Will coral reefs survive by adaptive bleaching?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Cunning
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Coral Species ◽  
Competitive Dynamics ◽  
Disturbance Regime ◽  
Adaptive Potential ◽  
Community Turnover ◽  
Bleaching Response ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽  
Heat Tolerant ◽  
Symbiont Shuffling

Some reef-building corals form symbioses with multiple algal partners that differ in ecologically important traits like heat tolerance. Coral bleaching and recovery can drive symbiont community turnover toward more heat-tolerant partners, and this ‘adaptive bleaching’ response can increase future bleaching thresholds by 1–2°C, aiding survival in warming oceans. However, this mechanism of rapid acclimatization only occurs in corals that are compatible with multiple symbionts, and only when the disturbance regime and competitive dynamics among symbionts are sufficient to bring about community turnover. The full scope of coral taxa and ecological scenarios in which symbiont shuffling occurs remains poorly understood, though its prevalence is likely to increase as warming oceans boost the competitive advantage of heat-tolerant symbionts, increase the frequency of bleaching events, and strengthen metacommunity feedbacks. Still, the constraints, limitations, and potential tradeoffs of symbiont shuffling suggest it will not save coral reef ecosystems; however, it may significantly improve the survival trajectories of some, or perhaps many, coral species. Interventions to manipulate coral symbionts and symbiont communities may expand the scope of their adaptive potential, which may boost coral survival until climate change is addressed.

scholarly journals Unrecognized coral species diversity masks differences in functional ecology

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1776) ◽  
pp. 20131580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer N. Boulay ◽  
Michael E. Hellberg ◽  
Jorge Cortés ◽  
Iliana B. Baums
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Coral Species ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Porites Lobata ◽  
Bleaching Response

Porites corals are foundation species on Pacific reefs but a confused taxonomy hinders understanding of their ecosystem function and responses to climate change. Here, we show that what has been considered a single species in the eastern tropical Pacific, Porites lobata , includes a morphologically similar yet ecologically distinct species, Porites evermanni . While P. lobata reproduces mainly sexually, P. evermanni dominates in areas where triggerfish prey on bioeroding mussels living within the coral skeleton, thereby generating asexual coral fragments. These fragments proliferate in marginal habitat not colonized by P. lobata . The two Porites species also show a differential bleaching response despite hosting the same dominant symbiont subclade. Thus, hidden diversity within these reef-builders has until now obscured differences in trophic interactions, reproductive dynamics and bleaching susceptibility, indicative of differential responses when confronted with future climate change.

scholarly journals Evaluating within-population variability in behavior and demography for the adaptive potential of a dispersal-limited species to climate change

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (24) ◽  
pp. 8740-8755 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Muñoz ◽  
Kyle Miller Hesed ◽  
Evan H. Campbell Grant ◽  
David A. W. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Population Variability ◽  
Adaptive Potential

Neurobiology of phenotypic plasticity in the light of climate change

Neuroforum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda C. Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Sensory Systems ◽  
Chemical Information ◽  
Adaptive Potential ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Neuronal Signalling ◽  
Physiological Adaptations ◽  
Signalling Cascade

Abstract Phenotypic plasticity describes the ability of an organism with a given genotype to respond to changing environmental conditions through the adaptation of the phenotype. Phenotypic plasticity is a widespread means of adaptation, allowing organisms to optimize fitness levels in changing environments. A core prerequisite for adaptive predictive plasticity is the existence of reliable cues, i.e. accurate environmental information about future selection on the expressed plastic phenotype. Furthermore, organisms need the capacity to detect and interpret such cues, relying on specific sensory signalling and neuronal cascades. Subsequent neurohormonal changes lead to the transformation of phenotype A into phenotype B. Each of these activities is critical for survival. Consequently, anything that could impair an animal’s ability to perceive important chemical information could have significant ecological ramifications. Climate change and other human stressors can act on individual or all of the components of this signalling cascade. In consequence, organisms could lose their adaptive potential, or in the worst case, even become maladapted. Therefore, it is key to understand the sensory systems, the neurobiology and the physiological adaptations that mediate organisms’ interactions with their environment. It is, thus, pivotal to predict the ecosystem-wide effects of global human forcing. This review summarizes current insights on how climate change affects phenotypic plasticity, focussing on how associated stressors change the signalling agents, the sensory systems, receptor responses and neuronal signalling cascades, thereby, impairing phenotypic adaptations.

Pools of resilience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Abrego ◽  
Andrew H Baird ◽  
Emily Howells ◽  
Stephen DA Smith
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Coral Species ◽  
Scleractinian Corals ◽  
Rock Pools ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Extreme Habitat

We describe an extreme habitat for scleractinian corals in intertidal rock pools of southeastern Australia. The pools host a small but hardy subset of coral species despite experiencing conditions beyond those documented for corals anywhere in Australia. Understanding mechanisms behind this may improve insights into climate change adaptation in corals.

scholarly journals Birds facing climate change: a qualitative model for the adaptive potential of migratory behaviour

2015 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelangelo Morganti
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Migratory Birds ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Qualitative Model ◽  
Migratory Behaviour ◽  
Adaptive Potential ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Genetic Determination ◽  
Recent Climate

Recent climate change is altering the migratory behaviour of many bird species. An advancement in the timing of spring events and a shift in the geographical distribution have been detected for birds around the world. In particular, intra-Palearctic migratory birds have advanced arrivals in spring and shortened migratory distances by shifting northward their wintering grounds. These changes in migratory patterns are considered adaptive responses facilitating the adjustment of the life cycle to the phenological changes found in their breeding areas. However, in some cases, populations exposed to the same selective pressures do not show any appreciable adaptive change in their behaviour. Basing on the comparison of realized and non-realized adaptive changes, I propose here the formulation of a qualitative model that predicts the potential of migratory birds populations to change adaptively their migratory behaviour. The model assumes that the adaptive potential of migratory behaviour is fuelled by both genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity. Populations of long-distance migrants are exposed to strong environmental canalization that largely eroded their phenotypic plasticity and reduced genetic variability, so that they show a very low amount of adaptive potential regarding migratory behaviour. On the contrary, partial-migrant populations have a highly varied genetic profile and are more plastic at the phenotypic level, and consequently show the highest amount of adaptive potential. Species with mainly social and mainly genetic determination of the migratory behaviour are separately treated in the model. Specific empirical models to foresee the adaptive strategies of wild bird populations that face to climate change can be derived from the general theoretical model. As example, a specific model about the shortening of migratory distances in Western European migratory bird is presented. Finally, a number of future research lines on the topic of adaptive potential of migratory behaviour are discussed, including some examples of concrete study cases. In conclusion, partial-migration emerge as the less known system and future research efforts on this topic are expected to be especially fruitful.

scholarly journals High community turnover and dispersal limitation relative to rapid climate change

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayme M. M. Lewthwaite ◽  
Diane M. Debinski ◽  
Jeremy T. Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Dispersal Limitation ◽  
Rapid Climate Change ◽  
Community Turnover

The potential impacts of climate change on Australian subtropical rainforest

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 440 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Laidlaw ◽  
W. J. F. McDonald ◽  
R. John Hunter ◽  
D. A. Putland ◽  
R. L. Kitching
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Cloud Base ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Turnover Rates ◽  
Vegetation Communities ◽  
Community Turnover ◽  
As Species ◽  
Break Points ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

The potential for anthropogenic climate change to impact upon native vegetation has emphasised the need for monitoring and for dynamic management regimes. Potential impacts are numerous, but will likely include the upslope movement of species’ ranges and increasing in situ turnover (compositional change) within plant assemblages. By assessing the potential impacts of climate change on subtropical rainforest communities in south-east Queensland through the establishment of an altitudinal transect, we aimed to establish the baseline composition of the vegetation and to develop two hypotheses against which climate change scenarios can be tested. The study identified existing high levels of turnover across tree assemblages from low to mid elevations absent at higher elevations and we predict: (1) subtropical rainforest communities which currently sit at the level of the cloud base (800–900 m) will experience increasing floristic turnover, and (2) novel vegetation communities will emerge as species move upslope in response to a changing climate. Monitoring floristic turnover as a surrogate for shifting climatic habitats may be confounded both by a lack of knowledge regarding the underlying turnover rates of rainforest communities and by the disparity in temporal scales of tree community turnover and accelerating anthropogenic climate change. The identification of ‘break points’ in the relationship between current vegetation communities and gradients of precipitation and temperature will allow better direction of monitoring efforts.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document