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Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching

Nature Climate Change volume 3, pages 160–164 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Mass coral bleaching, resulting from the breakdown of coral–algal symbiosis has been identified as the most severe threat to coral reef survival on a global scale1. Regionally, nutrient enrichment of reef waters is often associated with a significant loss of coral cover and diversity2. Recently, increased dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations have been linked to a reduction of the temperature threshold of coral bleaching3, a phenomenon for which no mechanistic explanation is available. Here we show that increased levels of dissolved inorganic nitrogen in combination with limited phosphate concentrations result in an increased susceptibility of corals to temperature- and light-induced bleaching. Mass spectrometric analyses of the algal lipidome revealed a marked accumulation of sulpholipids under these conditions. Together with increased phosphatase activities, this change indicates that the imbalanced supply of dissolved inorganic nitrogen results in phosphate starvation of the symbiotic algae. Based on these findings we introduce a conceptual model that links unfavourable ratios of dissolved inorganic nutrients in the water column with established mechanisms of coral bleaching. Notably, this model improves the understanding of the detrimental effects of coastal nutrient enrichment on coral reefs, which is urgently required to support knowledge-based management strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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Figure 1: Bleaching patterns of corals at different nutrient concentrations.
Figure 2: Responses of zooxanthellae of M. foliosa after phosphate starvation.
Figure 3: Response of corals to phosphate starvation, light and heat stress.
Figure 4: Conceptual model of nutrient-starvation stress in zooxanthellae using the example of phosphate starvation.

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Acknowledgements

The study was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG Wi1990/2-1 to J.W.), NERC (NE/H012303/1, NE/I01683X/1 to J.W., studentship to E.G.S./J.W.), SENSEnet (EU FP7, PITN-GA-2009-237868) to F.E.L., and EPSRC/IFLS (Bridging the Gap grant to J.W., A.D.P. and E.P.A.). We acknowledge the Tropical Marine Centre, London, UK and Tropic Marin, Wartenberg, Germany for sponsoring the coral reef laboratory.

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Author notes

  1. Jörg Wiedenmann and Cecilia D’Angelo: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK

    Jörg Wiedenmann, Cecilia D’Angelo, Edward G. Smith, François-Eric Legiret & Eric P. Achterberg

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK

    Alan N. Hunt & Anthony D. Postle

Authors
  1. Jörg Wiedenmann
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  7. Eric P. Achterberg
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Contributions

J.W. and C.D.A. contributed equally, conceiving the conceptual model of nutrient-stress-mediated coral bleaching, the experimental strategies and set-up. J.W., C.D.A., E.G.S., A.N.H. and F-E.L. conducted the experiments. All authors contributed to the data analyses. J.W., C.D.A., E.G.S., A.N.H., A.D.P. and E.P.A. wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Jörg Wiedenmann.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Wiedenmann, J., D’Angelo, C., Smith, E. et al. Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching. Nature Clim Change 3, 160–164 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1661

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