Response to sedimentation stress of the gorgonian coral Primnoella chilensis from the Chilean fjord region ...

• Main Authors: Verse, Leander, Laudien, Jürgen, Häussermann, Verena
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2019
• Subjects: Bentho-Pelagic Processes @ AWI AWI_BPP; Alfred Wegener Institute
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.905477; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.905477

Sedimentation is one of the main disturbance factors influencing benthic communities and coastal reef organisms through a variety of mechanisms. In Chilean Patagonia, rising anthropogenic intrusions such as coastal road projects and aquaculture installations threaten the local biodiversity causing increased sedimentation with even more to be expected. Primnoella chilensis (Philippi, 1894) is an important habitat-forming gorgonian coral, abundant in this region, but significant abundance decreases were reported for the last decade. The present study aimed to describe physiological and behavioural stress responses of P. chilensis to increased sedimentation. Therefore, two laboratory experiments were conducted measuring colonies' responses in respiration for 18 hours as well as documenting polyp activity and mucus secretion for 15 days under sediment exposure. No significant differences in oxygen consumption were measured, presumably due to the low number of test organisms. Further, no mucus secretion or ... : This dataset was generated in the frame of the co-operation between the Huinay Scientific Field Station (http://www.huinay.cl) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (http://www.awi.de). ...