Research in Arabian Peninsula Will Help Scientists Understand Coral Diversity and Adaptation to Climate Change
Todd LaJeunesse, an assistant professor of biology at Penn State, and Drew Wham, a graduate student in LaJeunesse’s lab, recently traveled to Saudi Arabia for two weeks to conduct research with collaborators from King Abdulla University of Science and Technology (KAUST). KAUST is an international, graduate-level research university situated on the Red Sea. The research is part of a world-wide project to describe the biodiversity and ecology of symbiotic algae that live in reef-building corals.
“Symbiotic algae are essential to the survival of corals,” LaJeunesse said. “Some species of algae live specifically within certain coral hosts, while others can pair up with a variety of host species. We want to learn more about the biodiversity and ecology of the algae in order to better understand how the coral-algal symbioses will persist through time, especially in the face of climate change.”
According to LaJeunesse, the trip to Saudi Arabia was a rare opportunity because, until just recently, it was very difficult to work with corals from the region. “Fortuitously, our research in the region was made possible by a king’s decision to create a world-class university on a barren stretch of desert coastline,” LaJeunesse said.
During the trip, the team, which comprised LaJeunesse, Wham, and host researchers from KAUST, examined algal symbionts from the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.
Sampling a branch from a pink colony of Pocillopora coral.
The Red Sea is a region that is known as a 'hot spot' of marine biodiversity. Historically, it has been spared from sea-surface temperature anomalies responsible for killing large communities of coral in many other locations around the world. However, virtually nothing is known about coral-algal symbioses found in the Red Sea. LaJeunesse’s research will generate unprecedented findings and allow him to compare diversity in the region to that acquired through past research studies he has conducted in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans.
In contrast to the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf represents one of the most extreme environments in the world where coral communities live successfully. The harsh conditions including high salinity and wide seasonal changes in temperature make it difficult for many corals to survive. Little is known about the diversity of coral symbionts from this unusually stressful habitat.
“We arrived at our sites in the Persian Gulf to find unexpectedly that about 90% of corals had died 9 months ago due to a severe bleaching episode where temperature reached 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit),” LaJeunesse said. “This was a surprise considering that Gulf corals are pretty tough.” Despite the high number of dead corals, LaJeunesse and his team were able to collect enough samples from the living coral for future study.
Examining the coral-algal symbioses around the Arabian Peninsula will provide critical insight into the capacity of corals to develop symbioses that may allow them to persist and recover from rapid shifts in climate. Yet, although the data collected in both the Red Sea and Persian Gulf will provide LaJeunesse with an understanding of the coral symbioses, there is still much to learn about the biology of reef-building corals and the resiliency of these organisms to climate warming.
Soft corals (sometimes called leather corals) are also common in the Red Sea. LeJeunesse’s team also sampled from these species.
The research in the Red Sea enabled LaJeunesse not only to observe some of the best reefs in the world, but also to experience the Saudi culture, which he says is totally different from what is portrayed through the media; the Saudi people and the country itself left him with a very positive impression. LaJeunesse added, “The fieldwork went exceptionally well. We collected plenty of valuable specimens for my group’s research, nobody was hurt, and all of the local people we encountered were pleasant and courteous.”
During the next several months, LaJeunesse plans to examine the specimens and data from his trip and share his discoveries with the KAUST researchers to gain a better understanding of the coral-algal symbioses found in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. In the future, LaJeunesse hopes to return to Saudi Arabia and KAUST to continue his collaboration with his colleagues.
For more information on LaJeunesse’s research - https://homes.bio.psu.edu/people/faculty/lajeunesse/
For more information on KAUST - http://www.kaust.edu.sa/
CONTACTS
Tara Carson: 814-867-3388, tlc26@psu.edu
Todd LaJeunesse: 814-863-2038, tcl3@psu.edu