Reproductive resilience: pathways to gametogenic success in Montipora capitata after bleaching.

ABSTRACT: Thermal bleaching, or the loss of symbiotic algae that provide most energetic resources for the coral host, is an increasing threat to reefs worldwide and is projected to worsen with climate change. While bleaching is a well-recognized threat, the impact on the process of reproduction in bleaching survivors is not well resolved, despite being central to coral resilience. Montipora capitata can survive bleaching while completing a full gametogenic cycle, offering an ideal system to study gametogenic resilience and physiological tradeoffs. We experimentally bleached fragments of M. capitata colonies and followed their gametogenesis and physiological responses for 10 months (six time points). All bleached colonies produced gametes at the same time as controls, suggesting that reproductive pro

SUBMITTER: Timmins-Schiffman E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11557575 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature