Growing coral larger and faster: micro-colony-fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral cover
Fusion is an important life history strategy for clonal organisms to increase access to shared resources, to compete for space, and to recover from disturbance. For reef building corals, fragmentation and colony fusion are key components of resilience to disturbance. Observations of small fragments...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2015-10-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1313.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797420511622332416 |
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| author | Zac H. Forsman Christopher A. Page Robert J. Toonen David Vaughan |
| author_facet | Zac H. Forsman Christopher A. Page Robert J. Toonen David Vaughan |
| author_sort | Zac H. Forsman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fusion is an important life history strategy for clonal organisms to increase access to shared resources, to compete for space, and to recover from disturbance. For reef building corals, fragmentation and colony fusion are key components of resilience to disturbance. Observations of small fragments spreading tissue and fusing over artificial substrates prompted experiments aimed at further characterizing Atlantic and Pacific corals under various conditions. Small (∼1–3 cm2) fragments from the same colony spaced regularly over ceramic tiles resulted in spreading at rapid rates (e.g., tens of square centimeters per month) followed by isogenic fusion. Using this strategy, we demonstrate growth, in terms of area encrusted and covered by living tissue, of Orbicella faveolata, Pseudodiploria clivosa, and Porites lobata as high as 63, 48, and 23 cm2 per month respectively. We found a relationship between starting and ending size of fragments, with larger fragments growing at a faster rate. Porites lobata showed significant tank effects on rates of tissue spreading indicating sensitivity to biotic and abiotic factors. The tendency of small coral fragments to encrust and fuse over a variety of surfaces can be exploited for a variety of applications such as coral cultivation, assays for coral growth, and reef restoration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:03:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb402db3841146c7b2618ec178b25276 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:03:34Z |
| publishDate | 2015-10-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb402db3841146c7b2618ec178b252762023-12-03T09:47:28ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592015-10-013e131310.7717/peerj.1313Growing coral larger and faster: micro-colony-fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral coverZac H. Forsman0Christopher A. Page1Robert J. Toonen2David Vaughan3Division of Aquatic Resources, State of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, United StatesMote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL, United StatesHawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Kaneohe, HI, United StatesMote Marine Laboratory, Summerland Key, FL, United StatesFusion is an important life history strategy for clonal organisms to increase access to shared resources, to compete for space, and to recover from disturbance. For reef building corals, fragmentation and colony fusion are key components of resilience to disturbance. Observations of small fragments spreading tissue and fusing over artificial substrates prompted experiments aimed at further characterizing Atlantic and Pacific corals under various conditions. Small (∼1–3 cm2) fragments from the same colony spaced regularly over ceramic tiles resulted in spreading at rapid rates (e.g., tens of square centimeters per month) followed by isogenic fusion. Using this strategy, we demonstrate growth, in terms of area encrusted and covered by living tissue, of Orbicella faveolata, Pseudodiploria clivosa, and Porites lobata as high as 63, 48, and 23 cm2 per month respectively. We found a relationship between starting and ending size of fragments, with larger fragments growing at a faster rate. Porites lobata showed significant tank effects on rates of tissue spreading indicating sensitivity to biotic and abiotic factors. The tendency of small coral fragments to encrust and fuse over a variety of surfaces can be exploited for a variety of applications such as coral cultivation, assays for coral growth, and reef restoration.https://peerj.com/articles/1313.pdfCoral cultivationColony fusionColony fragmentationCoral restorationCoral growthPorites lobata |
| spellingShingle | Zac H. Forsman Christopher A. Page Robert J. Toonen David Vaughan Growing coral larger and faster: micro-colony-fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral cover PeerJ Coral cultivation Colony fusion Colony fragmentation Coral restoration Coral growth Porites lobata |
| title | Growing coral larger and faster: micro-colony-fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral cover |
| title_full | Growing coral larger and faster: micro-colony-fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral cover |
| title_fullStr | Growing coral larger and faster: micro-colony-fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral cover |
| title_full_unstemmed | Growing coral larger and faster: micro-colony-fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral cover |
| title_short | Growing coral larger and faster: micro-colony-fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral cover |
| title_sort | growing coral larger and faster micro colony fusion as a strategy for accelerating coral cover |
| topic | Coral cultivation Colony fusion Colony fragmentation Coral restoration Coral growth Porites lobata |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1313.pdf |
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