Effects of Coral Reef Benthic Primary Producers on Dissolved Organic Carbon and Microbial Activity
Effects of Coral Reef Benthic Primary Producers on Dissolved Organic Carbon and Microbial Activity Andreas F. Haas1*, Craig E. Nelson2, Linda Wegley Kelly3, Craig A. Carlson2,4, Forest Rohwer3, James J. Leichter1, Alex Wyatt1, Jennifer E. Smith1 1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America, 2 Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America, 3 Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America, 4 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America Abstract Benthic primary producers in marine ecosystems may significantly alter biogeochemical cycling and microbial processes in their surrounding environment. To examine these interactions, we studied dissolved organic matter release by dominant benthic taxa and subsequent microbial remineralization in the lagoonal reefs of Moorea, French Polynesia. Rates of photosynthesis, respiration, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) release were assessed for several common benthic reef organisms from the backreef habitat. We assessed microbial community response to dissolved exudates of each benthic producer by measuring bacterioplankton growth, respiration, and DOC drawdown in two-day dark dilution culture incubations. Experiments were conducted for six benthic producers: three species of macroalgae (each representing a different algal phylum: Turbinaria ornata – Ochrophyta; Amansia rhodantha – Rhodophyta; Halimeda opuntia – Chlorophyta), a mixed assemblage of turf algae, a species of crustose coralline algae (Hydrolithon reinboldii) and a dominant hermatypic coral (Porites lobata). Our results show that all five types of algae, but not the coral, exuded significant amounts of labile DOC into their surrounding environment.
[Show full text]