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Symbiont transmission and reproductive mode influence responses of three Hawaiian coral larvae to elevated temperature and nutrients

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Abstract

Elevated temperatures and nutrients are degrading coral reef ecosystems, but the understanding of how early life stages of reef corals respond to these stressors remains limited. Here, we test the impact of temperature (mean ~ 27 °C vs. ~ 29 °C) and nitrate and phosphate enrichment (ambient, + 5 µM nitrate, + 1 µM phosphate and combined + 5 µM nitrate with 1 µM phosphate) on coral larvae using three Hawaiian coral species with different modes of symbiont transmission and reproduction: Lobactis scutaria (horizontal, gonochoric broadcast spawner), Pocillopora acuta (vertical, hermaphroditic brooder) and Montipora capitata (vertical, hermaphroditic broadcast spawner). Temperature and nutrient effects were species specific and appear antagonistic for L. scutaria and M. capitata, but not for P. acuta. Larvae survivorship in all species was lowest under nitrate enrichment at 27 °C. M. capitata and L. scutaria survivorship increased at 29 °C. However, positive effects of warming on survivorship were lost under high nitrate, but phosphate attenuated nitrate effects when N/P ratios were balanced. P. acuta larvae exhibited high survivorship (> 91%) in all treatments and showed little change in larval size, but lower respiration rates at 29 °C. Elevated nutrients (+N+P) led to the greatest loss in larvae size for aposymbiotic L. scutaria, while positive growth in symbiotic M. capitata larvae was reduced under warming and highest in +N+P treatments. Overall, we report a greater sensitivity of broadcast spawners to warming and nutrient changes compared to a brooding coral species. These results suggest variability in biological responses to warming and nutrient enrichment is influenced by life-history traits, including the presence of symbionts (vertical transmission), in addition to nutrient type and nutrient stoichiometry.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Colonel Willys E. Lord and Sandina L. Lord Endowed Scholarship, an NSF graduate research fellowship to E.A.L., a Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES) fellowship to M.R.S. and an Environmental Protection Agency STAR Fellowship Assistance Agreement (FP-91779401-1) to C.B.W. The views expressed in this publication have not been reviewed or endorsed by the EPA and are solely those of the authors. We thank the SOEST Laboratory for Analytical Biogeochemistry (SLAB) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for assistance with the nutrient analysis. We would also like to thank K. Hughes, J. Davidson, C. Drury, A. Huffmyer, C. Harris and D. Chee for their support. This is HIMB contribution 1786 and SOEST contribution number 10905. We dedicate this manuscript to the life and legacy of our dear friend and mentor Dr. Ruth Gates.

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  1. Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, 430 Nahant Road, Nahant, MA, 01908, USA

    Rebecca M. Kitchen

  2. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA

    Madeline Piscetta

  3. Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 46-007 Lilipuna Road, Kaneohe, HI, 96744, USA

    Mariana Rocha de Souza, Elizabeth A. Lenz, Daniel W. H. Schar, Ruth D. Gates & Christopher B. Wall

  4. Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 1933 East-West Rd., Honolulu, HI, 96816, USA

    Christopher B. Wall

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Kitchen, R.M., Piscetta, M., de Souza, M.R. et al. Symbiont transmission and reproductive mode influence responses of three Hawaiian coral larvae to elevated temperature and nutrients. Coral Reefs 39, 419–431 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-01905-x

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