Biodiversity Research Centre, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei 115, Taiwan.
Biodiversity Research Centre, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei 115, Taiwan; Department of Life Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Mar 1;758:143628. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143628. Epub 2020 Nov 18.
Adaptation and/or acclimatization through various mechanisms have been suggested to help some tropical coral species to overcome temperature-induced bleaching that is intensifying with climate change; however, while much research has been done on the physiological responses of tropical and subtropical corals to stress, little is known about these responses in corals in marginal environments-e.g., high-latitude and non-reefal communities. In this study, we examined the thermal-tolerant physiology of the flowerpot coral, Alveopora japonica, endemic to the high-latitude Jeju Island (33.39°N), South Korea and Oulastrea crispata and Coelastrea aspera from the subtropical non-reefal coral community on the Penghu Islands (23.34°N), Taiwan. Analysis of physiological parameters; photochemical efficiency, Chlorophyll pigment, Symbiodiniaceae cell number and host soluble proteins - showed that A. japonica can survive through a wide range of temperature stresses (10-32 °C) over a period of 8 days without showing signs of bleaching. In addition, corals O. crispata and C. aspera withstood temperature stresses of up to 33 °C and repeated temperature fluctuations without bleaching. Our results indicate that, under large seasonal variations and asymmetrical daily fluctuations in temperature, corals currently living in marginal environments could have thermal plasticity, allowing them to survive in the future climate change scenarios. This study reiterates the importance of studying the eco-physiology of corals that are generally ignored because of their neutral or positive responses to stress.
通过各种机制的适应和/或驯化被认为有助于一些热带珊瑚物种克服因气候变化而加剧的温度诱导白化现象；然而，尽管已经对热带和亚热带珊瑚对压力的生理反应进行了大量研究，但对边缘环境（例如高纬度和非珊瑚礁群落）中的珊瑚的这些反应知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们检查了花盆珊瑚（Alveopora japonica）的耐热生理学，该珊瑚是韩国济州岛（33.39°N）高纬度地区的特有种，以及澎湖群岛（23.34°N）亚热带非珊瑚礁群落中的 Oulastrea crispata 和 Coelastrea aspera。对生理参数的分析；光化学效率、叶绿素色素、共生藻细胞数量和宿主可溶性蛋白质表明，A. japonica 可以在 8 天的时间内通过广泛的温度胁迫（10-32°C）而存活，而不会出现白化的迹象。此外，珊瑚 O. crispata 和 C. aspera 可以承受高达 33°C 的温度胁迫和重复的温度波动而不白化。我们的结果表明，在大的季节性变化和不对称的每日温度波动下，目前生活在边缘环境中的珊瑚可能具有热塑性，使它们能够在未来的气候变化情景中存活。这项研究再次强调了研究通常因其对压力的中性或积极反应而被忽视的珊瑚生态生理学的重要性。
