Integrating environmental variability to broaden the research on coral responses to future ocean conditions

Abstract

Our understanding of the response of reef-building corals to changes in their physical environment is largely based on laboratory experiments, analysis of long-term field data, and model projections. Experimental data provide unique insights into how organisms respond to variation of environmental drivers. However, an assessment of how well experimental conditions cover the breadth of environmental conditions and variability where corals live successfully is missing. Here, we compiled and analyzed a globally distributed dataset of in-situ seasonal and diurnal variability of key environmental drivers (temperature, pCO2, and O2) critical for the growth and livelihood of reef-building corals. Using a meta-analysis approach, we compared the variability of environmental conditions assayed in coral experimental studies to current and projected conditions in their natural habitats. We found that annual temperature profiles projected for the end of the 21st century were characterized by distributional shifts in temperatures with warmer winters and longer warm periods in the summer, not just peak temperatures. Furthermore, short-term hourly fluctuations of temperature and pCO2 may regularly expose corals to conditions beyond the projected average increases for the end of the 21st century. Coral reef sites varied in the degree of coupling between temperature, pCO2, and dissolved O2, which warrants site-specific, differentiated experimental approaches depending on the local hydrography and influence of biological processes on the carbonate system and O2 availability. Our analysis highlights that a large portion of the natural environmental variability at short and long timescales is underexplored in experimental designs, which may provide a path to extend our understanding on the response of corals to global climate change. ; This study was conducted as part of a competitive research funding grant by the Red Sea Research Center of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology awarded to AA, NG, SK, SSR, and MZ. TLF was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (198897), the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 820989 (project COMFORT, "Our common future ocean in the Earth system - quantifying coupled cycles of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients for determining and achieving safe operating spaces with respect to tipping points") and grant agreement no. 862923 (project AtlantECO, "Atlantic Ecosystems Assessment, Forecasting & Sustainability"). ; Peer reviewed