In a study exploring the various species of algal symbionts associated with reef corals throughout the Indo-Pacific region, researchers discovered a high degree of flexibility in these relationships. This flexibility may enhance these coral systems' long-term resilience to climate change's impacts.
Corals in the Indo-Pacific may be more resilient to climate change than those in the Atlantic, according to a new study describing multiple species of thermally tolerant algal symbionts that enable corals to acquire energy from sunlight. Credit: Allison Lewisof algal symbionts associated with reef corals throughout the Indo-Pacific region, researchers discovered a high degree of flexibility in these relationships.
“Coral bleaching not only affects the corals themselves but also entire ecosystems of organisms — from, like fish and sea turtles,” said Todd LaJeunesse, professor of biology, Penn State. “It’s important to study the biology of corals and their symbionts so we can predict how they will respond to future environmental changes, especially ocean warming.”
As LaJeunesse and his colleagues began to describe symbiont species, they learned that some are specialists — meaning they can only associate with one or a few species of coral hosts — whereas others are generalists — meaning they can associate with many species of coral hosts. In addition, they found that some corals, especially from the Caribbean, rely on specialist symbionts, whereas corals from the Indo-Pacific associate with generalists.
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