{"id":6862,"date":"2019-09-18T12:31:10","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T02:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/?page_id=6862"},"modified":"2019-09-18T12:39:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T02:39:57","slug":"new-paper-shows-water-quality-plays-a-vital-role-in-coral-bleaching","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/news-events\/e-newsletters-2\/september-2019\/new-paper-shows-water-quality-plays-a-vital-role-in-coral-bleaching\/","title":{"rendered":"New paper shows water quality plays a vital role in coral bleaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

Controlling nutrient availability could be critical to increasing corals\u2019 ability to resist and recover from bleaching, according to a new study<\/strong><\/a> produced as part of Project 3.3.1<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong> under the Australian Government\u2019s National Environmental Science Program Tropical Water Quality Hub.<\/p>\n

A synthesis of the literature by Luke Morris, a James Cook University PhD student working at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), found that the forms and ratios of nutrients available on reefs can affect the critical relationship between coral polyps and the symbiotic algae that provide most of their food.<\/p>\n

This famous symbiotic relationship between the coral animal and their algal partners can switch from mutualistic (benefiting both organisms) to parasitic (benefiting the algae at the expense of the coral) when exposed to thermal stress, and Luke Morris explained the same may also happen when nutrient conditions are unfavourable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Coral displaying bleaching symptoms near Russell Island in 2017. Image: Neal Cantin<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously it was thought that bleaching results almost exclusively from damage to photosynthesis, but our review demonstrates that nutrients also play a vital role,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen certain nutrients are elevated, they can disrupt the relationship between corals and their algal partners, resulting in bleaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaboratory studies suggest that high nitrate availability can drive algal symbiont parasitism, however, there is still much to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The review, featured on the cover<\/a><\/strong> of the August 2019 issue of Trends in Microbiology<\/em>, <\/em>finds that access to a balanced diet of nutrients such as ammonium, nitrate and phosphorous may help corals to discourage parasitic behaviour from their algal partners.<\/p>\n

Experiments at the AIMS National Sea Simulator, the world\u2019s most advanced research aquarium, will manipulate nutrient conditions before and after thermal stress, to unravel how different nutrient combinations impact both coral bleaching and recovery.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Flood plumes at the mouth of the Burdekin River in 2019. Images by Matt Curnock. Support for the aerial footage was provided by TropWATER JCU, the Marine Monitoring Program – Inshore Water Quality through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Queensland Government, the Landholders Driving Change project led by NQ Dry Tropics, CSIRO and the National Environmental Science Program Tropical Water Quality Hub.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

NESP project leader and AIMS coral biologist Dr Neal Cantin said the link between water quality and coral bleaching would be further investigated on natural reefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis work contributes to our understanding of how water quality can affect the coral bleaching process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team at AIMS is now looking to see if water quality gradients influence the patterns of coral bleaching observed during the 2016-2017 Great Barrier Reef bleaching event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe surveyed reefs across a range of distances from land, including inshore and mid-shelf reef sites that are differently exposed to land-based inputs of nutrients.\u201d<\/p>\n

NESP Tropical Water Quality Hub science leader Prof Damien Burrows at JCU\u2019s TropWATER facility said that it highlighted the importance of improving water quality in Great Barrier Reef catchments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis research highlights how water quality may play an even greater role in determining corals\u2019 ability to resist and recover from severe bleaching,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this in no way reduces the urgent need for global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, it\u2019s further evidence that research and action at regional and local scales can be leveraged to lessen the pressure on the Great Barrier Reef and increase its chances of recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Back to the September<\/strong> 2019 e-Newsletter contents<\/strong><\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Controlling nutrient availability could be critical to increasing corals\u2019 ability to resist and recover from bleaching, according to a new study produced as part of Project 3.3.1\u00a0 under the Australian … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6864,"parent":6824,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6862","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6862\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}