Morphologically similar, coexisting hard corals (Porites lobata and P. solida) display similar trophic isotopic ratios across reefs and depths
Jeremiah G. Plass-Johnson A B , Christopher D. McQuaid A and Jaclyn M. Hill A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Coastal Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa.
B Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa.
C Corresponding author. Present Address: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Ecology, Fahrenheitstraße 6, D-28359 Bremen, Germany. Email: jeremiah.plassjohnson@zmt-bremen.de
Marine and Freshwater Research 67(5) 671-676 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF14248
Submitted: 22 August 2014 Accepted: 25 March 2015 Published: 6 August 2015
Abstract
Recent studies using stable isotope analysis in scleractinian corals have highlighted strong inter- and intra-specific variability in isotopic ratios, but few have excluded the effects of morphology, which affects resource acquisition, potentially confounding this with metabolic differences among species. Differences in the stable isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) ratios of the coral host tissue and photosymbionts of two co-existing, morphologically similar Porites corals (P. lobata and P. solida) were examined across nested spatial scales (inter-reefs and intra-reef) and across depths in Zanzibar, Tanzania. There were few differences between species in either coral host or photosymbiont isotopic ratios, but the two tissues showed different spatial patterns. Photosymbionts showed variation only in their δ13C ratios, which differed among reefs, but not by depth. In contrast, the coral hosts differed in δ13C and δ15N values among reefs and also by depth. Within-reef differences among sites occurred only for photosymbionts at one reef. The absence of differences in isotopic ratios between the two Porites species across reefs and depths, confirms that highly related and morphologically similar scleractinian corals may occupy similar ecosystem niches, metabolising resources in a similar fashion. This suggests that resource partitioning among corals, and subsequent isotopic variability, is most likely driven by resource acquisition, rather than being inherently species-specific.
Additional keywords: coral reef, nested design, stable isotopes, zooxanthellae.
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