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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 59(8)

Temporal dynamics in coral bioindicators for water quality on coastal coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef

Timothy F. Cooper A B F G , Peter V. Ridd C , Karin E. Ulstrup A D , Craig Humphrey A , Matthew Slivkoff E and Katharina E. Fabricius A
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- Author Affiliations

A Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB No. 3, Townsville MC, Townsville Qld 4810, Australia.

B School of Marine and Tropical Biology, and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811, Australia.

C School of Mathematics, Physics and IT, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811, Australia.

D Marine Biological Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Strandpromenaden 5, DK-3000 Helsingør, Denmark.

E School of Imaging and Applied Physics, Curtin University of Technology, Kent St, Bentley WA 6102, Australia.

F Current address: Australian Institute of Marine Science, Botany Building (M096), University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia.

G Corresponding author. Email: t.cooper@aims.gov.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 59(8) 703-716 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF08016
Submitted: 26 January 2008  Accepted: 2 June 2008   Published: 22 August 2008

Abstract

There is a need to identify effective coral bioindicators that provide quantifiable links between changes in water quality and the condition of coastal coral reefs. Temporal variation in a range of coral bioindicators including symbiont density, concentration of chlorophyll a, skeletal density and colony brightness of Pocillopora damicornis, as well as colony brightness and density of macro-bioeroders of massive Porites spp. was examined for 2 years on a coastal coral reef of the Great Barrier Reef. The specificity to changes in water quality varied among bioindicators. For example, a 2.5-fold variation in symbiont density of P. damicornis was related strongly to mean 14-day sea surface temperature and seasonal changes in water quality, suggesting medium specificity to changes in water quality. In contrast, the density of macro-bioeroders in Porites did not vary seasonally but there were consistently more macro-bioeroders at the coastal than mid-shelf reference locations, suggesting high specificity of spatial differences in water quality. In situ measurements of benthic irradiance and turbidity allowed the quantification of potential stress thresholds for coastal corals. Our data suggest long-term turbidity >3 NTU leads to sublethal stress, whereas long-term turbidity >5 NTU corresponds to severe stress effects on corals at shallow depths.

Additional keywords: benthic irradiance, bioerosion, sea surface temperature, specificity, symbiont density, turbidity.


Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre through the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSRF), joint contributions from the Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for Coral Reefs and Rainforest CRC to the Catchment to Reef Program, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. The research was undertaken in accordance with Marine Parks Permit G05/13484.1 (PVR) and G06/15571.1 (AIMS). We gratefully acknowledge the support provided in the field and laboratory from Ray Berkelmans, Joe Goiffre, Tim Hyndes, David McKinnon, Tim Phillips, Sven Uthicke, Jake van Oosterom and Madeleine van Oppen. We also thank two anonymous referees for comments that improved the manuscript.


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