Water flow buffers shifts in bacterial community structure in heat-stressed Acropora muricata.

ABSTRACT: Deterioration of coral health and associated change in the coral holobiont's bacterial community are often a result of different environmental stressors acting synergistically. There is evidence that water flow is important for a coral's resistance to elevated seawater temperature, but there is no information on how water flow affects the coral-associated bacterial community under these conditions. In a laboratory cross-design experiment, Acropora muricata nubbins were subjected to interactive effects of seawater temperature (27 °C to 31 °C) and water flow (0.20 m s^-1 and 0.03 m s^-1). In an in situ experiment, water flow manipulation was conducted with three colonies of A. muricata during the winter and summer, by partially enclosing each colony in a clear plastic mes

SUBMITTER: Lee ST 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5327421 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature