Short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral Xenia umbellata.
Coral reefs may experience lower pH values as a result of ocean acidification (OA), which has negative consequences, particularly for calcifying organisms. Thus far, the effects of this global factor have been mainly investigated on hard corals, while the effects on soft corals remain relatively und...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a1edd5c9e1e54419a5cc4f251ddd5686 2024-01-14T10:09:37+01:00 Short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral Xenia umbellata. Arjen Tilstra Lorena Braxator Bianca Thobor Selma D Mezger Claudia E L Hill Yusuf C El-Khaled Giulia Caporale Sohyoung Kim Christian Wild 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294470 https://doaj.org/article/a1edd5c9e1e54419a5cc4f251ddd5686 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0294470&type=printable https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0294470 https://doaj.org/article/a1edd5c9e1e54419a5cc4f251ddd5686 PLoS ONE, Vol 18, Iss 11, p e0294470 (2023) Medicine R Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294470 2023-12-17T01:44:45Z Coral reefs may experience lower pH values as a result of ocean acidification (OA), which has negative consequences, particularly for calcifying organisms. Thus far, the effects of this global factor have been mainly investigated on hard corals, while the effects on soft corals remain relatively understudied. We therefore carried out a manipulative aquarium experiment for 21 days to study the response of the widespread pulsating soft coral Xenia umbellata to simulated OA conditions. We gradually decreased the pH from ambient (~8.3) to three consecutive 7-day long pH treatments of 8.0, 7.8, and 7.6, using a CO2 dosing system. Monitored response variables included pulsation rate, specific growth rate, visual coloration, survival, Symbiodiniaceae cell densities and chlorophyll a content, photosynthesis and respiration, and finally stable isotopes of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) as well as CN content. Pulsation decreased compared to controls with each consecutive lowering of the pH, i.e., 17% at pH 8.0, 26% at pH 7.8 and 32% at pH 7.6, accompanied by an initial decrease in growth rates of ~60% at pH 8.0, not decreasing further at lower pH. An 8.3 ‰ decrease of δ13C confirmed that OA exposed colonies had a higher uptake and availability of atmospheric CO2. Coral productivity, i.e., photosynthesis, was not affected by higher dissolved inorganic C availability and none of the remaining response variables showed any significant differences. Our findings suggest that pulsation is a phenotypically plastic mechanism for X. umbellata to adjust to different pH values, resulting in reduced growth rates only, while maintaining high productivity. Consequently, pulsation may allow X. umbellata to inhabit a broad pH range with minimal effects on its overall health. This resilience may contribute to the competitive advantage that soft corals, particularly X. umbellata, have over hard corals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 18 11 e0294470 |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Arjen Tilstra Lorena Braxator Bianca Thobor Selma D Mezger Claudia E L Hill Yusuf C El-Khaled Giulia Caporale Sohyoung Kim Christian Wild Short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral Xenia umbellata. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Coral reefs may experience lower pH values as a result of ocean acidification (OA), which has negative consequences, particularly for calcifying organisms. Thus far, the effects of this global factor have been mainly investigated on hard corals, while the effects on soft corals remain relatively understudied. We therefore carried out a manipulative aquarium experiment for 21 days to study the response of the widespread pulsating soft coral Xenia umbellata to simulated OA conditions. We gradually decreased the pH from ambient (~8.3) to three consecutive 7-day long pH treatments of 8.0, 7.8, and 7.6, using a CO2 dosing system. Monitored response variables included pulsation rate, specific growth rate, visual coloration, survival, Symbiodiniaceae cell densities and chlorophyll a content, photosynthesis and respiration, and finally stable isotopes of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) as well as CN content. Pulsation decreased compared to controls with each consecutive lowering of the pH, i.e., 17% at pH 8.0, 26% at pH 7.8 and 32% at pH 7.6, accompanied by an initial decrease in growth rates of ~60% at pH 8.0, not decreasing further at lower pH. An 8.3 ‰ decrease of δ13C confirmed that OA exposed colonies had a higher uptake and availability of atmospheric CO2. Coral productivity, i.e., photosynthesis, was not affected by higher dissolved inorganic C availability and none of the remaining response variables showed any significant differences. Our findings suggest that pulsation is a phenotypically plastic mechanism for X. umbellata to adjust to different pH values, resulting in reduced growth rates only, while maintaining high productivity. Consequently, pulsation may allow X. umbellata to inhabit a broad pH range with minimal effects on its overall health. This resilience may contribute to the competitive advantage that soft corals, particularly X. umbellata, have over hard corals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Arjen Tilstra Lorena Braxator Bianca Thobor Selma D Mezger Claudia E L Hill Yusuf C El-Khaled Giulia Caporale Sohyoung Kim Christian Wild |
author_facet |
Arjen Tilstra Lorena Braxator Bianca Thobor Selma D Mezger Claudia E L Hill Yusuf C El-Khaled Giulia Caporale Sohyoung Kim Christian Wild |
author_sort |
Arjen Tilstra |
title |
Short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral Xenia umbellata. |
title_short |
Short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral Xenia umbellata. |
title_full |
Short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral Xenia umbellata. |
title_fullStr |
Short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral Xenia umbellata. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral Xenia umbellata. |
title_sort |
short-term ocean acidification decreases pulsation and growth of the widespread soft coral xenia umbellata. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294470 https://doaj.org/article/a1edd5c9e1e54419a5cc4f251ddd5686 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 18, Iss 11, p e0294470 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0294470&type=printable https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0294470 https://doaj.org/article/a1edd5c9e1e54419a5cc4f251ddd5686 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294470 |
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PLOS ONE |
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18 |
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11 |
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e0294470 |
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