Shaping coral traits: plasticity more than filtering

Author:

Brambilla V12,Barbosa M13,Dehnert I45,Madin J6,Maggioni D45,Peddie C7,Dornelas M12

Affiliation:

1. Centre for Biological Diversity, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK

2. Scottish Ocean Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK

3. CESAM, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810 Aveiro, Portugal

4. Department of Environmental and Earth Sciences (DISAT), University of Milano - Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy

5. Marine Research and High Education (MaRHE) Center, University of Milano - Bicocca, Faafu Magoodhoo, Maldives

6. Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744, USA

7. School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK

Abstract

The structure of an ecosystem is usually determined by the shape of the organisms that build it, commonly known as ecosystem engineers. Understanding to what extent plasticity and environmental filtering determine variation in the physical structure of ecosystem engineers is necessary to predict how ecosystem structure may change. Here, we explored coral survival and the plasticity of morphological traits that are critical for habitat provision in coral reefs. We conducted a reciprocal clonal transplant experiment in which branching corals from the genera Porites and Acropora were moved to and from a deep and a shallow site within a lagoon in the Maldives. Survival and trait analyses revealed that transplant destination consistently induced the strongest changes, particularly among Acropora spp. The origin of the corals had only marginal effects on some of the traits. We also detected variation in the way individuals from the same species and site differentiate in their shape, showing that traits linked to habitat provision are phenotypically plastic. The results suggest that in the quite common lagoonal conditions studied here, coral phenotypic plasticity plays a stronger role than environmental filtering, in determining the zonation of coral morphologies, and consequently the habitats they provide for other organisms.

Publisher

Inter-Research Science Center

Subject

Ecology,Aquatic Science,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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