TY - JOUR
T1 - Breakdown in spawning synchrony
T2 - A silent threat to coral persistence
AU - Shlesinger, Tom
AU - Loya, Yossi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/9/6
Y1 - 2019/9/6
N2 - The impacts of human and natural disturbances on coral reefs are typically quantified through visible damage (e.g., reduced coral coverage as a result of bleaching events), but changes in environmental conditions may also cause damage in less visible ways. Despite the current paradigm, which suggests consistent, highly synchronized spawning events, corals that reproduce by broadcast spawning are particularly vulnerable because their reproductive phenology is governed by environmental cues. Here, we quantify coral spawning intensity during four annual reproductive seasons, alongside laboratory analyses at the polyp, colony, and population levels, and we demonstrate that, compared with historical data, several species from the Red Sea have lost their reproductive synchrony. Ultimately, such a synchrony breakdown reduces the probability of successful fertilization, leading to a dearth of new recruits, which may drive aging populations to extinction.
AB - The impacts of human and natural disturbances on coral reefs are typically quantified through visible damage (e.g., reduced coral coverage as a result of bleaching events), but changes in environmental conditions may also cause damage in less visible ways. Despite the current paradigm, which suggests consistent, highly synchronized spawning events, corals that reproduce by broadcast spawning are particularly vulnerable because their reproductive phenology is governed by environmental cues. Here, we quantify coral spawning intensity during four annual reproductive seasons, alongside laboratory analyses at the polyp, colony, and population levels, and we demonstrate that, compared with historical data, several species from the Red Sea have lost their reproductive synchrony. Ultimately, such a synchrony breakdown reduces the probability of successful fertilization, leading to a dearth of new recruits, which may drive aging populations to extinction.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071781866&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.aax0110
DO - 10.1126/science.aax0110
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
AN - SCOPUS:85071781866
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 365
SP - 1002
EP - 1007
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 6457
ER -