Oxygen: the universal currency on coral reefs

Coral reefs are suffering unprecedented declines worldwide. Most studies focus on stressors such as rising temperatures, nutrient pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification as drivers of this degradation. However, recent mass mortality events associated with low oxygen on coral reefs indicate t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coral reefs 2019-04, Vol.38 (2), p.177-198
Main Authors: Nelson, Hannah R., Altieri, Andrew H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidification
Anthropogenic factors
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Calcification
Competitors
Coral bleaching
Coral reefs
Corals
Dynamics
Eutrophication
Fish
Fish behavior
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Interactions
Life Sciences
Marine pollution
Mass mortality
Mineral nutrients
Morphology
Nutrient pollution
Ocean acidification
Oceanography
Overfishing
Oxygen
Pathogens
Review
Temperature effects
Variation
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Summary:Coral reefs are suffering unprecedented declines worldwide. Most studies focus on stressors such as rising temperatures, nutrient pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification as drivers of this degradation. However, recent mass mortality events associated with low oxygen on coral reefs indicate that oxygen is a critical factor that can be limiting in reef environments. Here, we present evidence that integrates across disciplines and perspectives to reveal how natural and anthropogenic factors drive variation in oxygen at multiple scales on coral reefs. This variation, in turn, limits essential processes such as productivity, respiration, and calcification on reefs and often plays a role in the outcome of interactions between corals and their competitors, pathogens, and mutualists. Moreover, the apparent effects of temperature, eutrophication, acidification, and other stressors on corals are commonly mediated by oxygen. As a consequence, the imprint of oxygen variation is evident in many patterns including reef biodiversity, coral bleaching, colony morphology, and fish behavior. We suggest that the structure and dynamics of coral reefs can be fully understood only by considering the ubiquitous role of oxygen, and we identify critical areas of future oxygen research to guide the study and management of coral reefs in a changing world.
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/s00338-019-01765-0