Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: The microbialization of coral reefs predicts that microbial oxygen consumption will cause reef deoxygenation. Here we tested this hypothesis by analyzing reef microbial and primary producer oxygen metabolisms. Metagenomic data and in vitro incubations of bacteria with primary producer exudates showed that fleshy algae stimulate incomplete carbon oxidation metabolisms in heterotrophic bacteria. These metabolisms lead to increased cell sizes and abundances, resulting in bacteria consuming 10 times more oxygen than in coral incubations. Experiments probing the dissolved and gaseous oxygen with primary producers and bacteria together indicated the loss of oxygen through ebullition caused by heterogenous nucleation on algae surfaces. A model incorporating experimental production and loss rates predicted that microbes and ebullition can cause the loss of up to 67% of gross benthic oxygen production. This study indicates that microbial respiration and ebullition are increasingly relevant to reef deoxygenation as reefs become dominated by fleshy algae.
Source: eLife
DOI: 10.7554/elife.49114
Authors: Cynthia B Silveira, Antoni Luque, Ty NF Roach, Helena Villela, Adam Barno, Kevin Green, Brandon Reyes, Esther Rubio-Portillo, Tram Le, Spencer Mead, Mark Hatay, Mark JA Vermeij, Yuichiro Takeshita, Andreas Haas, Barbara Bailey, Forest Rohwer
Institutions: San Diego State University, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, University of Alicante, Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity Foundation, University of Amsterdam, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Utrecht University, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,500
OpenAlex ID: W2993436931