Resilience of Zooxanthellae to Bleaching Stressors: an Experimental Study. | Coral Reef Degradation In The Indian Ocean: Status Report 2005.
2005
Visram, Shakil | Souter, David | Linden, Olaf
Resilience, in the context of the capacity for populations of zooxanthellae to recover after coral bleaching, is a little-studied but crucial aspect of coral responses to bleaching stressors. This study investigated resilience to experimental bleaching induced by elevated temperature and darkness in the scleractinian species Porites cylindrica. Resilience, as assessed by changes in densities of zooxanthellae on termination of the stressor, was influenced by the nature and duration of the stressor. Zooxanthellae in corals subjected to relatively long durations of darkness were more resilient than those in corals treated for shorter durations. The opposite trend was evident for zooxanthellae in corals exposed to elevated temperature. The basis for these contrasting results may lie in different endodermal processes occurring during treatment with the two stressors. Localised coral bleaching occurs in response to a range of stressors, and this study has strong implications for recovery of corals in the field after natural bleaching incidents. The relevance of these experiments on resilience to field bleaching events is discussed.
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