Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
DOI
10.1002/lno.70085
Publication Title
Limnology and Oceanography
Volume
Article in Press
Pages
15 pp.
Abstract
Heterotrophic feeding on plankton and particulate organic matter (POM) by tropical Scleractinian corals is known to aid in the resistance and recovery from thermally induced bleaching. However, the relative importance of heterotrophy in promoting bleaching resistance and recovery is likely to vary based on ecological context and the severity of heat stress. In 2019, the Pacific Island of Mo'orea experienced mass coral mortality during a widespread marine heatwave. Many Acropora hyacinthus colonies on the shallow reef slope (5 m) were resistant to bleaching, while colonies on the deeper fore reef (14 m) often bleached and subsequently recovered, despite similar thermal stress. The role of heterotrophy in this divergent bleaching response was investigated using fatty acid (FA), isotopic, and elemental biomarkers. Multiple complementary lines of evidence, including feeding proxies, isotopic niche overlap, and putative POM FA biomarkers, indicated that bleaching resistant colonies were likely consuming more POM than their bleached and recovered counterparts. Additionally, although visually recovered, host energetics in recovered colonies remained compromised and exhibited proportionally less monounsaturated and polyunsaturated FAs and less relative nitrogen than resistant colonies. We show that corals that rely more on heterotrophic nutrient acquisition can better resist thermally induced bleaching. Our results also revealed the long‐term energetic costs of bleaching even after visual recovery. Ultimately, these results underscore the vital role of coral nutrition in shaping coral bleaching response and recovery.
Rights
© 2025 The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Original Publication Citation
Love, C. R., Speare, K. E., Fox, M. D., Radice, V. Z., McMahon, K. W., Hofmann, G. E., Valentine, D. L., & Strader, M. E. (2025). Heterotrophy of particulate organic matter subsidies contributes to divergent bleaching responses in tropical scleractinian corals. Limnology and Oceanography. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.70085
Repository Citation
Love, Connor R.; Speare, Kelly E.; Fox, Michael D.; Radice, Veronica Z.; McMahon, Kelton W.; Hofmann,, Gretchen E.; Valentine, David L.; and Strader, Marie E., "Heterotrophy of Particulate Organic Matter Subsidies Contributes to Divergent Bleaching Responses in Tropical Sclaractinian Corals" (2025). Biological Sciences Faculty Publications. 628.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/biology_fac_pubs/628
ORCID
0000-0002-4867-0164 (Radice)