The Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel; The Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences, Eilat, 88103 Israel.
The University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom.
Aquat Toxicol. 2022 Mar;244:106096. doi: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2022.106096. Epub 2022 Jan 23.
Copper (Cu) is a common marine pollutant of coastal environments and can cause severe impacts on coral organisms. To date, only a few studies assessed the effects of Cu contamination in combination with elevated seawater temperatures on corals. Furthermore, experiments focusing on coral recovery during a depuration phase, and under thermal stress, are lacking. The present study investigated the physiological response of the common and thermally tolerant scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata from the northern Red Sea to Cu contamination (2.5, 5 or 10 µg L ) in combination with thermal stress (5 °C above local ambient temperatures (26 °C)) for 23 days, and assessed the impact of elevated temperatures on its ability to recover from such pollution during a one-week depuration period. Variation in coral photo-physiological biomarkers including antioxidant defense capacity, were dose, time and temperature-dependent, and revealed additive effects of elevated temperatures. Successful recovery was achieved in ambient temperature only and was mediated by antioxidant defenses. Elevation of temperature altered the recovery dynamics during depuration, causing reduced Cu bioaccumulation and photosynthetic yield. The present study provides novel information on the effects of elevated temperature on the resilience (resistance and recovery processes) of a scleractinian coral exposed to a common marine pollutant. Our findings suggest that ocean warming may alter the resilience strategies of corals when exposed to local pollution, an impact that might have long-term consequences on the chances of survival of reefs in increasingly populated and warming coastal environments.
铜（Cu）是沿海环境中常见的海洋污染物，会对珊瑚生物造成严重影响。迄今为止，只有少数研究评估了 Cu 污染与海水温度升高相结合对珊瑚的影响。此外，缺乏针对珊瑚在净化阶段和热应激下恢复的实验。本研究调查了北红海常见且耐热的石珊瑚 Stylophora pistillata 对 Cu 污染（2.5、5 或 10 µg L -1 ）与热应激（比当地环境温度高 5°C（26°C））相结合的生理反应，为期 23 天，并评估了高温对其在一周净化期内从这种污染中恢复的能力的影响。包括抗氧化防御能力在内的珊瑚光生理生物标志物的变化与剂量、时间和温度有关，并显示出高温的附加效应。仅在环境温度下实现了成功恢复，这是由抗氧化防御介导的。温度升高改变了净化过程中的恢复动态，导致 Cu 生物积累和光合产量减少。本研究提供了关于高温对暴露于常见海洋污染物的石珊瑚恢复力（抵抗和恢复过程）的影响的新信息。我们的研究结果表明，海洋变暖可能会改变珊瑚在暴露于当地污染时的恢复策略，这种影响可能会对人口不断增加和变暖的沿海环境中珊瑚礁的生存机会产生长期影响。
