Correction: Threatened Caribbean Coral Is Able to Mitigate the Adverse Effects of Ocean Acidification on Calcification by Increasing Feeding Rate.

Global climate change threatens coral growth and reef ecosystem health via ocean warming and ocean acidification (OA). Whereas the negative impacts of these stressors are increasingly well-documented, studies identifying pathways to resilience are still poorly understood. Heterotrophy has been shown to help corals experiencing decreases in growth due to either thermal or OA stress; however, the mechanism by which it mitigates these decreases remains unclear. This study tested the ability of coral heterotrophy to mitigate reductions in growth due to climate change stress in the critically endangered Caribbean coral Acropora cervicornis via changes in feeding rate and lipid content. Corals were either fed or unfed and exposed to elevated temperature (30°C), enriched pCO2 (800 ppm), or both (30°C/800 ppm) as compared to a control (26°C/390 ppm) for 8 weeks. Feeding rate and lipid content both increased in corals experiencing OA vs. present-day conditions, and were significantly correlated. Fed corals were able to maintain ambient growth rates at both elevated temperature and elevated CO2, while unfed corals experienced significant decreases in growth with respect to fed conspecifics. Our results show for the first time that a threatened coral species can buffer OA-reduced calcification by increasing feeding rates and lipid content

Total lipid content of <i>A</i>. <i>cervicornis</i> following 8 week exposure to combinations of temperature, CO₂, and feeding.

<p>LT-LCO₂ represents control conditions, 26°C, 390ppm, LT-HCO₂ represents 26°C, 800ppm, HT-LCO₂ represents 30°C, 390 ppm, and HT-HCO₂ represents 30°C, 800ppm. Each bar represents the mean lipid content of n = 10 corals, and white bars represent unfed corals, while grey bars represent fed corals. Dissimilar letters indicate means that are significantly different following a <i>post-hoc</i> Tukey’s HSD test. Error bars represent ± one standard error.</p

Bivariate linear fit of lipid content by feeding rate in <i>A</i>. <i>cervicornis</i>.

<p>Linear fit (p = 0.0002) for n = 36 fed coral feeding rates and their corresponding lipid contents. The equation of the best fit line is y = 0.82869(x) + 0.2058, with a R² value of 0.3355.</p

Summary of mean water chemistry parameters throughout the study period expressed as mean ± 1 SD.

<p>Summary of mean water chemistry parameters throughout the study period expressed as mean ± 1 SD.</p

Chlorophyll <i>a</i> level in <i>A</i>. <i>cervicornis</i> following 8 week exposure to combinations of temperature, CO₂, and feeding.

<p>A. Mean chlorophyll <i>a</i> of corals (n = 10) in each individual tank, not pooled by treatment due to a significant tank effect. Therefore each treatment is shown twice, representing each replicate tank, i.e. two LT-LCO₂, two LT-HCO₂, two HT-LCO₂, and two HT-HCO₂, from left to right. Dissimilar letters indicate means that are significantly different following <i>post-hoc</i> Tukey’s HSD test. Mean chlorophyll <i>a</i> of corals (each bar represents n = 40) depicting the main effects of temperature (B) and feeding (C). Dissimilar letters indicate means that are significantly different following <i>post-hoc</i> student’s t-test. Error bars represent ± one standard error.</p

Source location and food availability determine the growth response of Orbicella faveolata to climate change stressors

The local environment shapes coral physiology through acclimatization and also selects for genotypes best suited to a particular site. Both acclimatization and selection likely affect the response of corals to future climate change. The local environment is therefore an important factor to consider for restoration ecology. In this study, we exposed Orbicella faveolata from two different locations in Florida (Emerald Reef, near Key Biscayne in the upper Florida Keys, and Truman Harbor near Key West in the lower Florida Keys) that were common-gardened for one month prior to experimentation to four temperature, CO2, and food availability treatments (26°C/390 ppm, 26°C/1000 ppm, 31°C/390 ppm, and 31°C/1000 ppm where each of these treatments had fed and unfed components). The goal was to determine how the same species of coral from different locations would respond to projected climate change scenarios. We found that growth (measured as changes in buoyant weight) was highly correlated to source location (i.e., whether the corals came from Emerald Reef or Truman Harbor) and not to parent colony, and growth, symbiont density, chlorophyll a content, and lipid content were highly correlated to feeding regime. These findings show that within a single reef tract, (i.e. the Florida Reef Tract), source location and food availability matter for the physiological outcome of a coral’s stress response, and suggest that an explicit consideration of these effects may be important for management activities such as coral restoration, transplantation, and MPA placement. •Local environment shapes coral physiology.•Growth rate was highly correlated to source location, not parent colony.•Within a single management regime, source location may determine stress response.•Considering location effects is important for coral restoration and transplantation.•Potential for assisted migration should be studied further

Feeding rate of <i>A</i>. <i>cervicornis</i> over 8 week exposure to combinations of temperature and CO₂.

<p>LT-LCO₂ represents control conditions, 26°C, 390ppm, HT-LCO₂ represents 30°C, 390 ppm, LT-HCO₂ represents 26°C, 800ppm, and HT-HCO₂ represents 30°C, 800ppm. Each dark grey treatment bar represents the mean feeding rate of n = 10 corals, while light grey LCO₂ and HCO₂ bars (pooled by temperatures) representing n = 20 corals are shown to clearly depict the main effect of CO₂ on feeding rate. Dissimilar letters indicate means that are significantly different following <i>post-hoc</i> student’s t-test. Error bars represent ± one standard error.</p

Growth of <i>A</i>. <i>cervicornis</i> over 8 week exposure to combinations of temperature, CO₂, and feeding.

<p>LT-LCO₂ represents control conditions, 26°C, 390ppm, LT-HCO₂ represents 26°C, 800ppm, HT-LCO₂ represents 30°C, 390 ppm, and HT-HCO₂ represents 30°C, 800ppm. Each bar represents the mean growth rate of n = 10 corals, and white bars represent unfed corals, while grey bars represent fed corals. Dissimilar letters indicate means that are significantly different following a <i>post-hoc</i> Tukey’s HSD test. Error bars represent ± one standard error.</p