Light induced intraspecific variability in response to thermal stress in the hard coral Stylophora pistillata.

ABSTRACT: Recent research suggests that prior exposure of several months to elevated irradiance induces enhanced thermal tolerance in scleractinian corals. While this tolerance has been reported at the species level, individual coral colonies may react differently due to individual variability in thermal tolerance. As thermal anomalies are predicted to become common in the upcoming future, intraspecific variation may be key to the survival of coral populations. In order to study light-history based thermal stress responses on individual colonies, we developed a preliminary microcosm experiment where three randomly chosen, aquacultured colonies of the model coral Stylophora pistillata were exposed to two irradiance treatments (200 and 400 μmol photons m^-2 s^-1) for 31 days

SUBMITTER: Tilstra A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5640979 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature