Will Acroporid Hybrids Dominate Shallow Coral Reefs in the Future?
Abstract
The Reproduction and Evolutionary Ecology – Fogarty (REEF) Lab at Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center is led by marine biologist Dr. Nicole Fogarty (www.nicolefogarty.com). The REEF lab’s research focuses on fertilization and larval ecology, coral hybridization and speciation, and the impacts of climate change related stressors on coral reefs. Current research includes studying: disease and temperature stress resistant corals, the impacts of ocean acidification and temperature stress on coral larvae, coral recruitment on Southeast Florida reefs, and the role hybridization plays in the parental species survival and changing climate.
Current models predict the demise of reefs in the next 200 years due to increasing sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification. It is thus essential to identify habitats, taxa and evolutionary mechanisms that will allow some coral species to maintain their role as foundation fauna. Hybridization can provide an avenue for adaptation to changing conditions. Corals hybridize with some frequency and results may range from the introduction of a few alleles into existing parent species via introgression, to the birth of a new, perhaps better adapted genetic lineage. The only widely accepted coral hybrid system consists of the once dominant but now threatened Caribbean species, Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata. There is limited evidence that acroporid hybrids exist in the fossil record. Even 100 years ago, hybrid colonies originating from natural crosses between elkhorn and staghorn corals were rare, and evidence of hybrid reproduction was limited to infrequent matings with the staghorn coral. Recent molecular evidence, field observations and laboratory experiments suggest hybrids are disease resistance and thermal tolerance, are increasing in abundance in some locations, are expanding into parental habitats, and may be more resistant to ocean acidification. Taken together, it suggests that the hybrids’ ecological role and evolutionary potential is changing and a new acroporid phenotype may dominate shallow coral reefs in the future.
Will Acroporid Hybrids Dominate Shallow Coral Reefs in the Future?
HCNSO Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center Nova Southeastern University
The Reproduction and Evolutionary Ecology – Fogarty (REEF) Lab at Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center is led by marine biologist Dr. Nicole Fogarty (www.nicolefogarty.com). The REEF lab’s research focuses on fertilization and larval ecology, coral hybridization and speciation, and the impacts of climate change related stressors on coral reefs. Current research includes studying: disease and temperature stress resistant corals, the impacts of ocean acidification and temperature stress on coral larvae, coral recruitment on Southeast Florida reefs, and the role hybridization plays in the parental species survival and changing climate.
Current models predict the demise of reefs in the next 200 years due to increasing sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification. It is thus essential to identify habitats, taxa and evolutionary mechanisms that will allow some coral species to maintain their role as foundation fauna. Hybridization can provide an avenue for adaptation to changing conditions. Corals hybridize with some frequency and results may range from the introduction of a few alleles into existing parent species via introgression, to the birth of a new, perhaps better adapted genetic lineage. The only widely accepted coral hybrid system consists of the once dominant but now threatened Caribbean species, Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata. There is limited evidence that acroporid hybrids exist in the fossil record. Even 100 years ago, hybrid colonies originating from natural crosses between elkhorn and staghorn corals were rare, and evidence of hybrid reproduction was limited to infrequent matings with the staghorn coral. Recent molecular evidence, field observations and laboratory experiments suggest hybrids are disease resistance and thermal tolerance, are increasing in abundance in some locations, are expanding into parental habitats, and may be more resistant to ocean acidification. Taken together, it suggests that the hybrids’ ecological role and evolutionary potential is changing and a new acroporid phenotype may dominate shallow coral reefs in the future.