Impacts of elevated temperature and pCO2 on the brooded larvae of Pocillopora damicornis from Luhuitou Reef, China: evidence for local acclimatization

In this study, we tested whether larvae brooded by the reef coral Pocillopora damicornis from a naturally extreme and highly variable environment are preadapted to cope with predicted increases in temperature and p CO 2 . We exposed larvae to two temperatures (29 vs. 30.8 °C) crossed with two p CO 2...

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Published in:Coral reefs 2020-04, Vol.39 (2), p.331-344
Main Authors: Jiang, Lei, Guo, Ming-Lan, Zhang, Fang, Zhang, Yu-Yang, Zhou, Guo-Wei, Lei, Xin-Ming, Yuan, Xiang-Cheng, Sun, You-Fang, Yuan, Tao, Cai, Lin, Lian, Jian-Sheng, Liu, Sheng, Qian, Pei-Yuan, Huang, Hui
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Language:English
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Summary:In this study, we tested whether larvae brooded by the reef coral Pocillopora damicornis from a naturally extreme and highly variable environment are preadapted to cope with predicted increases in temperature and p CO 2 . We exposed larvae to two temperatures (29 vs. 30.8 °C) crossed with two p CO 2 levels (~ 500 vs. ~ 1000 μatm) in a full-factorial experiment for 5 d. Larval performance was assessed as dark respiration ( R D ), net and gross photosynthesis ( P N and P G , respectively), survival, settlement, and the activity of carbonic anhydrase (CA), the central enzyme involved in photosynthesis. The results showed that R D was unaffected by either elevated temperature or p CO 2 , while elevated temperature and/or p CO 2 stimulated P N and P G and increased the ratios of P N to R D , indicating a relatively higher autotrophic capacity. Consequently, larval survivorship under elevated temperature and/or p CO 2 was consistently 14% higher than that under the control treatment. Furthermore, elevated temperature and p CO 2 did not affect host CA activity, but synergistically enhanced symbiont CA activity, contributing greatly to the stimulated photosynthetic capacity. These results suggest that brooded larvae of P. damicornis larvae from Luhuitou may be preadapted to cope with projected warming and ocean acidification. More generally, it appears that corals from highly variable environments may have increased resilience to the widespread climate change.
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/s00338-020-01894-x