Coral community composition and carbonate production in an urbanized seascape.

Coastal urbanization causes environmental modifications that directly and indirectly influence the distribution and functioning of coral reefs. However, the capacity of urban infrastructure to support corals and vertically accrete is less understood. Here, we investigated if coral communities on reefs and seawalls in Singapore are distinct, and examined the environmental variables influencing coral carbonate production.

Takeaways from Mobile DNA Barcoding with BentoLab and MinION.

Since the release of the MinION sequencer in 2014, it has been applied to great effect in the remotest and harshest of environments, and even in space. One of the most common applications of MinION is for nanopore-based DNA barcoding in situ for species identification and discovery, yet the existing sample capability is limited ( ≤ 10). Here, we assembled a portable sequencing setup comprising the BentoLab and MinION and developed a workflow capable of processing 32 samples simultaneously.

Responses of urban reef corals during the 2016 mass bleaching event.

Predicting the bleaching responses of corals is crucial in light of frequent heat stress events to manage further losses of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, especially for reefs impacted by urbanisation. We examined if the coral cover and community at various Singapore sites changed during the 2016 global coral bleaching event. Bleaching prevalence varied widely among sites in June 2016, and was best explained by site and coral species.

Differential Response of Coral Assemblages to Thermal Stress Underscores the Complexity in Predicting Bleaching Susceptibility.

Coral bleaching events have been predicted to occur more frequently in the coming decades with global warming. The susceptibility of corals to bleaching during thermal stress episodes is dependent on many factors and an understanding of these underlying drivers is crucial for conservation management. In 2013, a mild bleaching episode ensued in response to elevated sea temperature on the sediment-burdened reefs in Singapore.

Augmenting the post-transplantation growth and survivorship of juvenile scleractinian corals via nutritional enhancement.

Size-dependent mortality influences the recolonization success of juvenile corals transplanted for reef restoration and assisting juvenile corals attain a refuge size would thus improve post-transplantation survivorship. To explore colony size augmentation strategies, recruits of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis were fed with live Artemia salina nauplii twice a week for 24 weeks in an ex situ coral nursery. Fed recruits grew significantly faster than unfed ones, with corals in the 3600, 1800, 600 and 0 (control) nauplii/L groups exhibiting volumetric growth rates of 10.