Abstract

Effects of elevated temperature and eutrophication on tropical lagoon sponges

Highlights

  • Tropical coastal lagoons are naturally stressed ecosystems and are highly vulnerable to the impacts of increased sea surface temperature and land-based pollution (Nixon, 1995; Lloret et al, 2008)

  • While it is likely that the sponge species studied here are potentially adapted to environmental fluctuations, as they are regularly exposed to seasonal nutrient-fluctuations (Ramessur et al, 2011; Sadally et al, 2014), further inter-seasonal long-term investigations are required to understand the physiological responses of lagoon sponges to these combined stressors

  • The results here highlight the importance of understanding the responses of benthic communities in lagoon ecosystems, in Small Island Developing States where development is mostly concentrated along the coast, to better implement of future mitigation and conservation strategies

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Summary

Introduction

Tropical coastal lagoons are naturally stressed ecosystems and are highly vulnerable to the impacts of increased sea surface temperature and land-based pollution (Nixon, 1995; Lloret et al, 2008). The shallow semi-enclosed nature of coastal lagoons, which is characterized by low flushing rates, makes them susceptible to heat accumulation (Anthony et al, 2009). They receive excess nutrients originating from terrestrial sources, which can lead to oxygen depletion or phytoplankton blooms, i.e. eutrophication (Taylor et al, 1995). Organisms living in coastal lagoons are commonly exposed to the combined impacts of elevated temperature and eutrophication (Lloret et al, 2008; Grenz et al, 2017). Elevated temperature and excess nutrients can have catastrophic impacts on coastal benthic communities and the combination of both stressors often results in large-scale population declines (Bintz et al, 2003; Hughes et al, 2003; Ezzat et al, 2016; Zaneveld et al, 2016). While the combined effects of elevated temperature and nutrients have been investigated in corals (Ezzat et al, 2016; Zaneveld et al, 2016), their potential impacts on other benthic taxa, such as sponges, are currently poorly understood

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