Physiological response to high temperature in the Tropical Eastern Pacific coral Pocillopora verrucosa

The ecological and economic values of coral reef communities have encouraged efforts to implement periodic visual survey programs to secure their conservation. To date, visual monitoring‐based approaches have detected bleaching events weeks or months after the initial onset. An evaluation of the stress response of coral colonies, as well as their ability to resist and recover from the stress events, may increase our understanding of the physiological processes underling the stress and/or acclimation responses. Coral bleaching events, caused primarily by abnormally high temperatures, are continuously affecting coral communities worldwide. To evaluate the stress and recovery responses of the reef‐building coral Pocillopora verrucosa, a laboratory study was conducted herein. Coral nubbins were exposed to high temperatures to induce bleaching, and their ability to resist and recover from bleaching was subsequently monitored after returning the corals to ambient temperature. Lipid and chlorophyll concentrations, as well as Symbiodinium spp. density, decreased in samples exposed to nearly 31°C, slowly recovering to near‐control levels upon return to non‐stressful conditions. The present data set allows for an assessment of the vulnerability and ability of this common species to resist sub‐optimal environmental conditions, particularly the thermal stress events that will occur more commonly in their habitats as global seawater temperatures continue to rise.