A Stable Isotope Study of the Relationship between Coral Tissues and Zooxanthellae in a Seasonal Tropical Environment of East Kalimantan, Indonesia  

Handoko Adi Susanto1 , Makoto Komoda2 , Masaaki Yoneda2 , Akihiro Kano3 , Mutsunori Tokeshi4 , Hiroko Koike3
1. Marine Protected Areas Governance, Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No. 63B. Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan, 12180. Indonesia
2. Japan Wildlife Research Center, Taitoku, Tokyo, Japan
3. Department of Environmental Changes, SCS, Kyushu University, Motooka, Nishiku, Fukuoka, Japan
4. Amakusa Marine Biology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Japan
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Marine Science, 2013, Vol. 3, No. 36   doi: 10.5376/ijms.2013.03.0036
Received: 26 May, 2013    Accepted: 23 Jun., 2013    Published: 02 Jul., 2013
© 2013 BioPublisher Publishing Platform
This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:

Susanto et al, 2013, Effect of Sedimentation to Branching Corals Detected Using Nitrogen and Carbon Isotopes, International Journal of Marine Science, Vol.3, No.36 285-294 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2013.03.0036)

Abstract

This study assessed variations in the relationship between zooxanthellae and their coral hosts seasonally and spatially. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (d13C and d15N) were used to analyze the patterns of nutritional transport between coral and zooxanthellae. Studies of temporal differences were conducted during two dry seasons and one rainy season in the Berau Marine Conservation Area, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. To assess spatial variations, coral samples from three genera (Porites, Seriatopora and Stylophora) were collected from three localities, designated as nearest, medium, and farthest from the Berau River mouth. The lower d13C of Seriatopora compared with the other two genera suggested that corals in this genus were more actively utilizing particulate organic matter and adopting a heterotrophic feeding mode. The d13C values of coral tissue and zooxanthellae also were affected by differences in seasons, localities, and depth, whereas the d15N values varied significantly with seasons alone. Differences in d15N values between coral tissue and zooxanthellae were always positive in the first and second dry seasons, but negative in the rainy season. This finding indicated that zooxanthellae were the main source of coral nutrients during the dry season, while host coral may support zooxanthellae nutrition during rainy season of low turbidity. Spatially, sedimentation does not show significant impact to the relationship between coral and zooxanthellae.

Keywords
Coral; Zooxanthellae; East Kalimantan; Indonesia; Nitrogen and carbon isotopes
[Full-Text PDF] [Full-Flipping PDF] [Full-Text HTML]
International Journal of Marine Science
• Volume 3
View Options
. PDF(281KB)
. FPDF(win)
. HTML
. Online fPDF
Associated material
. Readers' comments
Other articles by authors
. Handoko Adi Susanto
. Makoto Komoda
. Masaaki Yoneda
. Akihiro Kano
. Mutsunori Tokeshi
. Hiroko Koike
Related articles
. Coral
. Zooxanthellae
. East Kalimantan
. Indonesia
. Nitrogen and carbon isotopes
Tools
. Email to a friend
. Post a comment