However, the lack of in situ data limits our ability to assess the extent and ability of CWCs to cope with fluctuating environmental conditions. The few available in situ measurements show that temperature, salinity, oxygen and pH vary seasonally and even daily in response to tides, internal waves and advection 9, 26, 27, 28, 29, suggesting that the environment of CWCs is far less uniform than previously assumed. Some previous studies investigated the physiology of CWCs in situ 21, 22, 23, but only few studies considered the seasonal differences in biotic and abiotic parameters or the small-scale environmental heterogeneities in the habitat of CWCs 24, 25. However, laboratory studies are usually conducted under constant conditions and do not consider the variability of environmental conditions that corals experience in their natural habitat. The physiological response of CWCs to changing temperature, pH and aragonite saturation (Ω arag) has so far been mainly investigated in laboratory studies under controlled conditions 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Like tropical corals, CWCs cope with environmental variability through adaptive mechanisms, which makes them particularly vulnerable to rapid anthropogenic changes, especially ocean warming, acidification 11, 12 and deoxygenation 10, 13, 14. by seawater carbonate chemistry, temperature, salinity, oxygen concentration, food availability and substrate topography 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. The distribution of CWCs is controlled i.a. CWCs sustain high levels of biodiversity and provide important nursery grounds for numerous benthic and fish species 1, 2, 3.
Scleractinian cold-water corals (CWCs) are important ecosystem engineers providing a three-dimensional habitat in cold and deep waters comparable to the complexity of shallow tropical coral reefs. We found an inverse relationship between CWC fitness and environmental variability and propose to consider the high frequency fluctuations of abiotic and biotic factors to better predict the future of CWCs in a changing ocean.
Surprisingly, corals exposed to lowest aragonite saturation (Ω arag < 1) and temperature (T < 12.0 ☌), but stable environmental conditions, at the deep station grew fastest and expressed the fittest phenotype. cross-transplanted) corals, demonstrating high phenotypic plasticity. Following transplantation, corals acclimated fast to the novel environment with no discernible difference between native and novel (i.e.
Here, we combined year-long reciprocal transplantation experiments along natural oceanographic gradients with an in situ assessment of CWC fitness. This provides a rare opportunity to evaluate CWC fitness trade-offs in response to physico-chemical drivers and their variability. The stratified Chilean Comau Fjord sustains a dense population of the cold-water coral (CWC) Desmophyllum dianthus in aragonite supersaturated shallow and aragonite undersaturated deep water.
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