IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v440y2006i7088d10.1038_nature04565.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heterotrophic plasticity and resilience in bleached corals

Author

Listed:
  • Andréa G. Grottoli

    (Ohio State University)

  • Lisa J. Rodrigues

    (Villanova University)

  • James E. Palardy

    (Brown University)

Abstract

Cultivating corals Elevated seawater temperatures are causing widespread coral bleaching and mortality, and threaten to damage some of these important ecosystems irreversibly. Bleaching occurs when the symbiotic microalgae that normally provide corals with food are released from the host coral, which then loses its pigment and appears almost white. Some corals survive bleaching, but the mechanisms that ensure survival are poorly understood. To date, studies have focused on the microalgae: the role of coral host physiology in bleaching and recovery has been largely overlooked. A study of bleached and recovering corals from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii now shows that the host can have a significant role in coral recovery and resilience. Increased coral feeding on zooplankton can provide an alternative food source and dramatically enhance coral survival in bleaching events.

Suggested Citation

  • Andréa G. Grottoli & Lisa J. Rodrigues & James E. Palardy, 2006. "Heterotrophic plasticity and resilience in bleached corals," Nature, Nature, vol. 440(7088), pages 1186-1189, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:440:y:2006:i:7088:d:10.1038_nature04565
    DOI: 10.1038/nature04565
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04565
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature04565?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gustafsson, Malin S.M. & Baird, Mark E. & Ralph, Peter J., 2013. "The interchangeability of autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrogen sources in Scleractinian coral symbiotic relationships: A numerical study," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 183-194.
    2. Speers, Ann E. & Besedin, Elena Y. & Palardy, James E. & Moore, Chris, 2016. "Impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on coral reef fisheries: An integrated ecological–economic model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 33-43.
    3. Alex S. J. Wyatt & James J. Leichter & Libe Washburn & Li Kui & Peter J. Edmunds & Scott C. Burgess, 2023. "Hidden heatwaves and severe coral bleaching linked to mesoscale eddies and thermocline dynamics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Ruiz Sebastián, Carlos & McClanahan, Timothy R., 2013. "Description and validation of production processes in the coral reef ecosystem model CAFFEE (Coral–Algae–Fish-Fisheries Ecosystem Energetics) with a fisheries closure and climatic disturbance," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 263(C), pages 326-348.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:440:y:2006:i:7088:d:10.1038_nature04565. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.