Decadal environmental ‘memory’ in a reef coral?

• Published in: Marine biology Vol. 162; no. 2; pp. 479 - 483
• Main Authors: Brown, B. E, Dunne, R. P, Edwards, A. J, Sweet, M. J, Phongsuwan, N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.02.2015; Springer Berlin Heidelberg; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: acclimation; Acclimatization; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bleaching; climate; Climate change; Coral reefs; Coral reefs and islands; corals; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; heat tolerance; Life Sciences; light intensity; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Marine biology; Microbiology; Oceanography; Physiological aspects; Short Note; solar radiation; symbionts; temperature; Thailand; Zoology; Thailand; Acclimatisation Potential; Thermal Tolerance; Symbiodinium Clade; Bleaching Event; Reef Flat
• ISSN: 0025-3162; 1432-1793
• DOI: 10.1007/s00227-014-2596-2

West sides of the coral Coelastrea aspera, which had achieved thermo-tolerance after previous experience of high solar irradiance in the field, were rotated through 180ᵒon a reef flat in Phuket, Thailand (7ᵒ50´N, 98ᵒ25.5´E), in 2000 in a manipulation experiment and secured in this position. In 2010, elevated sea temperatures caused extreme bleaching in these corals, with former west sides of colonies (now facing east) retaining four times higher symbiont densities than the east sides of control colonies, which had not been rotated and which had been subject to a lower irradiance environment than west sides throughout their lifetime. The reduced bleaching susceptibility of the former west sides in 2010, compared to handling controls, suggests that the rotated corals had retained a ‘memory’ of their previous high irradiance history despite living under lower irradiance for 10 years. Such long-term retention of an environmental ‘memory’ raises important questions about the acclimatisation potential of reef corals in a changing climate and the mechanisms by which it is achieved.