High flow conditions mediate damaging impacts of sub-lethal thermal stress on corals' endosymbiotic algae.

ABSTRACT: The effects of thermal anomalies on tropical coral endosymbiosis can be mediated by a range of environmental factors, which in turn ultimately influence coral health and survival. One such factor is the water flow conditions over coral reefs and corals. Although the physiological benefits of living under high water flow are well known, there remains a lack of conclusive experimental evidence characterizing how flow mitigates thermal stress responses in corals. Here we use in situ measurements of flow in a variety of reef habitats to constrain the importance of flow speeds on the endosymbiosis of an important reef building species under different thermal regimes. Under high flow speeds (0.15 m s^-1) and thermal stress, coral endosymbionts retained photosynthetic function an

SUBMITTER: Page CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8226191 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature