Britayev, T.A.; Petrochenko, R.A.; Burmistrova, Y.A.; Nguyen, T.H.; Lishchenko, F.V. Density and Bleaching of Corals and Their Relationship to the Coral Symbiotic Community. Diversity2023, 15, 456.
Britayev, T.A.; Petrochenko, R.A.; Burmistrova, Y.A.; Nguyen, T.H.; Lishchenko, F.V. Density and Bleaching of Corals and Their Relationship to the Coral Symbiotic Community. Diversity 2023, 15, 456.
Britayev, T.A.; Petrochenko, R.A.; Burmistrova, Y.A.; Nguyen, T.H.; Lishchenko, F.V. Density and Bleaching of Corals and Their Relationship to the Coral Symbiotic Community. Diversity2023, 15, 456.
Britayev, T.A.; Petrochenko, R.A.; Burmistrova, Y.A.; Nguyen, T.H.; Lishchenko, F.V. Density and Bleaching of Corals and Their Relationship to the Coral Symbiotic Community. Diversity 2023, 15, 456.
Abstract
Corals are an important habitat for a diverse fauna which is especially rich in branching species. Each colony harbors several species and dozens of individuals forming an integrated symbiotic community. Factors affecting the diversity and abundance of coral symbionts are poorly understood. The present study tested experimentally the relationship between the population density of coral Pocillopora verrucosa and the diversity and abundance of symbionts in planted coral fragments exposed during three months. Colony size and bleaching were also considered as two additional factors. We demonstrated that even at the early stage of the colonies’ formation, the diversity of obligate symbiontson on these corals was higher than in any other studied local faunas of the World Ocean.Species richness and abundance of symbionts were positively related to colony size and density, while no impact of bleaching was found. Species richness and abundance of obligate symbionts increased along with the host population density, while in facultative symbionts, these indexes decreased. We hypothesized that the negative effect of the host density on species richness and abundance of facultative symbionts is caused by the competitive pressure of obligates, which increases with their abundance. Reasons for the different responses of obligate and facultative symbionts to host density were considered.
Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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