Temporal and Spatial Variations in Symbiont Communities of Catch Bowl Coral Isopora palifera (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) on Reefs in Kenting National Park, Taiwan

作者：Chia-Min Hsu, Shashank Keshavmurthy, Vianney Denis, Chao‐Yang Kuo, Jih‐Terng Wang, Pei‐Jie Meng, Allen Chao-Lun Chen · 发表于：Zoological studies · 年份：2012 · 被引用次数：36 · 研究领域：Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies、Marine and coastal plant biology、Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics

Acclimatization through Symbiodinium shuffling is one of potential mechanisms in reef-building corals to survive environmental stress. In our previous study, the catch bowl coral Isopora palifera in Tantzei Bay (TZB), Nanwan, Kenting National Park (KNP), southern Taiwan was demonstrated to shuffle thermal-tolerant Symbiodinium D1a and thermal-sensitive Symbiodinium C3 in response to seasonal variations in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in 2000 and 2001. In this study, we reexamined the temporal dynamics of the Symbiodinium community of I. palifera in TZB in 2006-2009. In addition, spatial variations in Symbiodinium communities in I. palifera were also examined at 6 other sites of Nanwan, KNP in 2009, including a site located at a nuclear power plant outlet (NPP-OL) in southern Taiwan with a yearly mean SST 0.6-1.5°C higher compared to the other sites. Phylotyping and DNA sequence analyses of Symbiodinium ribosomal 28S and ITS2 markers showed that I. palifera colonies at TZB continued to show seasonal shuffling, but shifted to thermal-sensitive type C3 dominant in 2006-2009. This differed from the symbiont community originally dominated by the thermal-tolerant Symbiodinium D1a in 2000 and 2001 after the 1998 mass-bleaching event. Significant differences in spatial variations of the symbiont community in Nanwan were detected with I. palifera colonies at the NPP-OL dominated by Symbiodinium D1a. Our study results suggest that I. palifera can acclimatize to SST anomalies by shuf...