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Use of skeletal Sr/Ca ratios to determine growth patterns in a branching coral Isopora palifera

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Abstract

Studies on the growth response of corals to changing climate have largely focused on long-lived corals with relatively distinct density bands such as massive Porites corals. Little is known about the climatic response of other more abundant growth forms, such as branching Acropora corals, largely because of the absence of a clear annual density banding pattern. Using a combination of X-radiography, gamma densitometry, Sr/Ca analysis, and Uranium–Thorium (U-Th) dating, we quantified patterns of annual growth in the robust branching coral Isopora palifera from the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia (18°16′S 147°22′E) collected in May 2013. While visual analysis of the positive X-radiographs revealed alternating patterns of high- and low-density bands along the central growth axis, gamma-densitometry analysis suggests that these bands do not exhibit a clear annual cycle. In contrast, skeletal Sr/Ca ratios consistently revealed clear patterns of seasonality matching local sea surface temperatures (SST), and provided a growth chronology to calculate linear extension rate, skeletal density and calcification rate. Comparisons between SST-Sr/Ca calibrations derived from our I. palifera samples with (i) massive Porites from the same location and (ii) Isopora spp. from the GBR and Papua New Guinea revealed significant differences of up to 3.5 °C, implying palaeoclimate reconstructions should use site-specific and species-specific Sr/Ca-SST calibrations. Our approach provides a robust method for assessing changes in growth for a common Indo-Pacific branching coral, and provides a valuable framework for quantifying past and future changes in skeletal growth in response to climate change.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Eric Matson of the Australian Institute of Marine Science for assistance in coral collection and sample preparation, Tara Clark at the Radiogenic Isotope Facility, The University of Queensland for assistance in U-Th dating and Alberto Rodríguez-Ramírez and Jani Tanzil for their invaluable inputs at the early stage of the study. This study was supported by an ARC Laureate Fellowship to PJM (FL0992179) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

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  1. Marine Spatial Ecology Lab and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Tries B. Razak, Peter J. Mumby & George Roff

  2. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Ai D. Nguyen & Jian-Xin Zhao

  3. Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3 Townsville MC, Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia

    Janice M. Lough & Neal E. Cantin

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  1. Tries B. Razak
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Correspondence to Tries B. Razak.

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Collection of Isopora samples was approved by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (Permit Number G11/34408.1) and funded by the Australian Institute of Marine Science. No animal ethics research permit needed for invertebrates, however all procedures in processing and extracting the corals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutions at which the studies were conducted. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript and consent to submit has been received from all co-authors and institutions.

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Razak, T.B., Mumby, P.J., Nguyen, A.D. et al. Use of skeletal Sr/Ca ratios to determine growth patterns in a branching coral Isopora palifera . Mar Biol 164, 96 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-017-3099-8

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