Abstract
Global warming and local eutrophication simultaneously lower oxygen (O2) saturation and increase biological O2 demands to cause deoxygenation. Tropical shallow waters, and their coral reefs, are particularly vulnerable to extreme low O2 (hypoxia) events. These events can drive mass mortality of reef biota; however, they currently remain unaccounted for when considering coral reef persistence under local environmental alterations and global climatic change. In this Perspective, we integrate existing biological, ecological and geochemical evidence to consider how O2 availability and hypoxia affect reef biota, with particular focus on the ecosystem architects, reef-building corals, that operate as both O2 consumers and producers. We pinpoint fundamental knowledge gaps and highlight the need to understand sub-lethal hypoxia effects that are likely already in play.
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Acknowledgements
Funding for this Perspective was provided by the Australian Research Council (ARC) discovery grant (grant no. DP180100074) to D.J.S, M.P, M.K and C.R.V.
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Hughes, D.J., Alderdice, R., Cooney, C. et al. Coral reef survival under accelerating ocean deoxygenation. Nat. Clim. Chang. 10, 296–307 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0737-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0737-9
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The genome of Symbiodiniaceae-associated Stutzerimonas frequens CAM01 reveals a broad spectrum of antibiotic resistance genes indicating anthropogenic drift in the Palk Bay coral reef of south-eastern India
Archives of Microbiology (2023)
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Patterns of coral diseases linked to the impact of climate change: a case study of scleractinia corals in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia’s coral triangle
Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2023)
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Increasing hypoxia on global coral reefs under ocean warming
Nature Climate Change (2023)