[Coral-List] corals show increased ability to withstand heat in experiments

Douglas Fenner douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
Thu May 22 22:23:36 EDT 2014


My apologies, I omitted the URL for the main article, here it is:

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6186/895.abstract


On Thu, May 22, 2014 at 2:30 PM, Douglas Fenner <
douglasfennertassi at gmail.com> wrote:

> Lamarck was partially right—and that is good for corals<http://app.aaas-science.org/e/er?s=1906&lid=44740&elq=a3b76bacead0489ca89b5f4750930498>
>
> C. Mark Eakin
>
> Tabletop corals can adapt to changing temperature conditions on shorter
> time scales than previously thought [Also see Report by Palumbi *et al.*]
>
> Ocean warming is one of the most urgent threats to coral reefs (*1*–*3*).
> Some taxa may migrate in response to changing environmental conditions (
> *4*), but corals and other sessile organisms only migrate through larval
> movement (*5*). This is viable for coral species with planktonic larvae,
> but not for the many coral species with crawl-away larvae that cannot
> migrate far. Adult corals must therefore adapt evolutionarily or acclimate
> physiologically to survive warming. On page 895 of this issue, Palumbi *et
> al.* (*6*) show that tabletop corals (see the first photo) can both
> acclimate and adapt to elevated temperatures in American Samoan back-reef
> pools (see the second photo), where high-temperature extremes are common.
> If the result holds for other species and locations, it provides hope for
> coral reefs under global warming.
>
> http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6186/798.short
>
>
> *Mechanisms of reef coral resistance to future climate change
> <http://app.aaas-science.org/e/er?s=1906&lid=44753&elq=a3b76bacead0489ca89b5f4750930498>*
>
> Stephen R. Palumbi *et al.*
>
> The coral *Acropora hyacinthus* is capable of rapid acclimation to high
> temperatures [Also see Perspective by Eakin]
>
>
>    1. Stephen R. Palumbi<http://www.sciencemag.org/search?author1=Stephen+R.+Palumbi&sortspec=date&submit=Submit>
>    * <http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6186/895.abstract#corresp-1>,
>    2. Daniel J. Barshis<http://www.sciencemag.org/search?author1=Daniel+J.+Barshis&sortspec=date&submit=Submit>
>    † <http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6186/895.abstract#fn-1>,
>    3. Nikki Traylor-Knowles<http://www.sciencemag.org/search?author1=Nikki+Traylor-Knowles&sortspec=date&submit=Submit>
>    ,
>    4. Rachael A. Bay<http://www.sciencemag.org/search?author1=Rachael+A..+Bay&sortspec=date&submit=Submit>
>
>
> Reef corals are highly sensitive to heat, yet populations resistant to
> climate change have recently been identified. To determine the mechanisms
> of temperature tolerance, we reciprocally transplanted corals between reef
> sites experiencing distinct temperature regimes and tested subsequent
> physiological and gene expression profiles. Local acclimatization and fixed
> effects, such as adaptation, contributed about equally to heat tolerance
> and are reflected in patterns of gene expression. In less than 2 years,
> acclimatization achieves the same heat tolerance that we would expect from
> strong natural selection over many generations for these long-lived
> organisms. Our results show both short-term acclimatory and longer-term
> adaptive acquisition of climate resistance. Adding these adaptive abilities
> to ecosystem models is likely to slow predictions of demise for coral reef
> ecosystems.
>
>
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Contractor with Ocean Associates, Inc.
> PO Box 7390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
>
> phone 1 684 622-7084
>
> "belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."
>
> website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
>
> Blog:
> http://cctus.org/conservation-science/2014-expedition-scholar/2014-expedition-scholar-douglas-fenner-ph-d/2014-expedition-scholar-blog/
>
>
>


-- 
Douglas Fenner
Contractor with Ocean Associates, Inc.
PO Box 7390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA

phone 1 684 622-7084

"belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."

website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner

Blog:
http://cctus.org/conservation-science/2014-expedition-scholar/2014-expedition-scholar-douglas-fenner-ph-d/2014-expedition-scholar-blog/


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