scleractinian corals
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Author(s):  
James J. Bell ◽  
Valerio Micaroni ◽  
Francesca Strano

Despite the global focus on the occurrence of regime shifts on shallow-water tropical coral reefs over the last two decades, most of this research continues to focus on changes to algal-dominated states. Here, we review recent reports (in approximately the last decade) of regime shifts to states dominated by animal groups other than zooxanthellate Scleractinian corals. We found that while there have been new reports of regime shifts to reefs dominated by Ascidacea, Porifera, Octocorallia, Zoantharia, Actiniaria and azooxanthellate Scleractinian corals, some of these changes occurred many decades ago, but have only just been reported in the literature. In most cases, these reports are over small to medium spatial scales (<4 × 104 m2 and 4 × 104 to 2 × 106 m2, respectively). Importantly, from the few studies where we were able to collect information on the persistence of the regime shifts, we determined that these non-scleractinian states are generally unstable, with further changes since the original regime shift. However, these changes were not generally back to coral dominance. While there has been some research to understand how sponge- and octocoral-dominated systems may function, there is still limited information on what ecosystem services have been disrupted or lost as a result of these shifts. Given that many coral reefs across the world are on the edge of tipping points due to increasing anthropogenic stress, we urgently need to understand the consequences of non-algal coral reef regime shifts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 314 ◽  
pp. 113905
Author(s):  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Shinya Shikina ◽  
Yu-Ying Ho ◽  
Yi-Ling Chiu ◽  
Jack I-Chen Yao ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuya Shinzato ◽  
Haruhi Narisoko ◽  
Koki Nishitsuji ◽  
Tomofumi Nagata ◽  
Noriyuki Satoh ◽  
...  

Coral reefs, the most biodiverse habitats in the ocean, are formed by anthozoan cnidarians, the scleractinian corals. Recently, however, ongoing climate change has imperiled scleractinian corals and coral reef environments are changing drastically. Thus, convenient, high-density monitoring of scleractinian corals is essential to understand changes in coral reef communities. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is potentially one of the most effective means of achieving it. Using publicly available scleractinian mitochondrial genomes, we developed high-specificity primers to amplify mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA (12S) and cytochrome oxidase-1 (CO1) genes of diverse scleractinian corals, which could be used for genus-level metabarcoding analyses, using next-generation sequencing technologies. To confirm the effectiveness of these primers, PCR amplicon sequencing was performed using eDNA isolated along the seashore of Okinawa, Japan. We successfully amplified all eDNA samples using PCR. Approximately 93 and 72% of PCR amplicon sequences of 12S and CO1 primers originated from scleractinian 12S and CO1 genes, respectively, confirming higher specificities for coral mitochondrial genes than primers previously used for coral eDNA metabarcoding. We also found that hierarchical clustering, based on the percentage of mapped reads to each scleractinian genus, discriminates between sampling locations, suggesting that eDNA surveys are sufficiently powerful to reveal differences between coral communities separated by <1 km. We conclude that the method reported here is a powerful tool for conducting efficient eDNA surveys targeting scleractinian corals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Funty Polapa ◽  
SHINTA WERORILANGI ◽  
SUHARTO M. ALI ◽  
JAMALUDDIN JOMPA

Abstract. Polapa FS, Werorilangi S, Ali SM, Jompa J. 2021. Physiological responses of scleractinian corals in marginal habitat. Biodiversitas 22: 4011-4018. This study aims to analyze physiological differences in corals in marginal habitats. Under different conditions, the production/respiration (P/R) ratio and photobiology of various coral genera were compared. Samples were taken from three coral reef zones representing typical reef habitats and from the mangrove ecosystem as a marginal habitat. Surveys revealed two coral genera surviving in extreme conditions (marginal habitat). The P/R ratio measurements indicated that corals living in the mangrove ecosystem tend to be heterotrophic. This was supported by observations of colonies with tentacles extended from the corallites. Furthermore, Porites living in the mangrove habitat consume more O2 directly than saving it for other purposes, such as growth. The genus Dipsastraea exhibited elevated zooxanthellae density in the mangrove ecosystem, whereas Porites exhibited similar densities in both ecosystems.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Shu Qin Sam ◽  
Chin Soon Lionel Ng ◽  
Yuichi Preslie Kikuzawa ◽  
Tai Chong Toh ◽  
Wan Ting Sim ◽  
...  

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