Baseline shifts in coral skeletal oxygen isotopic composition: a signature of symbiont shuffling?
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338_2012_Article_1004.pdf
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Author(s)
McField, M.
Carilli, J. E.
Charles, C. D.
Norris, R. D.
Garren, Melissa S.
Date Issued
January 2013
Journal
Coral Reefs
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Citation
Carilli, J. E. et al. “Baseline Shifts in Coral Skeletal Oxygen Isotopic Composition: A Signature of Symbiont Shuffling?” Coral Reefs 32.2 (2013): 559–571.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Decades-long records of the stable isotopic composition of coral skeletal cores were analyzed from four sites on the Mesoamerican Reef. Two of the sites exhibited baseline shifts in oxygen isotopic composition after known coral bleaching events. Changes in pH at the calcification site caused by a change in the associated symbiont community are invoked to explain the observed shift in the isotopic composition. To test the hypothesis that changes in symbiont clade could affect skeletal chemistry, additional coral samples were collected from Belize for paired Symbiodinium identification and skeletal stable isotopic analysis. We found some evidence that skeletal stable isotopic composition may be affected by symbiont clade and suggest this is an important topic for future investigation. If different Symbiodinium clades leave consistent signatures in skeletal geochemical composition, the signature will provide a method to quantify past symbiont shuffling events, important for understanding how corals are likely to respond to climate change.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-1004-y
