Research reported in this publication was supported by funding to CRV from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Kremb, Stephan G.

Magar, Vanesa

Roder, Cornelia

Roik, Anna

Röthig, Till

Voolstra, Christian R.

Ziegler, Maren

PLoS ONE

PubMed

Coral reefs in the central Red Sea are sparsely studied and in situ data on physico-chemical and key biotic variables that provide an important comparative baseline are missing. To address this gap, we simultaneously monitored three reefs along a cross-shelf gradient for an entire year over four seasons, collecting data on currents, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll-a, turbidity, inorganic nutrients, sedimentation, bacterial communities of reef water, and bacterial and algal composition of epilithic biofilms. Summer temperature (29-33°C) and salinity (39 PSU) exceeded average global maxima for coral reefs, whereas DO concentration was low (2-4 mg L-1). While temperature and salinity differences were most pronounced between seasons, DO, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, and sedimentation varied most between reefs. Similarly, biotic communities were highly dynamic between reefs and seasons. Differences in bacterial biofilms were driven by four abundant families: Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Flammeovirgaceae, and Pseudanabaenaceae. In algal biofilms, green crusts, brown crusts, and crustose coralline algae were most abundant and accounted for most of the variability of the communities. Higher bacterial diversity of biofilms coincided with increased algal cover during spring and summer. By employing multivariate matching, we identified temperature, salinity, DO, and chlorophyll-a as the main contributing physico-chemical drivers of biotic community structures. These parameters are forecast to change most with the progression of ocean warming and increased nutrient input, which suggests an effect on the recruitment of Red Sea benthic communities as a result of climate change and anthropogenic influence. In conclusion, our study provides insight into coral reef functioning in the Red Sea and a comparative baseline to support coral reef studies in the region

Anna Roik

Till Röthig

Cornelia Roder

Maren Ziegler

Stephan G Kremb

Christian R Voolstra

Directory of Open Access Journals

Year-Long Monitoring of Physico-Chemical and Biological Variables Provide a Comparative Baseline of Coral Reef Functioning in the Central Red Sea.

Coral reefs in the central Red Sea are sparsely studied and in situ data on physico-chemical and key biotic variables that provide an important comparative baseline are missing. To address this gap, we simultaneously monitored three reefs along a cross-shelf gradient for an entire year over four seasons, collecting data on currents, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll-a, turbidity, inorganic nutrients, sedimentation, bacterial communities of reef water, and bacterial and algal composition of epilithic biofilms. Summer temperature (29-33°C) and salinity (39 PSU) exceeded average global maxima for coral reefs, whereas DO concentration was low (2-4 mg L-1). While temperature and salinity differences were most pronounced between seasons, DO, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, and sedimentation varied most between reefs. Similarly, biotic communities were highly dynamic between reefs and seasons. Differences in bacterial biofilms were driven by four abundant families: Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Flammeovirgaceae, and Pseudanabaenaceae. In algal biofilms, green crusts, brown crusts, and crustose coralline algae were most abundant and accounted for most of the variability of the communities. Higher bacterial diversity of biofilms coincided with increased algal cover during spring and summer. By employing multivariate matching, we identified temperature, salinity, DO, and chlorophyll-a as the main contributing physico-chemical drivers of biotic community structures. These parameters are forecast to change most with the progression of ocean warming and increased nutrient input, which suggests an effect on the recruitment of Red Sea benthic communities as a result of climate change and anthropogenic influence. In conclusion, our study provides insight into coral reef functioning in the Red Sea and a comparative baseline to support coral reef studies in the region.publishe

KOPS - The Institutional Repository of the University of Konstanz

Year-Long Monitoring of Physico-Chemical and Biological Variables Provide a Comparative Baseline of Coral Reef Functioning in the Central Red Sea

Coral reefs in the central Red Sea are sparsely studied and in situ data on physico-chemical and key biotic variables are missing to provide an important comparative baseline. To fill this gap, we monitored three reefs along a cross-shelf gradient during a full year, simultaneously collecting data on currents, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll-a, turbidity, inorganic nutrients, sedimentation, bacterial communities of reef water, and bacterial and algal composition of epilithic biofilms. Some of these environmental parameters resemble projected ‘future ocean’ conditions. Summer temperatures (29 - 33 °C) and salinity levels (39 PSU) exceeded average maxima for coral reefs globally, while DO levels were comparably low (2 - 4 mg L-1). Reef environments were highly variable over time and between reefs. Temperature and salinity differences were most pronounced between seasons. Conversely, DO, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, and sedimentation varied strongest between reefs. Similarly, biotic communities were highly dynamic between reefs and seasons. Differences in bacterial biofilms were driven by differentially abundant bacterial taxa that belonged to the families Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Flammeovirgaceae, and Pseudanabaenaceae. In algal biofilms, green crusts, brown crusts, and crustose coralline algae were most abundant and accounted for most of the variability of the communities. Higher bacterial diversity of biofilms coincided with increased algal cover during spring and summer. We identified temperature, salinity, DO, and chlorophyll-a as the physico-chemical drivers of biotic community structures by multivariate matching. These parameters are forecasted to change most with the progression of global warming and increased nutrient input, which also suggests an immediate bottom-up effect on Red Sea benthic communities as a result of climate change and anthropogenic influence. In conclusion, our study presents foundation data to provide a comparative baseline to support coral reef studies in the region and to gain insight into coral reef functioning in the Red Sea

Zielger, Maren

Electronic Archiving System

Data from: Year-long monitoring of physico-chemical and biological variables provide a comparative baseline of coral reef functioning in the central Red Sea

Coral reefs in the central Red Sea are sparsely studied and in situ data on physico-chemical and key biotic variables are missing to provide an important comparative baseline. To fill this gap, we monitored three reefs along a cross-shelf gradient during a full year, simultaneously collecting data on currents, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll-a, turbidity, inorganic nutrients, sedimentation, bacterial communities of reef water, and bacterial and algal composition of epilithic biofilms. Some of these environmental parameters resemble projected 'future ocean' conditions. Summer temperatures (29 - 33 °C) and salinity levels (39 PSU) exceeded average maxima for coral reefs globally, while DO levels were comparably low (2 - 4 mg L-1). Reef environments were highly variable over time and between reefs. Temperature and salinity differences were most pronounced between seasons. Conversely, DO, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, and sedimentation varied strongest between reefs. Similarly, biotic communities were highly dynamic between reefs and seasons. Differences in bacterial biofilms were driven by differentially abundant bacterial taxa that belonged to the families Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Flammeovirgaceae, and Pseudanabaenaceae. In algal biofilms, green crusts, brown crusts, and crustose coralline algae were most abundant and accounted for most of the variability of the communities. Higher bacterial diversity of biofilms coincided with increased algal cover during spring and summer. We identified temperature, salinity, DO, and chlorophyll-a as the physico-chemical drivers of biotic community structures by multivariate matching. These parameters are forecasted to change most with the progression of global warming and increased nutrient input, which also suggests an immediate bottom-up effect on Red Sea benthic communities as a result of climate change and anthropogenic influence. In conclusion, our study presents foundation data to provide a comparative baseline to support coral reef studies in the region and to gain insight into coral reef functioning in the Red Sea.data_reefmonitoringCoral Reef Monitoring (1 year, central Red Sea); find details in the the README.tx

Kremb, Stephan  G.

ZENODO

Stephan G. Kremb

Christian R. Voolstra

Crossref

Coral reefs in the central Red Sea are sparsely studied and in situ data on physico-chemical and key biotic variables that provide an important comparative baseline are missing. To address this gap, we simultaneously monitored three reefs along a cross-shelf gradient for an entire year over four seasons, collecting data on currents, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll-a, turbidity, inorganic nutrients, sedimentation, bacterial communities of reef water, and bacterial and algal composition of epilithic biofilms. Summer temperature (29–33°C) and salinity (39 PSU) exceeded average global maxima for coral reefs, whereas DO concentration was low (2–4 mg L-1). While temperature and salinity differences were most pronounced between seasons, DO, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, and sedimentation varied most between reefs. Similarly, biotic communities were highly dynamic between reefs and seasons. Differences in bacterial biofilms were driven by four abundant families: Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Flammeovirgaceae, and Pseudanabaenaceae. In algal biofilms, green crusts, brown crusts, and crustose coralline algae were most abundant and accounted for most of the variability of the communities. Higher bacterial diversity of biofilms coincided with increased algal cover during spring and summer. By employing multivariate matching, we identified temperature, salinity, DO, and chlorophyll-a as the main contributing physico-chemical drivers of biotic community structures. These parameters are forecast to change most with the progression of ocean warming and increased nutrient input, which suggests an effect on the recruitment of Red Sea benthic communities as a result of climate change and anthropogenic influence. In conclusion, our study provides insight into coral reef functioning in the Red Sea and a comparative baseline to support coral reef studies in the region

Röthig, T.

Roder, C.

Ziegler, M.

Kremb, S. G.

Voolstra, C. R.

OceanRep

NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

<div><p>Coral reefs in the central Red Sea are sparsely studied and <i>in situ</i> data on physico-chemical and key biotic variables that provide an important comparative baseline are missing. To address this gap, we simultaneously monitored three reefs along a cross-shelf gradient for an entire year over four seasons, collecting data on currents, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll-a, turbidity, inorganic nutrients, sedimentation, bacterial communities of reef water, and bacterial and algal composition of epilithic biofilms. Summer temperature (29–33°C) and salinity (39 PSU) exceeded average global maxima for coral reefs, whereas DO concentration was low (2–4 mg L<sup>-1</sup>). While temperature and salinity differences were most pronounced between seasons, DO, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, and sedimentation varied most between reefs. Similarly, biotic communities were highly dynamic between reefs and seasons. Differences in bacterial biofilms were driven by four abundant families: Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Flammeovirgaceae, and Pseudanabaenaceae. In algal biofilms, green crusts, brown crusts, and crustose coralline algae were most abundant and accounted for most of the variability of the communities. Higher bacterial diversity of biofilms coincided with increased algal cover during spring and summer. By employing multivariate matching, we identified temperature, salinity, DO, and chlorophyll-a as the main contributing physico-chemical drivers of biotic community structures. These parameters are forecast to change most with the progression of ocean warming and increased nutrient input, which suggests an effect on the recruitment of Red Sea benthic communities as a result of climate change and anthropogenic influence. In conclusion, our study provides insight into coral reef functioning in the Red Sea and a comparative baseline to support coral reef studies in the region.</p></div

Anna Roik (3339870)

Till Röthig (3339864)

Cornelia Roder (404995)

Maren Ziegler (3339867)

Stephan G. Kremb (3339873)

Christian R. Voolstra (170444)

FigShare

https://derby.openrepository.com//bitstream/10545/623332/1/journal.pone.0163939.PDF

Year-long monitoring of physico-chemical and biological variables provide a comparative baseline of coral reef functioning in the central Red Sea.

Year-long monitoring of physico-chemical and biological variables provide a comparative baseline of coral reef functioning in the central Red Sea.

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