Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES), The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2033, Australia.
Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES), The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2033, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2024 May 3;14(1):10161. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-60794-0.
Globally tropical Scleractinian corals have been a focal point for discussions on the impact of a changing climate on marine ecosystems and biodiversity. Research into tropical Scleractinian corals, particularly the role and breakdown of photoendosymbiosis in response to warming, has been prolific in recent decades. However, research into their subtropical, temperate, cold- and deep-water counterparts, whose number is dominated by corals without photoendosymbiosis, has not been as prolific. Approximately 50% of Scleractinian corals (> 700 species) do not maintain photoendosymbiosis and as such, do not rely upon the products of photosynthesis for homeostasis. Some species also have variable partnerships with photendosymbionts depending on life history and ecological niche. Here we undertake a systematic map of literature on Scleractinian corals without, or with variable, photoendosymbiosis. In doing so we identify 482 publications spanning 5 decades. In mapping research effort, we find publications have been sporadic over time, predominately focusing on a limited number of species, with greater research effort directed towards deep-water species. We find only 141 species have been studied, with approximately 30% of the total identified research effort directed toward a single species, Desmophyllum pertusum, highlighting significant knowledge gaps into Scleractinian diversity. We find similar limitations to studied locations, with 78 identified from the global data, of which only few represent most research outputs. We also identified inconsistencies with terminology used to describe Scleractinia without photoendosymbiosis, likely contributing to difficulties in accounting for their role and contribution to marine ecosystems. We propose that the terminology requires re-evaluation to allow further systematic assessment of literature, and to ensure it's consistent with changes implemented for photoendosymbiotic corals. Finally, we find that knowledge gaps identified over 20 years ago are still present for most aphotoendosymbiotic Scleractinian species, and we show data deficiencies remain regarding their function, biodiversity and the impacts of anthropogenic stressors.
全球热带石珊瑚一直是讨论气候变化对海洋生态系统和生物多样性影响的焦点。近几十年来，对热带石珊瑚的研究，特别是对共生光合作用在变暖响应中的作用和分解的研究，非常丰富。然而，对它们的亚热带、温带、冷水和深水对应物的研究却没有那么丰富，这些对应物的数量主要由没有共生光合作用的珊瑚组成。大约 50%的石珊瑚（>700 种）不维持共生光合作用，因此，它们不依赖光合作用产物来维持体内平衡。一些物种也根据生活史和生态位与共生光合生物有不同的伙伴关系。在这里，我们对没有共生光合作用或具有可变共生光合作用的石珊瑚进行了文献系统图谱绘制。在这样做的过程中，我们确定了跨越 5 个十年的 482 篇出版物。在绘制研究工作时，我们发现随着时间的推移，出版物一直很零星，主要集中在少数几个物种上，更多的研究工作集中在深水物种上。我们发现只有 141 个物种被研究过，其中大约 30%的总研究工作集中在一个单一的物种上，即 Desmophyllum pertusum，这突出了石珊瑚多样性方面的重大知识差距。我们发现研究地点也存在类似的局限性，从全球数据中识别出 78 个，其中只有少数代表了大部分研究成果。我们还发现，用于描述没有共生光合作用的石珊瑚的术语使用不一致，这可能导致难以说明它们在海洋生态系统中的作用和贡献。我们建议重新评估该术语，以允许对文献进行进一步的系统评估，并确保其与对共生光合作用珊瑚实施的变化保持一致。最后，我们发现，对于大多数无共生光合作用的石珊瑚物种，20 多年前确定的知识差距仍然存在，我们还发现，关于它们的功能、生物多样性以及人为压力的影响的数据仍然存在不足。
