無中文摘要

Synchronous spawning is a common phenomenon in scleractinian corals and has been described in many regions of the world. However, information on variation in spawning timing is still insufficient, and actual regulatory mechanisms of spawning timing remain uncertain. In this Ph.D. study, we explored the regulatory mechanisms of spawning timing in scleractinian corals at Lyudao, Taiwan through a long-term monitoring (2010–2018) on in situ coral spawning timing and three key environmental factors, seawater temperature, moonlight intensity, and tidal change (Chapter 2 and 4) and a series of manipulation experiments on the influence of the three key environmental factors on coral spawning timing (Chapter 3).
Results of the long-term monitoring highlighted the distinct spawning patterns between Acropora and merulinid corals (Chapter 2). Acropora corals spawned mostly on a single night with a high variation of spawning days between 1 and 11 days after full moon (DAFM), whereas merulinid corals commonly spawned over 2–3 consecutive nights with the specific spawning timing around the last quarter moon (5–8 DAFM). The results suggested different regulatory mechanisms of spawning days between Acropora and merulinid corals.
In the manipulation experiment, we observed further evidence to support the hypothesis (Chapter 3). In the tank experiments, most fragments of Acropora hyacinthus did not spawn under no moonlight or low temperature conditions, whereas fragments of the two merulinid corals, Dipsastraea speciosa and Favites pentagona spawned irrespective of these conditions. The results demonstrated distinct spawning responses and suggested different the regulatory mechanisms between Acropora and merulinid corals.
In Chapter 4, we conducted detailed analyses on the influence of the three key environmental factors on spawning days of A. hyacinthus using the long-term monitoring data. Results showed that the cumulative seawater temperature for 1 and 4 weeks before spawning influenced the spawning day of A. hyacinthus. Observational evidence also suggested that the low moonlight intensity of < 15% of full moon may act as an environmental cue that trigger the spawning day.
Further researches are necessary to examine the regulatory mechanism of spawning timing in scleractinian corals, especially how physiological and molecular processes work in the mechanism. Understanding spawning mechanisms will help us predict the influence of anthropogenic stressors on this vital stage of life cycle, and will contribute to better management and conservation of scleractinian corals.

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