[Coral-List] corals and sunscreen

[Tim Wijgerde]

Dear all,

 

We have followed the discussion on oxybenzone with great interest. We
recently tested the effect of oxybenzone on the temperature sensitivity of
Acropora tenuis and Stylophora pistillata. We cultured microcolonies in
flow-through aquaria, either with or without oxybenzone exposure at a
field-relevant concentration of ~0.1 μg L-1 at 26 °C for several weeks.
Subsequently, half the corals experienced a heat wave (0.5 °C increase
day-1) culminating at 33 °C (N=5 independent replicate tanks for each
treatment combination). PSII yield, growth rate, zooxanthellae densities and
survival were recorded. In addition, we analysed the microbiome of S.
pistillata under all treatments. Our results certainly add to the recent
discussion, thus we hope to publish our data soon.

 

With best wishes,

 

Tim Wijgerde, Diana Slijkerman and Ronald Osinga

 

 

Dr Tim Wijgerde

Post-doctoral researcher

Marine Animal Ecology

Wageningen University

Radix Building 107

Room E0.232

Droevendaalsesteeg 1

6708 PB Wageningen 

Phone internal: 89942

Phone external: +31 317 489 942