Photic stress on coral reefs in the Maldives: The Amphistegina bleaching index

Stainbank, Stephanie; Spezzaferri, Silvia; Beccari, Valentina; Hallock, Pamela; Adams, Arthur; Angeloz, Aurelie; Basso, Daniela; Caragnano, Annalisa; Piero, Nicolo Del; Dietsche, Patrick; Eymard, Ines; Farley, Nicholas; Fau, Marine; Foubert, Anneleen; Lauper, Bruno; Lehmann, Anael; Maillet, Marine; Negga, Haileyesus; Ordonez, Luis; Peyrotty, Giovan; Rime, Valentin; Rüggeberg, Andres; Schoellhorn, Iris; Vimpere, Lucas

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106257

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Photic stress on coral reefs in the Maldives: The Amphistegina bleaching index

Stainbank, Stephanie University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Spezzaferri, Silvia University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Beccari, Valentina University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Hallock, Pamela University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St Petersburg, United States
Adams, Arthur University of Bern, Institute of Geological Sciences, Baltzerstrasse 1+3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland -
Angeloz, Aurelie University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Basso, Daniela Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Ambiente e della Terra, Piazza della Scienza 4, 20126 Milano, Italy
Caragnano, Annalisa Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Piero, Nicolo Del University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Dietsche, Patrick University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Eymard, Ines University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Farley, Nicholas University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Fau, Marine University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Foubert, Anneleen University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Lauper, Bruno University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Lehmann, Anael University of Lausanne, Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, Géopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Maillet, Marine University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Negga, Haileyesus University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Ordonez, Luis University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Peyrotty, Giovan University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Rime, Valentin University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Rüggeberg, Andres University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Schoellhorn, Iris University of Lausanne, Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, Géopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Vimpere, Lucas University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland

2020

Published in:

Ecological Indicators. - 2020, vol. 113, p. 106257

English The Amphistegina Bleaching Index (ABI) was applied to three Maldivian reefs in the Rasdhoo and North Ari Atolls in 2018, during normal sea surface temperature conditions. This dataset was then compared with a 2015, pre-coral bleaching study. The results provide a context for the verification and application of the ABI in outlining the photo-inhibitory stress status of coral reefs outside of the Florida Reef Tract where it was originally developed. The sampling periods encompass different seasons and temperature regimes. The 2015 field sampling preceeded the El Niño induced, mass coral-bleaching events of 2015 and 2016. It was carried out in late April and early May, during the dry season, when temperatures exceeded 31.5 °C and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was high. The 2018 sampling took place near the September equinox, towards the end of the monsoon, when PAR was again high, though water temperatures were ~30 °C. Although there were slightly higher percentages of bleached Amphistegina in 2018, there were also higher percentages of juveniles, indicating either that (1) the chronic stress was insufficient to impact asexual reproduction or (2) the onset of stress was within the past few weeks; the latter hypothesis was supported by an increase in PAR and temperature coinciding with the time of sampling. From the ABI plots it is possible to distinguish between the 2015 (high data scatter), highly stressed pre-bleaching conditions with elevated photo-oxidative stress levels, and the near-baseline conditions represented by the 2018 dataset (tight data clustering). Overall, this study thus shows the potential of Amphistegina populations and the ABI in forecasting bleaching events, and contributing to the question of the resilience potential of the coral reefs as a whole. It also highlights the usefulness and suitability of the ABI, within Maldivian coral reefs, as an indicator of photo-inhibition through photo-oxidative stress that can increase susceptibility to coral bleaching as water temperatures approach or exceed the bleaching threshold.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Géosciences

Language

English

Classification

Biological sciences

License

License undefined

Identifiers

RERO DOC 328430
DOI 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106257

Persistent URL

https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/308414

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