Cargando…

The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis

Macroalgae and filamentous turf algae (FTA) are abundant on degraded coral reefs, and the reproductive responses of corals may indicate sub-lethal stress under these conditions. The percentage of gametogenic stages (PGS) and the maximum diameter of eggs (MDE; or egg size) of Orbicella annularis were...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Cetz-Navarro, Neidy P., Carpizo-Ituarte, Eugenio J., Espinoza-Avalos, Julio, Chee-Barragán, Guillermina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320090/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25658586
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117936
_version_ 1782356059055194112
author Cetz-Navarro, Neidy P.
Carpizo-Ituarte, Eugenio J.
Espinoza-Avalos, Julio
Chee-Barragán, Guillermina
author_facet Cetz-Navarro, Neidy P.
Carpizo-Ituarte, Eugenio J.
Espinoza-Avalos, Julio
Chee-Barragán, Guillermina
author_sort Cetz-Navarro, Neidy P.
collection PubMed
description Macroalgae and filamentous turf algae (FTA) are abundant on degraded coral reefs, and the reproductive responses of corals may indicate sub-lethal stress under these conditions. The percentage of gametogenic stages (PGS) and the maximum diameter of eggs (MDE; or egg size) of Orbicella annularis were used to evaluate the effect of long- (7–10 months) and short-term (2.5 months) FTA removal (treatments T1 and T2, respectively) at both the beginning (May) and the end (August) of gametogenesis. Ramets (individual lobes of a colony) surrounded by FTA (T3) or crustose coralline algae (CCA; T4) were used as controls. The removal of FTA enhanced the development of gametes (i.e., a larger and higher percentage of mature gametes (PMG)) of O. annularis for T1 vs. T3 ramets in May and T1 and T2 vs. T3 ramets in August. Similar values of PGS and MDE between gametes from T3 and T4 in both May and August were unexpected because a previous study had shown that the same ramets of T4 (with higher tissue thickness, chlorophyll a cm(-2) and zooxanthellae density and lower mitotic index values) were less stressed than ramets of T3. Evaluating coral stress through reproduction can reveal more sensitive responses than other biological parameters; within reproductive metrics, PGS can be a better stress indicator than egg size. The presence of turf algae strongly impacted the development of gametes and egg size (e.g., PMG in ramets with FTA removal increased almost twofold in comparison with ramets surrounded by FTA in August), most likely exerting negative chronic effects in the long run due to the ubiquity and permanence of turf algae in the Caribbean. These algae can be considered a stressor that affects coral sexual reproduction. Although the effects of turf algae on O. annularis are apparently less severe than those of other stressors, the future of this species is uncertain because of the combined impacts of these effects, the decline of O. annularis populations and the almost complete lack of recruitment.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4320090
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2015
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-43200902015-02-18 The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis Cetz-Navarro, Neidy P. Carpizo-Ituarte, Eugenio J. Espinoza-Avalos, Julio Chee-Barragán, Guillermina PLoS One Research Article Macroalgae and filamentous turf algae (FTA) are abundant on degraded coral reefs, and the reproductive responses of corals may indicate sub-lethal stress under these conditions. The percentage of gametogenic stages (PGS) and the maximum diameter of eggs (MDE; or egg size) of Orbicella annularis were used to evaluate the effect of long- (7–10 months) and short-term (2.5 months) FTA removal (treatments T1 and T2, respectively) at both the beginning (May) and the end (August) of gametogenesis. Ramets (individual lobes of a colony) surrounded by FTA (T3) or crustose coralline algae (CCA; T4) were used as controls. The removal of FTA enhanced the development of gametes (i.e., a larger and higher percentage of mature gametes (PMG)) of O. annularis for T1 vs. T3 ramets in May and T1 and T2 vs. T3 ramets in August. Similar values of PGS and MDE between gametes from T3 and T4 in both May and August were unexpected because a previous study had shown that the same ramets of T4 (with higher tissue thickness, chlorophyll a cm(-2) and zooxanthellae density and lower mitotic index values) were less stressed than ramets of T3. Evaluating coral stress through reproduction can reveal more sensitive responses than other biological parameters; within reproductive metrics, PGS can be a better stress indicator than egg size. The presence of turf algae strongly impacted the development of gametes and egg size (e.g., PMG in ramets with FTA removal increased almost twofold in comparison with ramets surrounded by FTA in August), most likely exerting negative chronic effects in the long run due to the ubiquity and permanence of turf algae in the Caribbean. These algae can be considered a stressor that affects coral sexual reproduction. Although the effects of turf algae on O. annularis are apparently less severe than those of other stressors, the future of this species is uncertain because of the combined impacts of these effects, the decline of O. annularis populations and the almost complete lack of recruitment. Public Library of Science 2015-02-06 /pmc/articles/PMC4320090/ /pubmed/25658586 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117936 Text en © 2015 Cetz-Navarro et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Cetz-Navarro, Neidy P.
Carpizo-Ituarte, Eugenio J.
Espinoza-Avalos, Julio
Chee-Barragán, Guillermina
The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis
title The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis
title_full The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis
title_fullStr The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis
title_short The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis
title_sort effect of filamentous turf algal removal on the development of gametes of the coral orbicella annularis
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320090/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25658586
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117936
work_keys_str_mv AT cetznavarroneidyp theeffectoffilamentousturfalgalremovalonthedevelopmentofgametesofthecoralorbicellaannularis
AT carpizoituarteeugenioj theeffectoffilamentousturfalgalremovalonthedevelopmentofgametesofthecoralorbicellaannularis
AT espinozaavalosjulio theeffectoffilamentousturfalgalremovalonthedevelopmentofgametesofthecoralorbicellaannularis
AT cheebarraganguillermina theeffectoffilamentousturfalgalremovalonthedevelopmentofgametesofthecoralorbicellaannularis
AT cetznavarroneidyp effectoffilamentousturfalgalremovalonthedevelopmentofgametesofthecoralorbicellaannularis
AT carpizoituarteeugenioj effectoffilamentousturfalgalremovalonthedevelopmentofgametesofthecoralorbicellaannularis
AT espinozaavalosjulio effectoffilamentousturfalgalremovalonthedevelopmentofgametesofthecoralorbicellaannularis
AT cheebarraganguillermina effectoffilamentousturfalgalremovalonthedevelopmentofgametesofthecoralorbicellaannularis