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- Title
Cold temperature stress and predation effects on corals: their possible roles in structuring a nonreefal coral community.
- Authors
Tsang, Ryan; Ang, Put
- Abstract
The incidence of Drupella corallivory in Hong Kong was observed to be higher following colder winters. A correlation between colder winter and increased corallivory could therefore be suggested, and a hypothesis that corals stressed by low temperature are preferred by corallivores was proposed. This study tested this hypothesis by investigating the effects of both low (14 °C) and elevated (32 °C) temperatures on the coral Acropora valida and the consequences of these exposures on corallivory by the gastropod Drupella rugosa using a prey-choice experimental strategy. The low temperature (14 °C) tested represents the mean lowest sea surface temperature (SST) recorded in winter in Hong Kong, and the elevated temperature (32 °C) tested represents the mean highest SST in summer. These temperatures do not occur every year. Experimental results showed that A. valida was sensitive to low, but not to elevated, temperature stress. Only the cold stressed corals showed paler tissue and coral decay after the one-week temperature treatment. The results of the prey-choice experiment also showed that cold stressed corals were preferentially attacked by the gastropods. Low-temperature stress also exerted effects on D. rugosa as the cold stressed gastropods were less responsive and sensitive than the normal gastropods in detecting prey. However, when both A. valida and D. rugosa were exposed to the same level of low-temperature stress, the impact was more detrimental to the coral than to the gastropod. Given that nonreefal coral communities like those in Hong Kong are periodically experiencing winter low temperatures, these differences in the response to low-temperature stress and the subsequent selective predation effect may prevent such fast-growing coral species such as A. valida from dominating and thereby contribute to the shaping of the coral community structure.
- Subjects
HONG Kong (China); CHINA; DRUPELLA cornus; PREDATION; COLD (Temperature); CORAL ecology; CORAL colonies; CORAL reef organisms
- Publication
Coral Reefs, 2015, Vol 34, Issue 1, p97
- ISSN
0722-4028
- Publication type
Report
- DOI
10.1007/s00338-014-1210-x