Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Increased local retention of reef coral larvae as a result of ocean warming

Abstract

Climate change will alter many aspects of the ecology of organisms, including dispersal patterns and population connectivity1. Understanding these changes is essential to predict future species distributions, estimate potential for adaptation, and design effective networks of protected areas2. In marine environments, dispersal is often accomplished by larvae. At higher temperatures, larvae develop faster3,4,5, but suffer higher mortality4,5,6, making the effect of temperature on dispersal difficult to predict. Here, we experimentally calibrate the effect of temperature on larval survival and settlement in a dynamic model of coral dispersal. Our findings imply that most reefs globally will experience several-fold increases in local retention of larvae due to ocean warming. This increase will be particularly pronounced for reefs with mean water residence times comparable to the time required for species to become competent to settle. Higher local retention rates strengthen the link between abundance and recruitment at the reef scale, suggesting that populations will be more responsive to local conservation actions. Higher rates of local retention and mortality will weaken connectivity between populations, and thus potentially retard recovery following severe disturbances that substantially deplete local populations. Conversely, on isolated reefs that are dependent on replenishment from local broodstock, increases in local retention may hasten recovery.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Experimental survival and competence dynamics.
Figure 2: Relative increase in the proportion of larvae that attain competence while retained on the natal reef over a realistic range of mean residence times around a reef with a 2 °C increase (29 °C, green line) and 4 °C increase (31 °C, orange line).
Figure 3: Proportion of potential settlers (live larvae not yet flushed from the reef) for reefs with short (1 day, light blue), intermediate (2.5 days, dark blue) and long (10 days, green) mean residence times, using estimates for A. millepora (Supplementary Table 2).

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Doney, S. C. et al. Climate change impacts on marine ecosystems. Ann. Rev. Mar. Sci. 4, 11–37 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Mcleod, E., Salm, R., Green, A. & Almany, J. Designing marine protected area networks to address the impacts of climate change. Front. Ecol. Environ. 7, 362–370 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Heyward, A. J. & Negri, A. P. Plasticity of larval pre-competency in response to temperature: Observations on multiple broadcast spawning coral species. Coral Reefs 29, 631–636 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Nozawa, Y. & Harrison, P. L. Effects of elevated temperature on larval settlement and post-settlement survival in scleractinian corals, Acropora solitaryensis and Favites chinensis. Mar. Biol. 152, 1181–1185 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Randall, C. J. & Szmant, A. M. Elevated temperature affects development, survivorship and settlement of the elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata (Lamarck 1816). Biol. Bull. 217, 269–282 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Randall, C. J. & Szmant, A. M. Elevated temperature reduces survivorship and settlement of the larvae of the Caribbean scleractinian coral, Favia fragum (Esper). Coral Reefs 28, 537–545 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Reid, W. V. et al. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis (Island Press, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Gilmour, J. P., Smith, L. D., Heyward, A. J., Baird, A. H. & Pratchett, M. S. Recovery of an isolated coral reef system following severe disturbance. Science 340, 69–71 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Underwood, J. M., Smith, L. D., van Oppen, M. J. H. & Gilmour, J. P. Ecologically relevant dispersal of corals on isolated reefs: Implications for managing resilience. Ecol. Appl. 19, 18–29 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cowen, R. K., Paris, C. B. & Srinivasan, A. Scaling connectivity in marine populations. Science 311, 522–527 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Figueiredo, J., Baird, A. H. & Connolly, S. R. Synthesizing larval competence dynamics and reef-scale retention reveals a high potential for self-recruitment in corals. Ecology 94, 650–659 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. O’Connor, M. I. et al. Temperature control of larval dispersal and the implications for marine ecology, evolution, and conservation. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 1266–1271 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Clarke, A. & Fraser, K. P. P. Why does metabolism scale with temperature? Func. Ecol. 18, 243–251 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Connolly, S. R. & Baird, A. H. Estimating dispersal potential for marine larvae: Dynamic models applied to scleractinian corals. Ecology 91, 3572–3583 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Black, K., Gay, S. L. & Andrews, J. C. Residence times of neutrally-buoyant matter such as larvae, sewage or nutrients on coral reefs. Coral Reefs 9, 105–114 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Hastings, A. & Botsford, L. W. Persistence of spatial populations depends on returning home. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 6067–6072 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Burgess, S. C. et al. Beyond connectivity: How empirical methods can quantify population persistence to improve marine protected-area design. Ecol. Appl. 24, 257–270 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Armsworth, P. Recruitment limitation, population regulation, and larval connectivity in reef fish metapopulations. Ecology 83, 1092–1104 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Strathmann, R. R. et al. Evolution of local recruitment and its consequences for marine populations. Bull. Mar. Sci. 70, 377–396 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Marshall, D. J., Monro, K., Bode, M., Keough, M. J. & Swearer, S. Phenotype-environment mismatches reduce connectivity in the sea. Ecol. Lett. 13, 128–140 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Weese, D. J., Schwartz, A. K., Bentzen, P., Hendry, A. P. & Kinnison, M. T. Eco-evolutionary effects on population recovery following catastrophic disturbance. Evol. Appl. 4, 354–366 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Hughes, T. P., Graham, N. A. J., Jackson, J. B. C., Mumby, P. J. & Steneck, R. S. Rising to the challenge of sustaining coral reef resilience. Trends Ecol. Evol. 25, 633–642 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. White, J. W., Botsford, L. W., Hastings, A. & Largier, J. L. Population persistence in marine reserve networks: Incorporating spatial heterogeneities in larval dispersal. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 398, 49–67 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Tallmon, D. A., Luikart, G. & Waples, R. S. The alluring simplicity and complex reality of genetic rescue. Trends Ecol. Evol. 19, 489–496 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Garant, D., Forde, S. R. & Hendry, A. P. The multifarious effects of dispersal and gene flow on contemporary adaptation. Funct. Ecol. 21, 434–443 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Warner, M. E., Fitt, W. K. & Schmidt, G. W. Damage to photosystem II in symbiotic dinoflagellates: A determinant of coral bleaching. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 96, 8007–8012 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Donelson, J. M., Munday, P. L., McCormick, M. I. & Pitcher, C. R. Rapid transgenerational acclimation of a tropical reef fish to climate change. Nature Clim. Change 2, 30–32 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Hoegh-Guldberg, O. & Pearse, J. S. Temperature, food availability, and the development of marine invertebrate larvae. Amer. Zool. 35, 415–425 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Compton, T. J., Rijkenberg, M. J. A., Drent, J. & Piersma, T. Thermal tolerance ranges and climate variability: A comparison between bivalves from differing climates. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 352, 200–211 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Tewksbury, J. J., Huey, R. B. & Deutsch, C. A. Putting the heat on tropical animals. Science 320, 1296–1297 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Botsford, L. W. et al. Connectivity and resilience of coral metapopulations in marine protected areas: Matching empirical efforts to protective needs. Coral Reefs 28, 327–337 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Donner, S. D., Skirving, W. J., Little, C. M., Oppenheimer, M. & Hoegh-Guldberg, O. Global assessment of coral bleaching and required rates of adaptation under climate change. Glob. Change Biol. 11, 2251–2265 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Anthony, K. R. N. et al. Ocean acidification and warming will lower coral reef resilience. Glob. Change Biol. 17, 1798–1808 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Madin, J. S., Hughes, T. P. & Connolly, S. R. Calcification, storm damage and population resilience of tabular corals under climate change. PLoS ONE 7, e46637 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Australian Research Council (DP110101168 to A.H.B. and J.F. and DP0880544 to S.R.C.), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Fellowship to J.F., hosted by S.H.) and the State of Queensland (Smart Futures Fellowship to J.F.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

J.F., A.H.B. and S.R.C. designed the experiments. J.F., A.H.B. and S.H. performed the experiments. J.F. and S.R.C. analysed and modelled the data. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joana Figueiredo.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Figueiredo, J., Baird, A., Harii, S. et al. Increased local retention of reef coral larvae as a result of ocean warming. Nature Clim Change 4, 498–502 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2210

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2210

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing