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Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology
Florida's Pillar Coral (Dendrogyra Cylindrus): The Roles Of The Holobiont Partners In Bleaching, Recovery, And Disease Processes, Cynthia Fairbank Lewis
Florida's Pillar Coral (Dendrogyra Cylindrus): The Roles Of The Holobiont Partners In Bleaching, Recovery, And Disease Processes, Cynthia Fairbank Lewis
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The iconic pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, is one of five Caribbean species listed in 2014 under the US Federal Endangered Species Act because of its extreme low abundance and continued decline in US waters. Until recently, little was known about the demographics or genetic diversity of Florida’s D. cylindrus population. This study represents the first time two holobiont partners (coral animal and associated photosynthetic algal endosymbionts) have been closely examined, spatially and temporally, in this little-studied species. The aim was to explore the influences of coral animal genotypes, mutualistic photosynthetic algal strains, and hyperthermal stress on bleaching and …