Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
PLoS One. 2011 May 11;6(5):e19703. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019703.
Coral reefs are highly susceptible to climate change, with elevated sea surface temperatures (SST) posing one of the main threats to coral survival. Successful recruitment of new colonies is important for the recovery of degraded reefs following mortality events. Coral larvae require relatively uncontaminated substratum on which to metamorphose into sessile polyps, and the increasing pollution of coastal waters therefore constitutes an additional threat to reef resilience. Here we develop and analyse a model of larval metamorphosis success for two common coral species to quantify the interactive effects of water pollution (copper contamination) and SST. We identify thresholds of temperature and pollution that prevent larval metamorphosis, and evaluate synergistic interactions between these stressors. Our analyses show that halving the concentration of Cu can protect corals from the negative effects of a 2-3°C increase in SST. These results demonstrate that effective mitigation of local impacts can reduce negative effects of global stressors.
珊瑚礁极易受到气候变化的影响，海水表面温度（SST）升高是珊瑚生存的主要威胁之一。新群体的成功繁殖对于受死亡事件影响的退化珊瑚礁的恢复很重要。珊瑚幼虫需要相对无污染的基质才能变态为固着的息肉，因此，沿海水域的污染增加构成了对珊瑚礁恢复力的另一个威胁。在这里，我们开发并分析了两种常见珊瑚物种的幼虫变态成功模型，以量化水污染（铜污染）和 SST 的相互作用效应。我们确定了阻止幼虫变态的温度和污染阈值，并评估了这些胁迫因素之间的协同作用。我们的分析表明，将铜浓度减半可以保护珊瑚免受 SST 升高 2-3°C 的负面影响。这些结果表明，有效缓解当地的影响可以减少全球压力源的负面影响。
