Analyzing Changes to Coral Health and Metabolic Activity in an Oxygen Depauperate Environment

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2014-01-15
Authors
Murphy, James
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Richmond, Robert
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Biology
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Scleractinian corals play a critical role in marine ecosystems by providing essential structure for coral reef habitats. However, recent investigations have found an alarming increase in coral death as the result of stressors, which threaten the general health of tropical coastal environments. Of particular interest is the effect of oxygen deprivation on the health of Hawaiian corals through the analysis of anaerobic respiration, as it is poorly documented. The fast-paced growtih of Graciliiria sallcorma gives this alga the ability to overgrow coral heads, restricting water flow and light, thereby smothering corals. Field data shows hypoxic conditions (D02 < 2 mg/L) occurring underneath algal mats at night, and concurrent bleaching and partial tissue loss of shaded corals. This study aims to simulate hypoxia in a laboratory setting in order to limit the effect of environmental variables on coral health. Analyses of stress in corals due to anoxia were accomplished through the quantification lactate dehydrogenase and opine dehydrogenase activities. Treatment corals were found to exhibit almost complete tissue loss and severe bleaching with increasing exposure duration to hypoxia. Conversely, control corals were found to exhibit little to no tissue loss or bleaching throughout the treatment cycle. Treatment corals also experienced significant increases in alanopine dehydrogenase and strombine dehydrogenase activity, while no octopine dehydrogenase or lactate dehydrogenase activity was detected. These findings suggest anoxia as a major source of increased coral stress, which occur in response to hypoxic conditions, such as invasive algae mat smothering, and provide insight into coral tolerance to controlled extremely low-oxygen environments.
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38 pages
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