Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Atmospheric dimethysulphide production from corals in the Great Barrier Reef and links to solar radiation, climate and coral bleaching

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Coral zooxanthellae contain high concentrations of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), the precursor of dimethylsulphide (DMS), an aerosol substance that could affect cloud cover, solar radiation and ocean temperatures. Acropora intermedia a dominant staghorn coral in the Indo-Pacific region, contain some of the highest concentrations of DMSP reported in the literature but no studies have shown that corals produce atmospheric DMS in situ and thus could potentially participate in sea surface temperature (SST) regulation over reefs; or how production varies during coral bleaching. We show that A. intermedia from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) produces significant amounts of atmospheric DMS, in chamber experiments, indicating that coral reefs in this region could contribute to an “ocean thermostat” similar to that described for the western Pacific warm pool, where significantly fewer coral reefs have bleached during the last 25 years because of a cloud-SST feedback. However, when Acropora intermedia was stressed with higher light levels and seawater temperatures DMSP production, an indicator of zooxanthellae expulsion, increased markedly in the chamber, whilst atmospheric DMS emissions almost completely shut down. These results suggest that during increased light levels and seawater temperatures in the GBR coral shut-down atmospheric DMS aerosol production, potentially increasing solar radiation levels over reefs and exacerbating coral bleaching.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barton IJ, Paltridge GW (1979) The Australian climatology of biologically effective ultraviolet radiation. Australas J Dermatol 20:68–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkelmans R, Oliver JK (1999) Large scale bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 18:55–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkelmans R, van Oppen MJH (2006) The role of zooxanthellae in the thermal tolerance of corals: ‘a nugget of hope’ for coral reefs in an era of climate change. Proc R Soc 273:2305–2312. doi:1098/rspb.2006.3567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkelmans R, De’ath G, Kinninmonth S, Skirving WJ (2004) A comparison of the 1998 and 2002 coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef: spatial correlation, patterns and predictions. Coral Reefs 23:74–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bigg EK, Turvey DE (1978) Sources of atmospheric particles over Australia. Atmos Environ 12:1643. doi:10.1016/0004-6981(78)90313-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broadbent AD, Jones GB (2004) DMS and DMSP in mucus ropes, coral mucus, surface films and sediment pore waters from coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef. Mar Freshw Res 55:849–855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broadbent AD, Jones GB (2006) Seasonal and diurnal cycles of dimethylsulphide, dimethylsulphoniopropionate and dimethylsulphoxide at one tree reef lagoon. Environ Chem 3(260–267):22

    Google Scholar 

  • Broadbent AD, Jones GB, Jones RJ (2002) DMSP in corals and benthic algae from the Great Barrier Reef. East Coast Shelf Sci 55:547–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chancerelle Y (2000) Methodes d’estimation des surface developpees de coreaux scleractiniaires a l’echelle d’une colonie ou d’un peuplement. Oceanol Acta 2(23):211–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlson RJ, Lovelock JE, Andrea MO, Warren SG (1987) Oceanic phytoplankton, atmospheric sulphur, cloud albedo and climate. Nature 326:655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curran MAJ (1996) The spatial and seasonal distribution of dimethylsulphide and dimethylsulphoniopropionate in the Great Barrier Reef, North Tasman Sea, and Southern ocean regions. PhD Dissertation, James Cook University, p 262

  • Curran MAJ, Jones GB, Burton HR (1998) Spatial distribution of dimethylsulphide and dimethylsulphoniopropionate in the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean. J Geophys Res 103, No D13, 16,677–16,689

    Google Scholar 

  • Deschaseaux E, Jones G, Miljevic B, Ristovski Z, Swan H, Vaattovaara P (2012) Can corals form aerosol particles through volatile Sulphur compound emissions. In: Proceedings of the 12th international coral reef symposium, Cairns, 9–13 July

  • Harriot VJ (1985) Mortality rates of scleractinian corals before and during a mass bleaching event. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 21:81. doi:10.3354/MEPS021081

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill RW, Dacey JWH, Krupp DA (1995) Dimethylsulphoniopropionate in reef corals. Bull Mar Sci 57:489–494

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O (1999) Climate change, coral bleaching and the future of the world’s coral reefs. Mar Freshw Res 50:217–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffrey SS, Humphrey GF (1975) New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophylls a b, c and d in higher plants, algae and natural phytoplankton. Biochem Physio Pflanz 167:191–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones RJ (1995) Sublethal stress assessment in scleractinia and the regulatory biology of the coral-algal symbiosis, PhD Dissertation, James Cook University, p 140

  • Jones GB, Curran MAJ, Broadbent AD (1994) Dimethylsulphide in the South Pacific. In: Bellwood O, Choat H, Saxena N (eds) Recent advances in marine science and technology 94. Pacon International & James Cook University, p 183–190

  • Jones RJ, Berkelmans R, Oliver JK (1997) Recurrent bleaching of corals at Magnetic Island (Australia) relative to air and seawater temperature. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 158:289–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GB, Trevena AJ (2005) The influence of coral reefs on atmospheric dimethylsulphide over the Great Barrier Reef, coral sea, Gulf of Papua and Solomon and Bismarck Seas. Mar Freshw Res 56:85–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GB, Curran MAJ, Broadbent AD, King S, Fischer E, Jones R (2007) Factors affecting the cycling of dimethylsulphide and dimethylsulphoniopropionate in coral reef waters of the Great Barrier Reef. Environ Chem 4:310–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleypas JO, Danabasoglu G, Lough JM (2008) Potential role of the ocean thermostat in determining regional differences in coral bleaching events. Geophys Res Lett, 35, L03613, doi:10.1029/2007GL032257

  • Lough JM (2008) Shifting climatic zones for Australia’s tropical marine ecosystem. Geophys Res Lett 35:L14708. doi:10.1029/2008GL034634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masiri I, Nunez M, Weller E (2008) A ten-year climatology of solar radiation for the Great Barrier Reef: implications for recent mass coral bleaching events. Int J Rem Sens 29(15):4443–4462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCleod E et al (2010) Warming seas in the coral triangle: coral reef vulnerability and management implications. Coastal Manage 38(5):518–539. doi:10.1080/08920753.2010.509466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Modini RL, Ristovski ZD, Johnson GR, He C, Surawski N, Morawska L, Suni T, Kulmala M (2009) New particle formation and growth at a remote, sub-tropical coastal location. Atmos Chem Phys Discuss 9:12101–12139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver J (1985) Recurrent seasonal bleaching and mortality of corals on the Great Barrier Reef. In: Proceedings of 5th international coral reef congress 4, 77–95

  • Ramanathan V, Collins W (1991) Thermodynamic regulation of ocean warming by cirrus clouds deduced from observations of the 1987 El Nino. Nature 351:27–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramanathan V, Crutzen PJ, Kiehl JT, Rosenfeld D (2001) Aerosols, climate and the hydrological cycle. Review article. Science 294:2119–2124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rathke C, Notholt J, Fischer J, Herber A (2002) Properties of coastal Antarctic aerosol from combined FTIR spectrometer and sun photometer measurements. Geophys Res Letts 29:2131. doi:10.1029/2002GL015395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunda W, Keiber DJ, Kiene RP, Huntsman S (2002) An antioxidant function for DMSP and DMS in marine algae. Nature 418:317. doi:10.1038/NATURE00851

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swan H, Jones G, Deschaseuax E (2012) Dimethylsulfide and coral reef ecosystems. In: 12th international coral reef symposium, Cairns, 9–13 July

  • Takahashi Y, Okazaki Y, Sato M, Miyahara H, Sakanoi K, Hong PK, Hoshino N (2010) 27-day variation in cloud amount in the Western Pacific warm pool region and relationship to the solar cycle. Atmos Chem Phys 10:1557–1584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallina SM, Simo R (2007) Strong relationship between DMS and the solar radiation dose over the global surface ocean. Science 315:506–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Alstyne K, Schupp P, Slattery M (2006) The distribution of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) in tropical Pacific coral reef invertebrates. Coral Reefs 25:321–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogelmann AM, Flateau PJ, Szczodrak M, Markowicz KM, Minnett P (2003) Observations of large aerosol infrared forcing at the surface. Geophys Res Letts 30:1655. doi:10.1029/2002GL016829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yost DM, Jones RJ, Mitchelmore CL (2010) Alterations in dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) levels in the coral Montastraea franksi in response to copper exposure. Aquat Toxicol 98:367–373. doi:10.1016/jaquatox.2010.03.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zann LP (2000) North-eastern Australia: the Great Barrier Reef region. In: Sheppard C (ed ) Seas at the Millenium: an environmental evaluation, Chap. 93

Download references

Acknowledgments

Staff at the Heron Island Research Station, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science, are especially thanked for field work assistance, and help with the construction of the seawater chambers used in this study. Dr Evan Weller (University of Tasmania) and Dr Mellisa Mackeller (University of Queensland) are thanked for providing Figs. 2 (MM), 6 (EW) and 7 (MM) which have aided our interpretations. Esther Fischer would also like to thank her family in Switzerland who supported her wish to study Marine Biology in Australia. This research was supported by the Western Mining Corporation and Southern Cross University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Ecology Research Centre, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia

    Esther Fischer & Graham Jones

Authors
  1. Esther Fischer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Graham Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Graham Jones.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fischer, E., Jones, G. Atmospheric dimethysulphide production from corals in the Great Barrier Reef and links to solar radiation, climate and coral bleaching. Biogeochemistry 110, 31–46 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-012-9719-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-012-9719-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation