Pigmentation of massive corals as a simple bioindicator for marine water quality

Photo-acclimatisation by the algal endosymbionts of scleractinian corals to changes in environmental conditions may influence their density and/or the concentration of photosynthetic pigments, and hence coral brightness, on short time-scales. To examine coral pigmentation as a bioindicator of water...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2012-01, Vol.65 (4-9), p.333-341
Main Authors: Cooper, Timothy F., Fabricius, Katharina E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acclimatization
Animals
Anthozoa - physiology
Australia
Brightness
chlorophyll
Chlorophyll - analysis
Chlorophyll - metabolism
Chlorophylls
Color
Colour chart
Coral reflectance
Corals
Density
endosymbionts
environmental factors
Environmental gradient
Environmental Monitoring - methods
laboratory experimentation
light intensity
Marine
nutrients
Photosynthesis
Photosynthetic pigment
Pigmentation
Pigments
Porites
reflectance spectroscopy
Scleractinia
seawater
Seawater - chemistry
Sublethal bioindicator
temperature
Transplantation
water pollution
Water quality
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Summary:Photo-acclimatisation by the algal endosymbionts of scleractinian corals to changes in environmental conditions may influence their density and/or the concentration of photosynthetic pigments, and hence coral brightness, on short time-scales. To examine coral pigmentation as a bioindicator of water quality, the brightness of massive corals was quantified using colour charts, concentrations of the pigment chlorophyll a and reflectance spectrometry in the field and with manipulative experiments. Along a water quality gradient, massive Porites became progressively lighter as nutrients decreased and irradiance increased. A laboratory experiment showed that Porites nubbins darkened within 25days following exposure to reduced water quality. The results of a transplantation experiment of Porites nubbins in a manipulation incorporating multiple depths and zones of water quality confirmed colony brightness as a simple tool to monitor changes in marine water quality, provided effects due to other influences on pigmentation, e.g. seawater temperatures, are taken into consideration.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.07.019