Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems
Shallow warm-water and deep-sea cold-water corals engineer the coral reef framework and fertilize reef communities by releasing coral mucus, a source of reef dissolved organic matter (DOM). By transforming DOM into particulate detritus, sponges play a key role in transferring the energy and nutrient...
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ftleibnizopen:oai:oai.leibnizopen.de:kW31PYkBdbrxVwz6AuKu 2023-07-30T04:05:29+02:00 Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems Rix, Laura de Goeij, Jasper M Mueller, Christina E Struck, Ulrich Middelburg, Jack J van Duyl, Fleur C Al-Horani, Fuad A Wild, Christian Naumann, Malik van Oevelen, Dick 2016 https://repository.publisso.de/resource/frl:6404248 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18715 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4703987/ https://www.nature.com/articles/srep18715#supplementary-information eng eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Scientific reports, 6:18715 Ecosystem ecology Stable isotope analysis Biogeochemistry Ecophysiology 2016 ftleibnizopen https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18715 2023-07-10T12:35:03Z Shallow warm-water and deep-sea cold-water corals engineer the coral reef framework and fertilize reef communities by releasing coral mucus, a source of reef dissolved organic matter (DOM). By transforming DOM into particulate detritus, sponges play a key role in transferring the energy and nutrients in DOM to higher trophic levels on Caribbean reefs via the so-called sponge loop. Coral mucus may be a major DOM source for the sponge loop, but mucus uptake by sponges has not been demonstrated. Here we used laboratory stable isotope tracer experiments to show the transfer of coral mucus into the bulk tissue and phospholipid fatty acids of the warm-water sponge Mycale fistulifera and cold-water sponge Hymedesmia coriacea, demonstrating a direct trophic link between corals and reef sponges. Furthermore, 21–40% of the mucus carbon and 32–39% of the nitrogen assimilated by the sponges was subsequently released as detritus, confirming a sponge loop on Red Sea warm-water and north Atlantic cold-water coral reefs. The presence of a sponge loop in two vastly different reef environments suggests it is a ubiquitous feature of reef ecosystems contributing to the high biogeochemical cycling that may enable coral reefs to thrive in nutrient-limited (warm-water) and energy-limited (cold-water) environments. Other/Unknown Material North Atlantic LeibnizOpen (The Leibniz Association) Scientific Reports 6 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
LeibnizOpen (The Leibniz Association) |
op_collection_id |
ftleibnizopen |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecosystem ecology Stable isotope analysis Biogeochemistry Ecophysiology |
spellingShingle |
Ecosystem ecology Stable isotope analysis Biogeochemistry Ecophysiology Rix, Laura de Goeij, Jasper M Mueller, Christina E Struck, Ulrich Middelburg, Jack J van Duyl, Fleur C Al-Horani, Fuad A Wild, Christian Naumann, Malik van Oevelen, Dick Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems |
topic_facet |
Ecosystem ecology Stable isotope analysis Biogeochemistry Ecophysiology |
description |
Shallow warm-water and deep-sea cold-water corals engineer the coral reef framework and fertilize reef communities by releasing coral mucus, a source of reef dissolved organic matter (DOM). By transforming DOM into particulate detritus, sponges play a key role in transferring the energy and nutrients in DOM to higher trophic levels on Caribbean reefs via the so-called sponge loop. Coral mucus may be a major DOM source for the sponge loop, but mucus uptake by sponges has not been demonstrated. Here we used laboratory stable isotope tracer experiments to show the transfer of coral mucus into the bulk tissue and phospholipid fatty acids of the warm-water sponge Mycale fistulifera and cold-water sponge Hymedesmia coriacea, demonstrating a direct trophic link between corals and reef sponges. Furthermore, 21–40% of the mucus carbon and 32–39% of the nitrogen assimilated by the sponges was subsequently released as detritus, confirming a sponge loop on Red Sea warm-water and north Atlantic cold-water coral reefs. The presence of a sponge loop in two vastly different reef environments suggests it is a ubiquitous feature of reef ecosystems contributing to the high biogeochemical cycling that may enable coral reefs to thrive in nutrient-limited (warm-water) and energy-limited (cold-water) environments. |
author |
Rix, Laura de Goeij, Jasper M Mueller, Christina E Struck, Ulrich Middelburg, Jack J van Duyl, Fleur C Al-Horani, Fuad A Wild, Christian Naumann, Malik van Oevelen, Dick |
author_facet |
Rix, Laura de Goeij, Jasper M Mueller, Christina E Struck, Ulrich Middelburg, Jack J van Duyl, Fleur C Al-Horani, Fuad A Wild, Christian Naumann, Malik van Oevelen, Dick |
author_sort |
Rix, Laura |
title |
Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems |
title_short |
Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems |
title_full |
Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems |
title_fullStr |
Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems |
title_full_unstemmed |
Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems |
title_sort |
coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef ecosystems |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://repository.publisso.de/resource/frl:6404248 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18715 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4703987/ https://www.nature.com/articles/srep18715#supplementary-information |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Scientific reports, 6:18715 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18715 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1772817424881549312 |