Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T21:30:04.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Light intensity, photoperiod duration, daily light flux and coral growth of Galaxea fascicularis in an aquarium setting: a matter of photons?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2011

Miriam Schutter ,
Rosa M. van der Ven ,
Max Janse ,
Johan A.J. Verreth ,
René H. Wijffels  and
Ronald Osinga
Miriam Schutter*
Affiliation:
Aquaculture and Fisheries Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 338 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands Bioprocess Engineering Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands
Rosa M. van der Ven
Affiliation:
Aquaculture and Fisheries Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 338 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands
Max Janse
Affiliation:
Burgers' Zoo, Antoon van Hooffplein 1, 6816 SH Arnhem, The Netherlands
Johan A.J. Verreth
Affiliation:
Aquaculture and Fisheries Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 338 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands
René H. Wijffels
Affiliation:
Bioprocess Engineering Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands
Ronald Osinga
Affiliation:
Aquaculture and Fisheries Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 338 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Miriam Schutter, Aquaculture and Fisheries Group Wageningen University, PO Box 338 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Light is one of the most important abiotic factors influencing the (skeletal) growth of scleractinian corals. Light stimulates coral growth by the process of light-enhanced calcification, which is mediated by zooxanthellar photosynthesis. However, the quantity of light that is available for daily coral growth is not only determined by light intensity (i.e. irradiance), but also by photoperiod (i.e. the light duration time). Understanding and optimizing conditions for coral growth is essential for sustainable coral aquaculture. Therefore, in this study, the question was explored whether more light (i.e. more photons), presented either as irradiance or as light duration, would result in more growth. A series of nine genetically identical coral colonies of Galaxea fascicularis L. were cultured for a period of 18 weeks at different light duration times (8 hours 150 μE m−2 s−1:16 hours dark, 12 hours 150 μE m−2 s−1:12 hours dark, 16 hours 150 μE m−2 s−1:8 hours dark, 24 hours 150 μE m−2 s−1:0 hours dark) and different irradiance levels (8 hours 150 μE m−2 s−1:16 hours dark, 8 hours 225 μE m−2 s−1:16 hours dark and 8 hours 300 μE m−2 s−1:16 hours dark). Growth was determined every two weeks by measuring buoyant weight. Temperature, salinity and feeding levels were kept constant during the experiment. To detect possible acclimation of the corals to an increased light duration, rates of net photosynthesis and dark respiration were measured, hereby comparing coral colonies grown under an 8:16 hours light (150 μE m−2 s−1):dark cycle with corals grown under a 16:8 hours light (150 μE m−2 s−1):dark cycle. No increase in growth was detected with either increasing photoperiod or irradiance. Continuous lighting (24 hours 150 μE m−2 s−1:0 hours dark) resulted in immediate bleaching and the corals died after 14 weeks. Hourly photosynthetic rates were significantly reduced in the 16 hour light treatment compared to the 8 hour light treatment. As a result, daily net photosynthetic rates were not significantly different, which may explain the observed specific growth rates. Acclimation to photoperiod duration appeared neither to be mediated by changes in chlorophyll-a concentration nor zooxanthellae density. Based on the results of this study, we can conclude that the enhancing effect of light on coral growth is not only a matter of photons. Obviously, the availability of light was not limiting growth in these experiments and was probably in excess (i.e. stressful amounts). Other factors are discussed that play a role in determining growth rates and might explain our results.

Keywords

Galaxea fasciculariscoral growthirradiancephotoperiod photo-acclimationphotosynthesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 92 , Issue 4: Coral Reefs, the Aquarium Trade and the Maritime Industry , June 2012 , pp. 703 - 712
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allemand, D., Tambutté, E., Girard, J-P. and Jaubert, J. (1998) Organic matrix synthesis in the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata: role in biomineralization and potential target of the organotin tributyltin. Journal of Experimental Biology 201, 2001–2009.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allemand, D., Ferrier-Pagès, C., Furla, P., Houlbrèque, F., Puverel, S., Reynaud, S., Tambutté, E., Tambutté, S. and Zoccola, D. (2004) Biomineralisation in reef-building corals: from molecular mechanisms to environmental control. Comptes Rendus Palevol 3, 453–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anthony, K.R.N., Connolly, S.R. and Willis, B.L. (2002). Comparative analysis of energy allocation to tissue and skeletal growth in corals. Limnology and Oceanography 47, 1417–1429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anthony, K.R.N. and Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2003a) Kinetics of photoacclimation in corals. Oecologia 134, 23–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anthony, K.R.N. and Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2003b) Variation in coral photosynthesis, respiration and growth characteristics in contrasting light microhabitats: an analogue to plants in forest gaps and understoreys? Functional Ecology 17, 246–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anthony, K.R.N., Hoogenboom, M.O. and Connolly, S.R. (2005) Adaptive variation in coral geometry and the optimization of internal colony light regimes. Functional Ecology 19, 17–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anthony, K.R.N, Kline, D.I., Diaz-Pulido, G., Dove, S. and Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2008) Ocean acidification causes bleaching and productivity loss in coral reef builders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105, 17442–17446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bak, R.P.M. (1976) The growth of coral colonies and the importance of crustose coralline algae and burrowing sponges in relation with carbonate accumulation. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 10, 285–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, P.A. and Weber, J.N. (1975) Coral growth rate: variation with depth. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 27, 57–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broadbent, A.D., Jones, G.B. and Jones, R.J. (2002) DMSP in corals and benthic algae from the Great Barrier Reef. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 55, 547–555CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, B.E., Tudhope, A.W., Le Tissier, M.D.A. and Scoffin, T.P. (1991) A novel mechanism for iron incorporation into coral skeletons. Coral Reefs 10, 211–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, B.E., Le Tissier, M.D.A. and Dunne, R.P. (1994) Tissue retraction in the scleractinian coral Coeloseris mayeri, its effect upon coral pigmentation, and preliminary implications for heat balance. Marine Ecology Progress Series 105, 209–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, B.E., Downs, C.A., Dunne, R.P. and Gibb, S.W. (2002) Preliminary evidence for tissue retraction as a factor in photoprotection of corals incapable of xanthophyll cycling. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 277, 129–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chalker, B.E., Dunlap, W.C. and Oliver, J.K. (1983) Bathymetric adaptations of reef-building corals at davies reef, great barrier reef, Australia. II. Light saturation curves for photosynthesis and respiration. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 73, 37–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coles, S.L. and Jokiel, P.L. (1978) Synergistic effects of temperature, salinity and light on the hermatypic coral Montipora verrucosa. Marine Biology 49, 187–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, S.P. (1991) Effect of daylight variations on the energy budgets of shallow-water corals. Marine Biology 108, 137–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fabricius, K.E. (2005) Effects of terrestrial runoff on the ecology of corals and coral reefs: review and synthesis. Marine Pollution Bulletin 50, 125–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Falkowski, P.G. and Dubinsky, Z. (1981) Light–shade adaptation of Stylophora pistillata, a hermatypic coral from the Gulf of Eilat. Nature 289, 172–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrier-Pagès, C., Gattuso, J-P., Dallot, S. and Jaubert, J. (2000) Effect of nutrient enrichment on growth and photosynthesis of the zooxanthellate coral Stylophora pistillata. Coral Reefs 19, 103–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrier-Pagès, C., Schoelzke, V., Jaubert, J., Muscatine, L. and Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2001) Response of a scleractinian coral, Stylophora pistillata, to iron and nitrate enrichment. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 259, 249–261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferrier-Pagès, C., Houlbreque, F., Wyse, E., Richard, C., Allemand, D. and Boisson, F. (2005) Bioaccumulation of zinc in the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata. Coral Reefs 24, 636–645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finelli, C.M., Helmuth, B.S.T., Pentcheff, N.D. and Wethey, D.S. (2006) Water flow influences oxygen transport and photosynthetic efficiency in corals. Coral Reefs 25, 47–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitt, W.K. (2000) Cellular growth of host and symbiont in a cnidarian–zooxanthellar symbiosis. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 198, 110–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furla, P., Galgani, I., Durand, I. and Allemand, D. (2000) Sources and mechanisms of inorganic carbon transport for coral calcification and photosynthesis. Journal of Experimental Biology 203, 3445–3457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gattuso, J-P. and Jaubert, J. (1990) Effect of light on oxygen and carbon dioxide fluxes and on metabolic quotients measured in situ in a zooxanthellate coral. Limnology and Oceanography 35, 1796–1804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gattuso, J-P., Frankignoulle, M., Bourge, I., Romaine, S. and Buddemeier, R.W. (1998) Effect of calcium carbonate saturation of seawater on coral calcification. Global and Planetary Change 18, 37–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gattuso, J-P., Allemand, D. and Frankignoulle, M. (1999) Photosynthesis and calcification at cellular, organismal and community levels in coral reefs: a review on interactions and control by carbonate chemistry. American Zoologist 39, 160–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (1994). The population dynamics of symbiotic zooxanthellae in the coral Pocillopora damicornis exposed to elevated ammonium (NH4Cl) concentrations. Pacific Science 48, 263–272.Google Scholar
Houlbreque, F. and Ferrier-Pagès, C. (2009) Heterotrophy in tropical scleractinian corals. Biological Reviews 84, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huston, M. (1985) Variation in coral growth rates with depth at Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Coral Reefs 4, 19–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iglesias-Prieto, R. and Trench, R.K. (1994) Acclimation and adaptation to irradiance in symbiotic dinoflagellates. I. Responses of the photosynthetic unit to changes in photon flux density. Marine Ecology Progress Series 113, 163–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeffrey, S.W. and Humphrey, G.F. (1975) New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophylls a, b, c1 and c2 in higher plants, algae and natural phytoplankton. Biochemie und Physiologie der Pflanzen 167, S191–S194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jokiel, P.L. and Coles, S.L. (1990) Response of Hawaiian and other Indo-Pacific reef corals to elevated temperature. Coral Reefs 8, 155–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leclercq, N., Gattuso, J-P. and Jaubert, J. (2000) CO2 partial pressure controls the calcification rate of a coral community. Global Change Biology 6, 329–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesser, M.P., Weis, V.M., Patterson, M.R. and Jokiel, P.L. (1994) Effects of morphology and water motion on carbon delivery and productivity in the reef coral, Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus): diffusion barriers, inorganic carbon limitation, and biochemical plasticity. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 178, 153–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesser, M.P. (1996) Elevated temperatures and ultraviolet radiation cause oxidative stress and inhibit photosynthesis in symbiotic dinoflagellates. Limnology and Oceanography 41, 271–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesser, M.P. and Farrell, J.H. (2004) Exposure to solar radiation increases damage to both host tissues and algal symbionts of corals during thermal stress. Coral Reefs 23, 367–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, A.T. and Clode, P.L. (2004) Calcification rate and the effect of temperature in a zooxanthellate and an azooxanthellate scleractinian reef coral. Coral Reefs 23, 18–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marubini, F., Barnett, H., Langdon, C. and Atkinson, M.J. (2001) Dependence of calcification on light and carbonate ion concentration for the hermatypic coral Porites compressa. Marine Ecology Progress Series 220, 153–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marubini, F., Ferrier-Pagès, C., Furla, P. and Allemand, D. (2008) Coral calcification responds to seawater acidification: a working hypothesis towards a physiological mechanism. Coral Reefs 27, 491–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moya, A., Tambutté, S., Tambutté, E., Zoccola, D., Caminiti, N. and Allemand, D. (2006) Study of calcification during a daily cycle of the coral Stylophora pistillata: implications for ‘light-enhanced calcification’. Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 3413–3419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moya, A., Ferrier-Pagès, C., Furla, P., Richier, S., Tambutté, E., Allemand, D. and Tambutté, S. (2008) Calcification and associated physiological parameters during a stress event in the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology—Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology 151, 29–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muehllehner, N. and Edmunds, P.J. (2009) Effects of ocean acidification and increased temperature on skeletal growth of two scleractinian corals, Pocillopora meandrina and Porites rus. In Riegl, B.M. and Dodge, R.E. (eds) Proceedings of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 7–11 July 2008. Volume 1. Dania, FL: NOVA Southeastern University, Dania, pp. 57–61.Google Scholar
Muscatine, L. and Cernichiari, E. (1969) Assimilation of photosynthetic products of zooxanthellae by a reef coral. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 137, 506–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muscatine, L., McCloskey, L.R. and Marian, R.E. (1981) Estimating the daily contribution of carbon from zooxanthellae to coral animal respiration. Limnology and Oceanography 26, 601–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakamura, T. and Van Woesik, R. (2001) Water-flow rates and passive diffusion partially explain differential survival of corals during the 1998 Bleaching event. Marine Ecology Progress Series 212, 301–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynaud-Vaganay, S., Juillet-Leclerc, A., Jaubert, J. and Gattuso, J-P. (2001) Effect of light on skeletal δ13C and δ18O, and interaction with photosynthesis, respiration and calcification in two zooxanthellate scleractinian corals. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 175, 393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynaud, S., Ferrier-Pagès, C., Boisson, F., Allemand, D. and Fairbanks, R.G. (2004) Effect of light and temperature on calcification and strontium uptake in the scleractinian coral Acropora verweyi. Marine Ecology Progress Series 279, 105–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rinkevich, B. and Loya, Y. (1985) Intraspecific competition in a reef coral: effects on growth and reproduction. Oecologia (Berlin) 66, 100–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rinkevich, B., Avishai, N. and Rabinowitz, C. (2005) UV incites diverse levels of DNA breaks in different cellular compartments of a branching coral species. Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 843–848.Google Scholar
Rogers, C.S. (1990) Responses of coral reefs and reef organisms to sedimentation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 62, 185–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, K. and Erez, J. (2006) The effect of carbonate chemistry on calcification and photosynthesis in the hermatypic coral Acropora eurystoma. Limnology and Oceanography 51, 1284–1293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schutter, M., Van Velthoven, B., Janse, M., Osinga, R., Janssen, M., Wijffels, R. and Verreth, J. (2008) The effect of irradiance on long-term skeletal growth and net photosynthesis in Galaxea fascicularis under four light conditions. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 67, 75–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schutter, M., Kranenbarg, S., Wijffels, R.H., Verreth, J.A.J. and Osinga, R. (2011) Modification of light utilization for skeletal growth by water flow in the scleractinian coral Galaxea fascicularis. Marine Biology 158, 769–777. DOI 10.1007/s00227-010-1605-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanner, J.E. (1995) Competition between scleractinian corals and macroalgae: an experimental investigation of coral growth, survival and reproduction. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 190, 151–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titlyanov, E., Bil', K., Fomina, I., Titlyanova, T., Leletkin, V., Eden, N., Malkin, A. and Dubinsky, Z. (2000) Effects of dissolved ammonium addition and host feeding with Artemia salina on photoacclimation of the hermatypic coral Stylophora pistillata. Marine Biology 137, 463–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titlyanov, E.A. and Titlyanova, T.V. (2002) Reef-building corals—symbiotic autotrophic organisms: 2. Pathways and mechanisms of adaptation to light. Russian Journal of Marine Biology 28, S16–S31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar