Physiological Response of Siderastrea siderea to Thermal Stress

Warming of the ocean water is one of the major causes of coral bleaching, a phenomenon that disrupt the obligate endosymbiotic relationships that corals has with dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium. Because it is predicted that sea surface temperature are going to increase 1-3°C in the next 10 years, it is important to understand how coral species will respond to such changes. It is known that the coral Siderastrea siderea is a scleractinian coral common to the Caribbean reefs that has shown to be very resistant to environmental stressors such as sedimentation and water contamination. However, little is known about its capacity to overcome high temperatures. But several studies suggest that Siderastrea siderea can recover faster than other corals from thermal-stress. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the physiology S. siderea varies with respect to an increase in water temperature. We conducted a controlled laboratory experiments where the coral were exposed to typical (27.5°C) and elevated temperatures (31.5°C). We quantified the densities of the endosymbiotic Symbiodinium spp. as well as physiological parameters such as protein and chlorophyll concentration to determine whether they change in response to an increase in temperature. Results show no significant differences or a direct relation between the thermal stress and the physiological mechanisms studied. Which would suggest that S. siderea indeed has the mechanisms to cope to high temperature scenarios.