Ocean acidification and nitrate enrichment can mitigate negative effects of soft coral (Xenia) competition on hard coral (Stylophora pistillata) endosymbionts
Grillo, Ana C., Simancas-Giraldo, Susana M., Steinel, Nico, Longhini, Cybelle M., Soares, Marcelo O., Bejarano, Sonia, and Longo, Guilherme O. (2025) Ocean acidification and nitrate enrichment can mitigate negative effects of soft coral (Xenia) competition on hard coral (Stylophora pistillata) endosymbionts. Scientific Reports, 15 (1). 29937.
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Abstract
The combination of ocean acidification (OA) and eutrophication can undermine the physiological performance of reef-building corals during competition for benthic space, leading to shifts towards non-accreting organisms like soft corals. We conducted a 28-day laboratory orthogonal experiment to test if acidification (950 µatm pCO<inf>2</inf>) and moderate to high nitrate enrichment (4 and 8 µmolL<sup>−1</sup>) negatively affect the hard coral Stylophora pistillata while physically competing with the soft coral Xenia spp. We measured photosynthetic efficiency (PE) in hard corals and growth rate, Symbiodiniaceae density, and chlorophyll-a concentration in both hard and soft corals as proxies for their condition and responses to competition. Competition with the soft coral reduced PE, Symbiodiniaceae and chlorophyll-a contents of S. pistillata, while acidification alone and coupled with nitrate enrichment mitigated endosymbiont responses. The growth and chlorophyll-a concentrations of Xenia spp. were decreased by competition, but the soft coral was consistently benefited under nitrate enrichment. These results highlight that competition alone has a stronger negative impact on hard corals than on soft corals. Our study provides experimental evidence on how OA and eutrophication interact and shape coral dynamics, an overlooked but urgent topic in predicting reef futures under environmental change.
| Item ID: | 87722 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2045-2322 |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Ecological interactions, Eutrophication, Malacalcyonacea, Nutrient pollution, Scleractinian corals |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2025, corrected publication 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jan 2026 06:44 |
| FoR Codes: | 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180504 Marine biodiversity @ 100% |
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