TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexual vs. asexual reproduction in an ecosystem engineer
T2 - The massive coral Montastraea annularis
AU - Foster, Nicola L.
AU - Baums, Iliana B.
AU - Mumby, Peter J.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - Long-lived sedentary organisms with a massive morphology are often assumed to utilize a storage effect whereby the persistence of a small group of adults can maintain the population when sexual recruitment fails. However, employing storage effects could prove catastrophic if, under changing climatic conditions, the time period between favourable conditions becomes so prolonged that the population cannot be sustained solely be sexual recruitment. When a species has multiple reproductive options, a rapidly changing environment may favour alternative asexual means of propagation. Here, we revisit the importance of asexual dispersal in a massive coral subject to severe climate-induced disturbance. Montastraea annularis is a major framework-builder of Caribbean coral reefs but its survival is threatened by the increasing cover of macroalgae that prevents settlement of coral larvae. To estimate levels of asexual recruitment within populations of M. annularis , samples from three sites in Honduras were genotyped using four, polymorphic microsatellite loci. A total of 114 unique genets were identified with 8% consisting of two or more colonies and an exceptionally large genet at the third site comprising 14 colonies. At least 70% of multicolony genets observed were formed by physical breakage, consistent with storm damage. Our results reveal that long-lived massive corals can propagate using asexual methods even though sexual strategies predominate.
AB - Long-lived sedentary organisms with a massive morphology are often assumed to utilize a storage effect whereby the persistence of a small group of adults can maintain the population when sexual recruitment fails. However, employing storage effects could prove catastrophic if, under changing climatic conditions, the time period between favourable conditions becomes so prolonged that the population cannot be sustained solely be sexual recruitment. When a species has multiple reproductive options, a rapidly changing environment may favour alternative asexual means of propagation. Here, we revisit the importance of asexual dispersal in a massive coral subject to severe climate-induced disturbance. Montastraea annularis is a major framework-builder of Caribbean coral reefs but its survival is threatened by the increasing cover of macroalgae that prevents settlement of coral larvae. To estimate levels of asexual recruitment within populations of M. annularis , samples from three sites in Honduras were genotyped using four, polymorphic microsatellite loci. A total of 114 unique genets were identified with 8% consisting of two or more colonies and an exceptionally large genet at the third site comprising 14 colonies. At least 70% of multicolony genets observed were formed by physical breakage, consistent with storm damage. Our results reveal that long-lived massive corals can propagate using asexual methods even though sexual strategies predominate.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01207.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01207.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 17302846
AN - SCOPUS:33847002720
SN - 0021-8790
VL - 76
SP - 384
EP - 391
JO - Journal of Animal Ecology
JF - Journal of Animal Ecology
IS - 2
ER -