Skip to main content
Log in

Photobiology of corals from Brazil’s near-shore marginal reefs of Abrolhos

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Coral communities were examined from highly turbid near-shore marginal reefs of Abrolhos (Brazil) to test a paradigm previously developed from observations in clear water reefs; specifically, that coral photobiological properties follow a highly conserved linear relationship with optical depth (ζ) via preferential ‘non-photochemical’ over ‘photochemical’ dissipation of absorbed light energy. PAM flourometry in situ was used to examine the photobiology of the most dominant coral species throughout the platform surfaces and bases of Abrolhos’ characteristic ‘chapeirões’ reef framework; however, none of the species consistently adhered to the ‘clear water paradigm’. PAM measurements further demonstrated that species conformed to two different strategies of non-photochemical energy dissipation: transient but relatively rapid for the two closely related endemic species (Mussismilia braziliensis and Mussismilia harttii) as opposed to more persistent for Montastrea cavernosa, Porites astreoides and Siderastrea stellata. Further experiments demonstrated that tolerance to anomalous stress amongst species did not correspond with the non-photochemical energy dissipation strategy present but was consistent with the relative dominance of species within the chapeirões coral communities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anthony KRN, Connolly SR (2004) Environmental limits to growth: physiological niche boundaries of corals along turbidity-light gradients. Oecologia 141:373–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anthony KRN, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2003) Kinetics of photoacclimation in corals. Oecologia 134:23–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anthony KRN, Ridd PV, Orpin AR, Larcombe P, Lough J (2004) Temporal variation of light availability in coastal benthic habitats: Effects of clouds, turbidity, and tides. Limnol Oceanogr 49:2201–2211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aronson R, Bruckner A, Moore J, Precht B, Weil E (2008) Siderastrea stellata. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species v2011.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed 13 Jan 2012

  • Barnes DJ, Lough JM (1989) The nature of skeletal density banding in scleractinian corals: fine banding and seasonal patterns. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 126:119–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown BE, Ambarsari I, Warner ME, Fitt WK, Dunne RP, Gibb SW, Cummings DG (1999) Diurnal changes in photochemical efficiency and xanthophyll concentrations in shallow water reef corals: evidence for photoinhibition and photoprotection. Coral Reefs 18:99–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro CB, Pires DO (2001) Brazilian coral reefs: what we already know and what is still missing. Bull Mar Sci 69:357–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Castro CB, Segal B, Pires DO, Medeiros MS (2005) Distribution and diversity of coral communities in the Abrolhos reef complex, Brazil. In: Dutra GF, Allen GR, Werner T, McKenna SA (Eds) A rapid marine biodiversity assessment of the Abrolhos Bank, Bahia, Brazil. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 38. Conservation International, Washington DC, pp 19–39

  • Cosgrove J, Borowitzka MA (2010) Chlorophyll fluorescence terminology: an introduction. In: Suggett DJ, Prasil O, Borowitzka MA (eds) Chlorophylla fluorescence in aquatic sciences: methods and applications. Springer, Berlin, pp 1–18

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Costa CF, Sassi R, Amaral FD (2004) Population density and photosynthetic pigment content in symbiotic dinoflagellates in the Brazilian scleractinian coral Montastrea cavernosa (Linnaeus, 1767). Braz J Oceanogr 52:93–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa CF, Sassi R, Amaral FD (2005) Annual cycle of symbiotic dinoflagellates from three species of scleractinian corals from coastal reefs of northeastern Brazil. Coral Reefs 24:191–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa CF, Sassi R, Amaral FD (2008) Zooxanthellae genotypes in the coral Siderastrea stellata from coastal reefs in northeastern Brazil. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 367:149–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devlin MJ, Barry J, Mills DK, Gowen RJ, Foden J, Sivyer D, Tett P (2008) Relationships between suspended particulate material, light attenuation and Secchi depth in UK marine waters. Est Coast Shelf Sci 79:429–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutra LXC, Kikuchi RKP, Leão ZMAN (2006) Effects of sediment accumulation on reef corals from Abrolhos, Bahia Brazil. J Coastal Res SI39:633–638

    Google Scholar 

  • Falkowski PG, Dubinsky Z (1981) Light-shade adaptation of Stylophora pistillata, a hermatypic coral from the Gulf of Eilat. Nature 289:172–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukami H, Chen CA, Budd AF, Collins A, Wallace C, Chuang YY, Chen C, Dai CF, Iwao K, Sheppard C, Knowlton K (2008) Mitochondrial and nuclear genes suggest that stony corals are monophyletic but most families of stony corals are not (Order Scleractinia, Class Anthozoa, Phylum Cnidaria). PLoS ONE 3:e3222. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorbunov MY, Kolber ZS, Lesser MP, Falkowski PG (2001) Photosynthesis and photoprotection in symbiotic corals. Limnol Oceanogr 46:75–85

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hennige SJ, Smith DJ, Perkins R, Consalvey M, Patterson DM, Suggett DJ (2008) Photoacclimation, growth and distribution of massive corals in clear and turbid waters. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 369:77–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hennige SJ, Suggett DJ, Smith DJ, McDougall K, Warner (2009) Photoacclimation of symbiotic dinoflagellates revisited: Bio-optical and biophysical signatures. Coral Reefs 28:179–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hennige SJ, Walsh SJ, McGinly M, Smith DJ, Warner ME, Suggett DJ (2010) Coral acclimation and adaptation along an environmental gradient of an Indonesian reef complex. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 391:143–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill R, Ralph PJ (2008) Dark-induced reduction of the plastoquinone pool in zooxanthellae of scleractinian corals and implications for measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence. Symbiosis 46:45–56

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jassby AT, Platt T (1976) Mathematical formulation of the relationship between photosynthesis and light for phytoplankton. Limnol Oceanogr 21:540–547

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kikuchi RKP, Leão ZMAN, Oliveira MDM (2010) Conservation status and spatial patterns of AGGRA vitality indices in southwestern Atlantic reefs. Rev Biol Trop 58:1–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleypas JA, McManus JW, Menez LAB (1999) Environmental limits to coral reef development: where do we draw the line? Am Zool 39:146–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Knutson RA, Buddemeier RW, Smith SV (1972) Coral chronometers: seasonal growth bands in reef corals. Science 177:270–272

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krug LA, Gherardi DFM, Stech JL, Leão ZMAN, Kikuchi RKP (2012) Characterization of coral bleaching environments and their variation along the Bahia state coast, Brazil. Int J Rem Sens 33:4059–4074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavaud J, Strzepek RF, Kroth PG (2007) Photoprotection capacity differs among diatoms: possible consequences on the spatial distribution of diatoms related to fluctuations in the underwater light climate. Limnol Oceanogr 52:1188–1194

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leão ZMAN, Dominguez JML (2000) Tropical coast of Brazil. Mar Poll Bull 41:112–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leão ZMAN, Kikuchi RKP (2005) A relic fauna threatened by global changes and human activities, Eastern Brazil. Mar Poll Bull 51:599–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leão ZMAN, Kikuchi RKP, Testa V (2003) Corals and coral reefs of Brazil. In: Cortés J (ed) Latin American coral reefs. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 9–52

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Leão ZMAN, Kikuchi RKP, Oliveira MDM (2008) Coral bleaching in the reefs of Bahia and the relationship to anomalous events of sea surface temperature. Biota Neotropica 8:69–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesser MP, Slattery M, Stat M, Ojimi M, Gates RD, Grottoli A (2010) Photoacclimatization by the coral Montastraea cavernosa in the mesophotic zone: light, food, and genetics. Ecology 91:990–1003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver TA, Palumbi SR (2011) Do fluctuating temperature environments elevate coral thermal tolerance? Coral Reefs 30:429–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piniak GA, Storlazzi CA (2008) Diurnal variability in turbidity and coral fluorescence on a fringing reef flat: Southern Molokai, Hawaii. Est Coast Shelf Sci 77:56–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ralph PJ, Gademann R, Larkum AWD, Schreiber U (1999) In situ underwater measurements of photosynthetic activity of coral zooxanthellae and other reef-dwelling dinoflagellate endosymbionts. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 180:139–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Segal B, Evangelista H, Kampel M, Goncalves AC, Polito PS, dos Santos EA (2008) Potential impacts of polar fronts on sedimentation processes at Abrolhos coral reef (South-West Atlantic Ocean/Brazil). Cont Shelf Res 28:533–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DJ, Etienne M, Spring N, Suggett DJ (2008) Tolerance, refuge and recovery of coral communities to thermal bleaching: evidence from reefs of the Seychelles. Proceedings of 11th international coral reef symposium, pp 398–402

  • Suggett DJ, Smith DJ (2011) Interpreting the sign of coral bleaching: friend vs foe. Global Change Biol 17:45–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suggett DJ, Oxborough K, Baker NR, MacIntyre HL, Kana TM, Geider RJ (2003) Fast repetition rate and pulse amplitude modulation chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements for assessment of photosynthetic electron transport in marine phytoplankton. Euro J Phycol 38:371–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suggett DJ, MacIntyre HL, Geider RJ (2004) Evaluation of biophysical and optical determinations of light absorption by photosystem II in phytoplankton. Limnol Oceanogr Methods 2:316–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suggett DJ, Moore CM, Hickman AE, Geider RJ (2009) Interpretation of fast repetition rate (FRR) fluorescence: signatures of community structure v physiological state. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 376:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suggett DJ, Moore CM, Geider RJ (2010) Estimating aquatic primary productivity using active fluorescence. In: Suggett DJ, Prasil O, Borowitzka MA (eds) Chlorophylla fluorescence in aquatic sciences: methods and applications. Springer, Berlin, pp 103–127

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Warner ME, Lesser MP, Ralph PJ (2010) Chlorophyll fluorescence in reef building corals. In: Suggett DJ, Prasil O, Borowitzka MA (Eds) Chlorophylla fluorescence in aquatic sciences: methods and applications. Springer, Berlin, pp 209–222

  • Yentsch CS, Yentsch CM, Cullen JJ, Lapointe B, Phinney DA, Yentsch SW (2002) Sunlight and water transparency: cornerstones in coral research. J Expt Mar Biol Ecol 268:171–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Captain and crew of RV Moriá for assistance in sampling. Also, the mission scientists and Principal Investigators who provided the GIOVANNI Ocean colour Radiometry (SeaWiFS) data used in this research effort as well as Dr. Bert Hoeksema for his discussions on coral endemism. This work was supported by an international travel grant from the Royal Society to DJSu. RKPK and MDMO were supported with funding from the Brazilian National Council for the Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Fellowships (PQ2 and PD, respectively). We are also extremely thankful for invaluable comments from 3 anonymous reviewers thereby improving upon an earlier draft.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to David J. Suggett or Ruy K. P. Kikuchi.

Additional information

Communicated by K. Bischof.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Suggett, D.J., Kikuchi, R.K.P., Oliveira, M.D.M. et al. Photobiology of corals from Brazil’s near-shore marginal reefs of Abrolhos. Mar Biol 159, 1461–1473 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1925-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1925-6

Keywords

Navigation