https://doi.org/10.4081/aiol.2018.7275
Differential response to thermal stress of shallow and deep dwelling colonies of Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum (L., 1758)
Submitted: 3 January 2018
Accepted: 15 June 2018
Published: 10 July 2018
Accepted: 15 June 2018
Abstract Views: 2455
PDF: 649
HTML: 90
HTML: 90
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Over the last decades, Global Climate Change (GCC) caused increase in seawater temperature, which have shown to be detrimental for Mediterranean red coral populations (Corallium rubrum). Recent researches described how responses to temperature increase can differ depending on location and previous stress history; however, investigations throughout a wide bathymetric range on the thermo-tolerance of specimens sharing the same thermally stable environment are still lacking. In order to test if C. rubrum colonies dwelling below the thermocline threshold have an intrinsic different sensitivity to thermal stress, corals at different depths (32 m and 100 m) were collected, kept in aquaria, and their responses to stress analysed in lab experiments. Oxygen consumption and necrosis dynamics were estimated at different temperature regimes (14°C; 21°C and 25°C). Shallow water samples showed a significant lower oxygen consumption and coenosarc necrosis at all temperatures, revealing a potential higher survival rate in stress conditions. On the other hand, significant differences in oxygen consumption between shallow and deep dwelling samples were detected in the 21°C treatment, and after 5 days in the necrosis experiment, underlining, however, a good capacity of tolerance to temperature increase also in deep colonies. Implications of the obtained results for conservation of Mediterranean red corals are illustrated and discussed.
Bongaerts P, Ridgway T, Sampayo EM, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2010) Assessing the “deep reef refugia” hypothesis: Focus on Caribbean reefs. Coral Reefs 29:1–19. doi: 10.1007/s00338-009-0581-x
Bramanti L, Movilla J, Guron M, et al. (2013) Detrimental effects of ocean acidification on the economically important Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum). Glob Chang Biol 19:1897–1908. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12171
Cannas R, Sacco F, Cau A, et al. (2015) New insights into connectivity patterns of mesophotic red coral (Corallium rubrum) populations. Hydrobiologia 759:63–73. doi: 10.1007/s10750-015-2198-0
Cannas R, Sacco F, Cau A, et al. (2016) Genetic monitoring of deep-water exploited banks of the precious Sardinia coral Corallium rubrum (L., 1758): useful data for a sustainable management. Aquat Conserv Mar Freshw Ecosyst 26:236–250. doi: 10.1002/aqc.2522
Cau A, Bramanti L, Cannas R, et al. (2016) Habitat constraints and self-thinning shape Mediterranean red coral deep population structure: implications for conservation practice. Sci Rep 6:23322. doi: 10.1038/srep23322
Cau A, Follesa MC, Moccia D, et al. (2015) Deepwater corals biodiversity along roche du large ecosystems with different habitat complexity along the south Sardinia continental margin (CW Mediterranean Sea). Mar Biol 162:1865–1878. doi: 10.1007/s00227-015-2718-5
Cerrano C, Bianchi CN, Cattaneo-vietti R, et al. (2000) A catastrophic mass-mortality episode of gorgonians and other organisms in the Ligurian Sea ( North- western Mediterranean ), summer 1999. Ecol Lett 3:284–293.
Cerrano C, Cardini U, Bianchelli S, et al. (2013) Red coral extinction risk enhanced by ocean acidification. Sci Rep 3:1457. doi: 10.1038/srep01457
Costantini F, Abbiati M (2016) Into the depth of population genetics: pattern of structuring in mesophotic red coral populations. Coral Reefs 35:39–52. doi: 10.1007/s00338-015-1344-5
Costantini F, Carlesi L, Abbiati M (2013) Quantifying spatial genetic structuring in mesophotic populations of the precious coral Corallium rubrum. PLoS One 8:e61546. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061546
Costantini F, Rossi S, Pintus E, et al. (2011) Low connectivity and declining genetic variability along a depth gradient in Corallium rubrum populations. Coral Reefs 30:991–1003. doi: 10.1007/s00338-011-0771-1
Di Camillo CG, Cerrano C (2015) Mass Mortality Events in the NW Adriatic Sea: Phase Shift from Slow- to Fast-Growing Organisms. PLoS One 10:e0126689. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126689
Ezzat L, Merle P-L, Furla P, et al. (2013) The response of the Mediterranean gorgonian Eunicella singularis to thermal stress is independent of its nutritional regime. PLoS One 8:e64370. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064370
Ferrier-Pagès C, Tambutté E, Zamoum T, et al. (2009) Physiological response of the symbiotic gorgonian Eunicella singularis to a long-term temperature increase. J Exp Biol 212:3007–15. doi: 10.1242/jeb.031823
Follesa MC, Cannas R, Cau A, et al. (2013) Deep-water red coral from the island of Sardinia (north-western Mediterranean): a local example of sustainable management. Mar Freshw Res 64:706–715. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF12235
Garrabou J, Coma R, Bensoussan N, et al. (2009) Mass mortality in Northwestern Mediterranean rocky benthic communities: Effects of the 2003 heat wave. Glob Chang Biol 15:1090–1103. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01823.x
Garrabou J, Perez T, Sartoretto S, Harmelin J (2001) Mass mortality event in red coral Corallium rubrum populations in the Provence region (France, NW Mediterranean). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 217:263–272. doi: 10.3354/meps217263
Gili JM, Coma R (1998) Benthic suspension feeders: their paramount role in littoral marine food webs. Trends Ecol Evol 13:316–21.
Gori A, Reynaud S, Orejas C, Ferrier-pagès C (2015) The influence of flow velocity and temperature on zooplankton capture rates by the cold-water coral Dendrophyllia cornigera. J Exp Mar Bio Ecol 466:92–97. doi: 10.1016/j.jembe.2015.02.004
Harley CDG, Randall Hughes a, Hultgren KM, et al. (2006) The impacts of climate change in coastal marine systems. Ecol Lett 9:228–41. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00871.x
Hughes TP, Baird a H, Bellwood DR, et al. (2003) Climate change, human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs. Science (80- ) 301:929–33. doi: 10.1126/science.1085046
Jones CG, Lawton JH, Shachak M (1994) Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos 69:373–386.
Kohler KE, Gill SM (2006) Coral Point Count with Excel extensions (CPCe): A Visual Basic program for the determination of coral and substrate coverage using random point count methodology. Comput Geosci 32:1259–1269. doi: 10.1016/j.cageo.2005.11.009
Lartaud F, Galli G, Raza A, et al. (2016) Growth Patterns in Long-Lived Coral Species. In: Rossi S, Bramanti L, Gori A, Orejas C (eds) Mar. Anim. For. Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016, pp 1–32
Lejeusne C, Chevaldonné P, Pergent-Martini C, et al. (2010) Climate change effects on a miniature ocean: the highly diverse, highly impacted Mediterranean Sea. Trends Ecol Evol 25:250–260. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2009.10.009
Linares C, Cebrian E, Kipson S, Garrabou J (2013) Does thermal history influence the tolerance of temperate gorgonians to future warming? Mar Environ Res 89:45–52. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2013.04.009
Meinshausen M, Smith SJ, Calvin K, et al. (2011) The RCP greenhouse gas concentrations and their extensions from 1765 to 2300. Clim Change 109:213–241. doi: 10.1007/s10584-011-0156-z
Naumann MS, Orejas C, Ferrier-Pagès C (2013) High thermal tolerance of two Mediterranean cold-water coral species maintained in aquaria. Coral Reefs 32:749–754. doi: 10.1007/s00338-013-1011-7
Previati M, Scinto A, Cerrano C, Osinga R (2010) Oxygen consumption in Mediterranean octocorals under different temperatures. J Exp Mar Bio Ecol 390:39–48. doi: 10.1016/j.jembe.2010.04.025
Rossi S (2013) The destruction of the “animal forests” in the oceans: Towards an over-simplification of the benthic ecosystems. Ocean Coast Manag 84:77–85. doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2013.07.004
Rossi S, Tsounis G, Orejas C, et al. (2008) Survey of deep-dwelling red coral (Corallium rubrum) populations at Cap de Creus (NW Mediterranean). Mar Biol 154:533–545. doi: 10.1007/s00227-008-0947-6
Taviani M, Bussoletti E, Cottingham D, et al. (2010) The deepest known occurrence of the precious red coral Corallium rubrum (L. 1758) in the Mediterranean Sea. Proc. Int. Work. Red Coral Sci. , Manag. , Trade Lessons from Mediterr.
Torrents O, Tambutté E, Caminiti N, Garrabou J (2008) Upper thermal thresholds of shallow vs. deep populations of the precious Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum (L.): Assessing the potential effects of warming in the NW Mediterranean. J Exp Mar Bio Ecol 357:7–19. doi: 10.1016/j.jembe.2007.12.006
Tsounis G, Grigg R, Gili J (2010) The exploitation and conservation of precious corals. Oceanogr Mar Biol An Annu Rev 48:161–212.
Vuuren DP Van, Meinshausen M, Joos F, et al. (2008) Temperature increase of 21st century. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:15258–15262.
How to Cite
Cau, A., Bramanti, L., Cannas, R., Moccia, D., Padedda, B. M., Porcu, C., Sacco, F., & Follesa, M. C. (2018). Differential response to thermal stress of shallow and deep dwelling colonies of Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum (L., 1758). Advances in Oceanography and Limnology, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/aiol.2018.7275
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.