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<p>Mutualisms involving symbiotic dinoflagellates adapted to high temperatures are mostly restricted to variable warm water habitats. However, their rapid ecological and geographic expansion could enhance the resiliency of many coral communities to ocean warming by increasing colony survivorship when exposed to marine heat waves. The ecological timeframe for community-wide changes in the dominant photosynthetic symbiont is unclear because basic knowledge of the stability and rate of displacement of one symbiont by another remains limited. <i>Durusdinium trenchii</i>, a thermally tolerant host-generalist symbiont native to the Indo-Pacific, establishes long-term stable mutualisms with many host taxa in nearshore habitats in Palau but occurs rarely in colonies from nearby offshore barrier reefs. We evaluated the potential for this symbiont to proliferate in offshore colonies during gradual or acute warming by monitoring for trace abundances among tagged colonies sampled over multiple years. Stability and competitive displacement were also measured in reciprocally transplanted colonies. Consistent with its low prevalence as a dominant symbiont in offshore communities, rarely was <i>D. trenchii</i> detected as a background symbiont in most colonies&#xa0;over the course of the study. <i>Durusdinium trenchii</i> did proliferate from background populations to dominate colonies six months after transfer to nearshore habitats. While stress likely facilitated the rapid shift in the dominant resident symbiont within six months, it also caused high (90%) mortality within the same timeframe. For nearshore corals transplanted to offshore reefs (a more acute change in environment), <i>D. trenchii</i> was displaced by host-compatible <i>Cladocopium</i> spp. between 1 and 2&#xa0;years in branching, fast-growing <i>Acropora</i>. By contrast, <i>D. trenchii</i> maintained its dominance in most colonies of slow-growing mounding and plating coral taxa for at least one or two years after transplantation, indicating that longer timescales are likely required for its displacement by certain&#xa0;host-compatible&#xa0;<i>Cladocopium</i> spp. Such findings have applications for modeling these mutualisms' response to ocean warming and ongoing coral conservation and reef rehabilitation efforts.</p>

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Limited persistence of the heat-tolerant zooxanthella, Durusdinium trenchii, in corals transplanted to a barrier reef where it is rare among natal colonies

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年3月12日

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  • Kira E. Turnham,
  • Allison M. Lewis,
  • Dustin W. Kemp,
  • Mark E. Warner,
  • Drew F. Wham,
  • Robin T. Smith,
  • Kenneth Hoadley,
  • Patrick L. Colin,
  • Yimnang Golbuu,
  • Todd C. LaJeunesse

摘要

Mutualisms involving symbiotic dinoflagellates adapted to high temperatures are mostly restricted to variable warm water habitats. However, their rapid ecological and geographic expansion could enhance the resiliency of many coral communities to ocean warming by increasing colony survivorship when exposed to marine heat waves. The ecological timeframe for community-wide changes in the dominant photosynthetic symbiont is unclear because basic knowledge of the stability and rate of displacement of one symbiont by another remains limited. Durusdinium trenchii, a thermally tolerant host-generalist symbiont native to the Indo-Pacific, establishes long-term stable mutualisms with many host taxa in nearshore habitats in Palau but occurs rarely in colonies from nearby offshore barrier reefs. We evaluated the potential for this symbiont to proliferate in offshore colonies during gradual or acute warming by monitoring for trace abundances among tagged colonies sampled over multiple years. Stability and competitive displacement were also measured in reciprocally transplanted colonies. Consistent with its low prevalence as a dominant symbiont in offshore communities, rarely was D. trenchii detected as a background symbiont in most colonies over the course of the study. Durusdinium trenchii did proliferate from background populations to dominate colonies six months after transfer to nearshore habitats. While stress likely facilitated the rapid shift in the dominant resident symbiont within six months, it also caused high (90%) mortality within the same timeframe. For nearshore corals transplanted to offshore reefs (a more acute change in environment), D. trenchii was displaced by host-compatible Cladocopium spp. between 1 and 2 years in branching, fast-growing Acropora. By contrast, D. trenchii maintained its dominance in most colonies of slow-growing mounding and plating coral taxa for at least one or two years after transplantation, indicating that longer timescales are likely required for its displacement by certain host-compatible Cladocopium spp. Such findings have applications for modeling these mutualisms' response to ocean warming and ongoing coral conservation and reef rehabilitation efforts.