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Physiology of Winter Coral Bleaching in Temperate Zone

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Evolution of Marine Coastal Ecosystems under the Pressure of Global Changes

Abstract

With high-temperature stress due to climate change threatening corals in the tropics, cooler high latitudes may become a potential refuge. Already established high latitudes coral communities experience severe cold stress during winter, stress that would be fatal to most of the tropical coral species. Here we studied the physiological response of two high latitude coral species in Japan: Alveopora japonica and Porites heronensis, through field transplantation and in situ incubations. The specimens experienced 243 days at a temperature under 18 °C, which is the limit for the development of reefs and, and 110 days under 15 °C. While bleaching was observed for both species, none of the specimens died, highlighting the high resilience of temperate coral species to cold stress. The survival strategies to the cold temperature seem to differ among the species. P. heronensis exhibited decreased Fv/Fm and highly decreased metabolism (photosynthesis, calcification, respiration, ETSA) suggesting that this species could survive the winter by decreasing its basal metabolism. It also shows a mitotic index of more than 30% during the warmer period that could a prompt recovery from the stress experienced during winter. A. japonica, which showed several bleaching for around three months, also showed decreased metabolism but to a lesser extent suggesting that it was able to use an alternative source of energy. These kinds of adaptations to cold stress may not be widespread among tropical coral species, highlighting the need for better conservation of this future reservoir of biodiversity that represents marginal high latitude coral communities.

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Acknowledgements

This research was partly supported by a grant in aid from JAMBIO (project numbers: #25-59 and #26-14). The authors would like to thanks the technical staff of the Shimoda Marine Research Center, the University of Tsukuba for assistance in the field. We also thank the reviewers and editors of this proceeding whose comments greatly improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Tomihiko Higuchi

  2. Life and Environment Science, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Ikuko Yuyama

  3. Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Sylvain Agostini

Authors
  1. Tomihiko Higuchi
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  2. Ikuko Yuyama
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  3. Sylvain Agostini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sylvain Agostini .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Océanographique, JFSO France Institut Océanographique, Marseille, France

    Hubert-Jean Ceccaldi

  2. JAMSTEC (JAPAN AGENCY FOR EARTH-OCEAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) and JFSO France, Paris, France

    Yves Hénocque

  3. Yokohama College of Commerce, JFSO-Japan, Tokyo, Japan

    Teruhisa Komatsu

  4. JFSO France, ST JEAN DE LUZ, France

    Patrick Prouzet

  5. UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC-OASU, Pessac, France

    Benoit Sautour

  6. Centre for Marine Research and Operations, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Jiro Yoshida

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Higuchi, T., Yuyama, I., Agostini, S. (2020). Physiology of Winter Coral Bleaching in Temperate Zone. In: Ceccaldi, HJ., Hénocque, Y., Komatsu, T., Prouzet, P., Sautour, B., Yoshida, J. (eds) Evolution of Marine Coastal Ecosystems under the Pressure of Global Changes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43484-7_10

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