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Heat stress differentially impacts key calcification mechanisms in reef-building corals

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Abstract

Coral reefs are increasingly threatened by climate change, mass bleaching events and ocean acidification (OA). Coral calcification, a process that is critical to build and maintain the structure of tropical coral reefs, is highly sensitive to both warming and acidifying oceans. However, in contrast to the impacts of OA on coral calcification, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding how coral biomineralization mechanisms are impacted by heat stress and bleaching. Using a combined physiological and geochemical approach, we investigated how a marine heatwave impacted coral symbiotic status (chlorophyll a, algal symbiont density), the carbonate chemistry of the coral calcifying fluid (via δ11B and B/Ca) and skeletal trace element composition in the branching coral Acropora aspera. Importantly, we recorded in situ temperature throughout the bleaching event and recovery as well as coral symbiotic status during peak bleaching and after 7 months of recovery. We show that heat-stressed Acropora corals continued to upregulate the pH of their calcifying fluid (cf); however, dissolved inorganic carbon upregulation inside the cf was significantly disrupted by heat stress. Similarly, we observed suppression of the typical seasonality in the trace element (TE) temperature proxies Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca, Li/Ca and Li/Mg, indicating disruption of important calcification mechanisms, Rayleigh fractionation and reduced growth rates. Anomalies in TE/Ca ratios were still observed 7 months after peak bleaching, even though algal symbiont densities and chlorophyll a concentrations were fully restored at this point. Interestingly, the biomineralization response to heat stress did not differ between thermally distinct reef habitats harbouring coral populations with different heat tolerance, nor between heat-stressed colonies with different severity of bleaching. Our findings suggest that coral biomineralization mechanisms in Acropora are highly sensitive to heat stress, showing similar patterns of biogeochemical stress response as other coral taxa.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [VS], upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank: J. Brown, G. Firman and the staff at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm for assistance in the field; the Bardi Jawi people who enabled this research through their advice and consent to access their traditional lands; S. Comeau and C. Cornwall for sharing carbonate chemistry data; C. Ross for sharing unpublished Li/Ca data; K. Rankenburg, H. Sanderson and E. Larcombe for assistance in the lab. Funding was provided by the PADI Foundation (VS, Research Grant #21737), Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (MM, CE140100020) and an ARC Laureate Fellowship (MM, LF120100049).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oceans Graduate School and UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, Australia

    Verena Schoepf, Juan Pablo D’Olivo, Cyrielle Rigal, E. Maria U. Jung & Malcolm T. McCulloch

  2. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, Australia

    Verena Schoepf, Juan Pablo D’Olivo, Cyrielle Rigal, E. Maria U. Jung & Malcolm T. McCulloch

  3. Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Verena Schoepf

  4. Institute for Paleontology, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstrasse, 12249, Berlin, Germany

    Juan Pablo D’Olivo

  5. Marine Chemistry and Biotechnology Laboratory (LBCM), Université de Bretagne Sud, Lorient, France

    Cyrielle Rigal

  6. Department of Biology and Chemistry, University of Bremen, Bibliothekstraße 1, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    E. Maria U. Jung

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  1. Verena Schoepf
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VS, JPD and MM designed the study. VS conducted the fieldwork and statistical analyses. CR and MJ conducted the physiological analyses. VS and JPD conducted the geochemical analyses. VS led the writing of the paper, with all authors contributing to the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Verena Schoepf.

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Schoepf, V., D’Olivo, J., Rigal, C. et al. Heat stress differentially impacts key calcification mechanisms in reef-building corals. Coral Reefs 40, 459–471 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02038-x

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