1. Temperature affects the reproductive outputs of coral-eating starfish Acanthaster spp. after adult exposure to near-future ocean warming and acidification
- Author
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Olivier Chateau, Gaël Lecellier, Mohsen Kayal, Mehdi Adjeroud, Hugues Gossuin, Noeline Lanos, Thomas Hue, Pascal Dumas, Ecologie marine tropicale des océans Pacifique et Indien (ENTROPIE [Nouvelle-Calédonie]), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Nouvelle-Calédonie])-Ifremer - Nouvelle-Calédonie, Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (UNC), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Ifremer - Nouvelle-Calédonie, and Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Nouvelle-Calédonie])-Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (UNC)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Oceans and Seas ,Effects of global warming on oceans ,Coral ,Aquatic Science ,Oceanography ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Starfish ,New Caledonia ,Adult exposure ,Ocean warming ,starfish ,Crown-of-thorns starfish ,Seasonal breeder ,Animals ,Humans ,14. Life underwater ,Crown-of-thorns ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,biology ,Reproductive success ,Coral Reefs ,Ecology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Ocean acidification ,Temperature ,Acanthaster ,Reproductive outputs ,General Medicine ,Coral reef ,Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ,Anthozoa ,biology.organism_classification ,Pollution ,13. Climate action ,[SDE]Environmental Sciences - Abstract
The authors are particularly grateful to Richard Farman, director ofthe Aquarium des Lagons in Noumea, for hosting our experiments. Wealso wish to express our warmest thanks to the aquarium staff for theirlogistical support, in particular Sylvain Govan and Jeff Dubosc.; International audience; Outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster spp. (COTS) have become to be amongst the most severe threats to coral reefs worldwide. Although most research has focused on COTS early development, it remains unclear how COTS populations will keep pace with changing ocean conditions. Since reproduction is a key process contributing to outbreaks, we investigated the reproductive success of adult COTS acclimated for 3-4 months to different treatment combinations of ambient conditions, ocean warming (+2 • C) and acidification (− 0.35 pH). Our results suggest that the optimal breeding season in New Caledonia is concentrated around the end of the calendar year, when water temperature reaches >26 • C. We found negative effects of temperature on egg metrics, fertilisation success, and GSI, conflicting with previously documented effects of temperature on echinoderm reproductive outputs. Fertilisation success dropped drastically (more than threefold) with elevated temperature during the late breeding season. In contrast, we detected no effects of near-future acidification conditions on fertilisation success nor GSI. This is the first time that COTS reproduction is compared among individuals acclimated to different conditions of warming and acidification. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for adult exposure to better understand how COTS reproduction may be impacted in the face of global change.
- Published
- 2020