Light environment drives the shallow to mesophotic coral community transition

AbstractLight quality is a crucial physical factor driving coral distribution along depth gradients. Currently, a 30 m depth limit, based on SCUBA regulations, separates shallow and deep mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs). This definition, however, fails to explicitly accommodate environmental variation. Here, we posit a novel definition for a regional or reef-to-reef outlook of MCEs based on the light vs. coral community-structure relationship. A combination of physical and ecological methods enabled us to clarify the ambiguity in relation to that issue. To characterize coral community structure with respect to the light environment, we conducted wide-scale spatial studies at five sites along shallow and MCEs of the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba (0-100 m depth). Surveys were conducted by Tech-diving and drop-cameras, in addition to one year of light spectral measurements. We quantify two distinct coral assemblages: shallow (<40 m), and MCEs (40-100 m), exhibiting markedly different relationships with light. The depth ranges and morphology of 47 coral genera, was better explained by light than depth, mainly, due to the Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) and Ultra Violet Radiation (1% at 76 m and 36 m, respectively). Branching coral species were found mainly at shallower depths i.e., down to 36 m. Among the abundant upper mesophotic specialist-corals, Leptoseris glabra, Euphyllia paradivisa and Alveopora spp., were found strictly between 36-76 m depth. The only lower mesophotic-specialist, Leptoseris fragilis, was found deeper than 80 m. We suggest that shallow coral genera are light-limited below a level of 1.25% surface PAR and that the optimal PAR for mesophotic communities is at 7.5%. This study contributes to moving MCEs ecology from a descriptive-phase into identifying key ecological and physiological processes structuring MCE coral communities. Moreover, it may serve as a model enabling the description of a coral zonation world-wide on the basis of light quality data.