Energy allocation trade-offs as a function of age in fungiid corals
To compete effectively, living organisms must adjust the allocation of available energy resources for growth, survival, maintenance, and reproduction throughout their life histories. Energy demands and allocations change throughout the life history of an organism, and understanding their energy allo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1113987/full |
| _version_ | 1797804520847179776 |
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| author | Mila Grinblat Mila Grinblat Lee Eyal-Shaham Lee Eyal-Shaham Gal Eyal Gal Eyal Or Ben-Zvi Saki Harii Masaya Morita Kazuhiko Sakai Mamiko Hirose David J. Miller David J. Miller Yossi Loya |
| author_facet | Mila Grinblat Mila Grinblat Lee Eyal-Shaham Lee Eyal-Shaham Gal Eyal Gal Eyal Or Ben-Zvi Saki Harii Masaya Morita Kazuhiko Sakai Mamiko Hirose David J. Miller David J. Miller Yossi Loya |
| author_sort | Mila Grinblat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To compete effectively, living organisms must adjust the allocation of available energy resources for growth, survival, maintenance, and reproduction throughout their life histories. Energy demands and allocations change throughout the life history of an organism, and understanding their energy allocation strategies requires determination of the relative age of individuals. As most scleractinian corals are colonial, the relationship between age and mass/size is complicated by colony fragmentation, partial mortality, and asexual reproduction. To overcome these limitations, solitary mushroom corals, Herpolitha limax from Okinawa, Japan and Fungia fungites from Okinawa and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, were used to investigate how energy allocation between these fundamental processes varies as a function of age. Measurements of the relative growth, biochemical profiles, fecundity of individuals of different sizes, and the settlement success of their progeny have revealed physiological trade-offs between growth and reproduction, with increasing body mass ultimately leading to senescence. The importance of energy allocation for reproduction led us to examine the reproductive strategies and sex allocation in the two studied species. In the present study, the smallest individuals of both species studied were found to invest most of their energy in relative growth, showing higher lipid and carbohydrate content than the later stages. In medium-sized corals, this pattern was overturned in favour of reproduction, manifesting in terms of both the highest fecundity and settlement success of the resulting brooded larvae. Finally, a phase of apparent senescence was observed in the largest individuals, characterized by a decrease in most of the parameters measured. In addition, complex reproductive plasticity has been revealed in F. fungites in the GBR, with individual females releasing eggs, embryos, planulae, or a combination of these. These data provide the most direct estimates currently available for physiological, age-related trade-offs during the life history of a coral. The unusual reproductive characteristics of the GBR F. fungites indicate previously unknown layers of complexity in the reproductive biology of corals and have implications for their adaptive potential across a wide geographical scale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:38:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3d20e4372c5a425c9ea64c104ded3a97 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:38:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-3d20e4372c5a425c9ea64c104ded3a972023-06-14T05:15:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452023-06-011010.3389/fmars.2023.11139871113987Energy allocation trade-offs as a function of age in fungiid coralsMila Grinblat0Mila Grinblat1Lee Eyal-Shaham2Lee Eyal-Shaham3Gal Eyal4Gal Eyal5Or Ben-Zvi6Saki Harii7Masaya Morita8Kazuhiko Sakai9Mamiko Hirose10David J. Miller11David J. Miller12Yossi Loya13Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaCentre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaSchool of Zoology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, IsraelThe Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences, Eilat, IsraelAustralian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaThe Mina & Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelSchool of Zoology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, IsraelTropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Motobu, Okinawa, JapanTropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Motobu, Okinawa, JapanTropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Motobu, Okinawa, JapanDepartment of Environ & Social Affairs, School of Marine Sci & Techno, Tokai University, Shimizu, Shizuoka, JapanAustralian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaCentre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaSchool of Zoology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, IsraelTo compete effectively, living organisms must adjust the allocation of available energy resources for growth, survival, maintenance, and reproduction throughout their life histories. Energy demands and allocations change throughout the life history of an organism, and understanding their energy allocation strategies requires determination of the relative age of individuals. As most scleractinian corals are colonial, the relationship between age and mass/size is complicated by colony fragmentation, partial mortality, and asexual reproduction. To overcome these limitations, solitary mushroom corals, Herpolitha limax from Okinawa, Japan and Fungia fungites from Okinawa and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, were used to investigate how energy allocation between these fundamental processes varies as a function of age. Measurements of the relative growth, biochemical profiles, fecundity of individuals of different sizes, and the settlement success of their progeny have revealed physiological trade-offs between growth and reproduction, with increasing body mass ultimately leading to senescence. The importance of energy allocation for reproduction led us to examine the reproductive strategies and sex allocation in the two studied species. In the present study, the smallest individuals of both species studied were found to invest most of their energy in relative growth, showing higher lipid and carbohydrate content than the later stages. In medium-sized corals, this pattern was overturned in favour of reproduction, manifesting in terms of both the highest fecundity and settlement success of the resulting brooded larvae. Finally, a phase of apparent senescence was observed in the largest individuals, characterized by a decrease in most of the parameters measured. In addition, complex reproductive plasticity has been revealed in F. fungites in the GBR, with individual females releasing eggs, embryos, planulae, or a combination of these. These data provide the most direct estimates currently available for physiological, age-related trade-offs during the life history of a coral. The unusual reproductive characteristics of the GBR F. fungites indicate previously unknown layers of complexity in the reproductive biology of corals and have implications for their adaptive potential across a wide geographical scale.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1113987/fullreproductive allocationsenescencesex-allocationbiochemical profilesfecundityFungia fungites |
| spellingShingle | Mila Grinblat Mila Grinblat Lee Eyal-Shaham Lee Eyal-Shaham Gal Eyal Gal Eyal Or Ben-Zvi Saki Harii Masaya Morita Kazuhiko Sakai Mamiko Hirose David J. Miller David J. Miller Yossi Loya Energy allocation trade-offs as a function of age in fungiid corals Frontiers in Marine Science reproductive allocation senescence sex-allocation biochemical profiles fecundity Fungia fungites |
| title | Energy allocation trade-offs as a function of age in fungiid corals |
| title_full | Energy allocation trade-offs as a function of age in fungiid corals |
| title_fullStr | Energy allocation trade-offs as a function of age in fungiid corals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Energy allocation trade-offs as a function of age in fungiid corals |
| title_short | Energy allocation trade-offs as a function of age in fungiid corals |
| title_sort | energy allocation trade offs as a function of age in fungiid corals |
| topic | reproductive allocation senescence sex-allocation biochemical profiles fecundity Fungia fungites |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1113987/full |
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