees and corals is maintained only in a nonequilibrium state. Science 199, 1302–1310. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.199.4335.1302 (1978).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Dollar, S. J. Wave stress and coral community structure in Hawaii. Coral Reefs 1, 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00301688 (1982).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, T. P. Community structure and diversity of coral reefs: The role of history. Ecology 70, 275–279. https://doi.org/10.2307/1938434 (1989).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, R. H. & Currie, D. J. The species richness-energy hypothesis in a system where historical factors are thought to prevail: Coral reefs. Am. Nat. 148, 138–159 (1996).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornell, H. V. & Karlson, R. H. Coral species richness: Ecological versus biogeographical influences. Coral Reefs 19, 37–49 (2000).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood, D. R., Hughes, T., Connolly, S. & Tanner, J. Environmental and geometric constraints on Indo-Pacific coral reef biodiversity. Ecol. Lett. 8, 643–651. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00763.x (2005).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. E. et al. Diurnal changes in photochemical efficiency and xanthophyll concentrations in shallow water reef corals: Evidence for photoinhibition and photoprotection. Coral Reefs 18, 99–105 (1999).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg, O. & Jones, R. J. Photoinhibition and photoprotection in symbiotic dinoflagellates from reef-building corals. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 183, 73–86. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps183073 (1999).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesser, M. P. & Gorbunov, M. Y. Diurnal and bathymetric changes in chlorophyll fluorescence yields of reef corals measured in situ with a fast repetition rate fluorometer. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 212, 69–77. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps212069 (2001).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoogenboom, M. O., Anthony, K. R. N. & Connolly, S. R. Energetic cost of photoinhibition in corals. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 313, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps313001 (2006).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Huot, Y. & Babin, M. Chlorophyll a Fluorescence in Aquatic Sciences: Methods and Applications 31–74 (Springer, 2010).

    Book 

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner, M. E., Lesser, M. P. & Ralph, P. J. Chlorophyll a Fluorescence in Aquatic Sciences: Methods and Applications Ch. Chapter 10, 209–222 (Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2010).

  • Skirving, W. et al. Remote sensing of coral bleaching using temperature and light: Progress towards an operational algorithm. Remote Sens. 10, 18 (2018).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Enríquez, S., Merino, M. & Iglesias-Prieto, R. Variations in the photosynthetic performance along the leaves of the tropical seagrass Thalassia testudinum. Mar. Biol. 140, 891–900. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-001-0760-y (2002).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundby, C., McCaffery, S. & Anderson, J. M. Turnover of the photosystem II D1 protein in higher plants under photoinhibitory and nonphotoinhibitory irradiance. J. Biol. Chem. 268, 25476–25482 (1993).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyystjärvi, E. & Aro, E. M. The rate constant of photoinhibition, measured in lincomycin-treated leaves, is directly proportional to light intensity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 93, 2213–2218. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.5.2213 (1996).

    Article 
    PubMed 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Iglesias-Prieto, R., Beltrán, V. H., LaJeunesse, T. C., Reyes-Bonilla, H. & Thomé, P. E. Different algal symbionts explain the vertical distribution of dominant reef corals in the eastern Pacific. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 271, 1757–1763. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2757 (2004).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Jassby, A. D. & Platt, T. Mathematical formulation of the relationship between photosynthesis and light for phytoplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. 21, 540–547 (1976).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, S. P., Humphries, S. & Falkowski, P. G. Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in nature. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 45, 633–662. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.pp.45.060194.003221 (1994).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Huner, N. P. A., Öuist, G. & Sarhan, F. Energy balance and acclimation to light and cold. Trends Plant Sci. 3, 224–230 (1998).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard, C. R. C. Coral cover, zonation and diversity on reef slopes of Chagos Atolls, and population structures of the major species. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 2, 193–205 (1980).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Huston, M. A. Patterns of species diversity in relation to depth at Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Bull. Mar. Sci. 37, 928–935 (1985).

    Google Scholar 

  • Loya, Y. Community structure and species diversity of hermatypic corals at Eilat, Red Sea. Mar. Biol. 13, 100–123. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00366561 (1972).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, G. S. E., Chan, Y. K. S., Jain, S. S. & Huang, D. Light limitation selects for depth generalists in urbanised reef coral communities. Mar. Environ. Res. 147, 101–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.04.010 (2019).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahng, S. E. et al. Community ecology of mesophotic coral reef ecosystems. Coral Reefs 29, 255–275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-010-0593-6 (2010).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Iglesias-Prieto, R. Temperature-dependent inactivation of Photosystem II in symbiotic dinoflagellates. in Proc. 8th Int. Coral Reef Sym, 1313–1318 (1997).

  • Jones, R. J., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Larkum, A. W. D. & Schreiber, U. Temperature-induced bleaching of corals begins with impairment of the CO2 fixation mechanism in zooxanthellae. Plant Cell Environ. 21, 1219–1230. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3040.1998.00345.x (1998).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Hennige, S. J., Suggett, D. J., Warner, M. E., McDougall, K. E. & Smith, D. J. Photobiology of Symbiodinium revisited: Bio-physical and bio-optical signatures. Coral Reefs 28, 179–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-008-0444-x (2008).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Quigg, A. & Beardall, J. Protein turnover in relation to maintenance metabolism at low photon flux in two marine microalgae. Plant Cell Environ. 26, 693–703. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3040.2003.01004.x (2003).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Järvi, S., Suorsa, M. & Aro, E. M. Photosystem II repair in plant chloroplasts—Regulation, assisting proteins and shared components with photosystem II biogenesis. Biochim. Biophys. Acta Bioenerg. 900–909, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2015.01.006 (1847).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Jokiel, P. L. Solar ultraviolet radiation and coral reef epifauna. Science 207, 1069–1071 (1980).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Londoño, T. et al. Physiological and ecological consequences of the water optical properties degradation on reef corals. Coral Reefs 40, 1243–1256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-021-02133-7 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Vermeij, M. J. A. & Bak, R. P. M. How are coral populations structured by light? Marine light regimes and the distribution of Madracis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 233, 105–116. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps233105 (2002).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoogenboom, M. O., Connolly, S. R. & Anthony, K. R. N. Interactions between morphological and physiological plasticity optimize energy acquisition in corals. Ecology 89, 1144–1154. https://doi.org/10.1890/07-1272.1 (2008).

    Article 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaniewska, P., Anthony, K., Sampayo, E., Campbell, P. & Hoegh-Guldberg, O. Implications of geometric plasticity for maximizing photosynthesis in branching corals. Mar. Biol. 161, 313–328 (2014).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, N., Tamir, R., Eyal, G. & Loya, Y. Coral morphology portrays the spatial distribution and population size-structure along a 5–100 m depth gradient. Front. Mar. Sci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00615 (2020).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesser, M. P., Mobley, C. D., Hedley, J. D. & Slattery, M. Incident light on mesophotic corals is constrained by reef topography and colony morphology. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 670, 49–60. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13756 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Prada, C. et al. Linking photoacclimation responses and microbiome shifts between depth-segregated sibling species of reef corals. R. Soc. Open Sci. 9, 211591. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211591 (2022).

    Article 
    PubMed 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowan, R., Knowlton, N., Baker, A. & Jara, J. Landscape ecology of algal symbionts creates variation in episodes of coral bleaching. Nature 388, 265–269. https://doi.org/10.1038/40843 (1997).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner, M. E., LaJeunesse, T. C., Robison, J. D. & Thur, R. M. The ecological distribution and comparative photobiology of symbiotic dinoflagellates from reef corals in Belize: Potential implications for coral bleaching. Limnol. Oceanogr. 51, 1887–1897. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2006.51.4.1887 (2006).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthony, K. R. N. & Fabricius, K. E. Shifting roles of heterotrophy and autotrophy in coral energetics under varying turbidity. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 252, 221–253 (2000).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoogenboom, M., Rodolfo-Metalpa, R. & Ferrier-Pagès, C. Co-variation between autotrophy and heterotrophy in the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa. J. Exp. Biol. 213, 2399–2409 (2010).

    Article 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, R. R., Foo, S. A. & Asner, G. P. Land use impacts on coral reef health: A ridge-to-reef perspective. Front. Mar. Sci 6, 562. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00562 (2019).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, M. et al. The great Atlantic Sargassum belt. Science 365, 83–87. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw7912 (2019).

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez-Filip, L., González-Barrios, F. J., Pérez-Cervantes, E., Molina-Hernández, A. & Estrada-Saldívar, N. Stony coral tissue loss disease decimated Caribbean coral populations and reshaped reef functionality. Commun. Biol. 5, 440. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03398-6 (2022).

    Article 
    PubMed 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Muscatine, L., McCloskey, L. R. & Marian, R. E. Estimating the daily contribution of carbon from zooxanthellae to coral animal respiration. Limnol. Oceanogr. 26, 601–611. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1981.26.4.0601 (1981).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen, S. E. & Bendoricchio, G. Fundamentals of Ecological Modelling 3rd edn, Vol. 21 (Elsevier Sceince B. V., 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hennige, S. J. et al. Acclimation and adaptation of scleractinian coral communities along environmental gradients within an Indonesian reef system. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 391, 143–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2010.06.019 (2010).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheufen, T., Iglesias-Prieto, R. & Enríquez, S. Changes in the number of symbionts and Symbiodinium cell pigmentation modulate differentially coral light absorption and photosynthetic performance. Front. Mar. Sci 4, 309. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00309 (2017).

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Veron, J. E. N. Corals in Space and Time. The Biogeography and Evolution of the Scleractinia 321 (Cornell University Press, 1995).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelder, J. A. & Mead, R. A simplex method for function minimization. J. Comput. 7, 308–313. https://doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/7.4.308 (1965).

    Article 
    MathSciNet 
    MATH 

    Google Scholar 

  • R: A languate and environment for statistical computing. Retrieved from http://www.R-project.org (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, 2010).


  • Source: Ecology - nature.com

    Mining for the clean energy transition

    A healthy wind