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Ingestion and assimilation of nitrogen from benthic sediments by three species of coral

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Abstract

We quantified the nitrogen and enzyme hydrolyzable amino acid (EHAA) concentrations of sediments prior to and after corals sloughed, ingested, and egested sediments layered onto their surfaces, for the three coral species Siderastrea siderea, Agaricia agaricites, and Porites astreoides in Jamaica. The percent nitrogen of the sediments egested by all three species was lower than in the sediments available to the corals. Additionally, the sediments sloughed (not ingested) by A. agaricites and P. astreoides were lower in percent nitrogen, while the sediments sloughed by S. siderea had the same percent nitrogen as that of the available sediments. The percent nitrogen of the sediments sloughed and egested by P. astreoides showed significant negative and positive relationships, respectively, to increasing sediment loads, while the percent nitrogen of the sediments sloughed and egested by both S. siderea and A. agaricites showed no relationship to sediment load. EHAA concentrations were not significantly different between the sloughed and available sediments but were significantly lower in the sediments egested by S. siderea and A. agaricites (EHAA concentrations were not measured for P. astreodies sediment fractions). Comparisons of the nitrogen and EHAA concentrations in the sloughed and egested sediments to what was available prior to coral processing show that maximum ingestion was between 0.1 and 0.2 µg N µg−1 coral N cm−2 and between 0.5 and 0.6 µg EHAA·cm−2. Maximum assimilation efficiencies were estimated to be 30–60% of the available nitrogen. The data show that corals ingest and alter the nitrogen concentration of particles that land on their surfaces. The corals’ abilities to process these sediments, and the sediments’ possible contributions to coral nutrition, are discussed based on these results.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Wooton and B. McGee for help with the EHAA protocol and analysis, and L. Lane from the Horn Point Laboratory’s Analytical Services, who analyzed the nitrogen samples. Much appreciated field assistance was provided by K. Heidelberg, S. P. Grace, and K. S. Vandersall. We are also grateful to the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory (University of the West Indies) for providing laboratory space and equipment. We also thank G. M. Berg for providing helpful comments on the manuscript. This project was supported by NSF grant OCE9302066 to K.P. Sebens.

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  1. K. P. Sebens

    Present address: College of Science and Mathematics, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biologische Ozeanographie, Forschungsbereich Marine Biogeochemie, Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    M. M. Mills

  2. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA

    K. P. Sebens

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  1. M. M. Mills
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  2. K. P. Sebens
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Correspondence to M. M. Mills.

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Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe

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Mills, M.M., Sebens, K.P. Ingestion and assimilation of nitrogen from benthic sediments by three species of coral. Marine Biology 145, 1097–1106 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1398-3

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