Publications by authors named "Isabel Martinez-Rugerio"
Article Synopsis
- Coral reefs worldwide are facing threats from ocean warming, making it crucial to identify coral varieties that can withstand higher temperatures for conservation purposes.
- The study examines three genetically distinct but morphologically similar coral lineages (L1, L2, L3) across different reef conditions: classic reefs with typical environments and extreme reefs with higher temperatures and light challenges.
- Results indicate that each lineage has adapted differently to their environments, with L1 being a classic reef specialist, L3 as an extreme reef specialist, and L2 acting as a generalist, highlighting the varying strategies corals use to survive under stress.
Acclimatization through phenotypic plasticity represents a more rapid response to environmental change than adaptation and is vital to optimize organisms' performance in different conditions. Generally, animals are less phenotypically plastic than plants, but reef-building corals exhibit plant-like properties. They are light dependent with a sessile and modular construction that facilitates rapid morphological changes within their lifetime.
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