[Coral-List] New paper on the effects of sediments, nutrients and temperature on early life history stages of corals

[AdRiAnA HuMaNeS]

Hello Coral List,
I'm writing to bring your attention to a new paper in Scientific Reports titled, 
Cumulative effects of suspended sediments, organic nutrients and temperature stress on early life history stages of the coral Acropora tenuis : Scientific Reports

  
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Cumulative effects of suspended sediments, organic nutrients and temperature stress on early life history stages of t...
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Coral reproduction is vulnerable to both declining water quality and warming temperatures, with simultaneous exposures likely compounding the negative impact of each stressor. We investigated how early life processes of the coral Acropora tenuis respond to increasing levels of suspended sedimentsin combination with temperature or organic nutrients. Fertilization success and embryo development were more sensitive to suspended sediments than to high temperatures or nutrient enrichment, while larval development (after acquisition of cilia) and settlement success were predominantly a ectedby thermal stress. Fertilization success was reduced 80% by suspended sediments, and up to 24% by temperature, while the addition of nutrients to suspended sediments had no further impact. Larval survivorship was una ected by any of these treatments. However, settlement success of larvae developing from treatment-exposed embryos was negatively a ected by all three stressors (e.g. up to 55% by suspended sediments), while exposure only during later larval stages predominantly responded to temperature stress. Environmentally relevant levels of suspended sediments and temperaturehad the greatest impacts, a ecting more processes than the combined impacts of sediments and nutrients. These results suggest that management strategies to maintain suspended sediments at low concentrations during coral spawning events will bene t coral recruitment, especially with warming climate.

Please reach out if you have any trouble accessing the paper.

All the best,

Adriana Humanes
www.adrianahumanes.com