Marine Heatwaves, Ocean Warming and Acidification Reshape Reef Fish Gut Microbiomes

作者：Mitchell A, Hayes C, Hudson CJ, Connell SD, Harvey BP, Agostini S, Jolly J, Ravasi T, Booth DJ, Nagelkerken I · 发表于：Molecular ecology · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1111/mec.70275 · 研究领域：climate change、extreme climate events、gut microbiome、marine heatwaves、natural analogues、ocean acidification、ocean warming、physiology、reef fishes

Extreme climatic events and gradual climate change are increasingly anticipated to interact and reshape ecological communities. However, the combined effects of ocean warming, acidification and marine heatwaves on host-associated microbial communities and their potential role in host adaptation remain poorly understood. Here, we assessed shifts in gut microbiome communities and their associations with physiological performance in one tropical (Abudefduf vaigiensis) and one subtropical (Microcanthus strigatus) reef fish species, across three temperate reefs representing natural analogues of climate change: a present-day baseline ('cool reef'), a chronically warmed reef ('warm reef') and a reef experiencing combined warming and extreme acidification ('extreme reef'). We also examined gut microbiome changes in A. vaigiensis before and during a severe marine heatwave. A. vaigiensis had lower gut microbiome evenness and diversity at the warm (43% and 44% decrease, respectively) and extreme (38% and 31% decrease) reefs compared to the cool reef, and its gut microbiome community shifted at the extreme reef with a 122% increase in abundance of opportunistic bacteria Vibrio. A. vaigiensis also had lower gut microbiome richness at the warm (42% decrease) and extreme (52% decrease) reefs during the heatwave compared to pre-heatwave individuals. In contrast, M. strigatus showed higher microbiome evenness (99% increase) and diversity (98% increase) at the warm reef compared to the cool re...