Oxidative stress biomarkers as potential tools in reef degradation monitoring: A study case in a South Atlantic reef under influence of the 2015–2016 El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

The third global-scale coral bleaching event, triggered by the 2015–2016 El Niño, presented unprecedented levels of thermal stress and bleaching occurrence. Identification of potential cellular biomarkers in key reef species can greatly improve coral reef resource manager’s ability to make ecological forecasts and develop efficient mitigation strategies. In this context, the present study evaluated ecologically relevant biochemical parameters involved in thermal-stress response in two important reef building species of southwestern Atlantic Reefs – the scleractinian coral Mussismilia harttii and the hydrocoral Millepora alcicornis – aiming to assess their potential to forecast bleaching occurrence in corals/hydrocorals. Bleaching frequency, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC), as well as thermal stress parameters (Degree Heating Weeks, DHW), were monitored during a six-month period in a reef area under influence of the 2015–2016 El Niño event. LPO is suggested as an informative, cost-effective and logical complement to reef monitoring programs; and TAC basal level as a potential measurement for predicting corals/hydrocorals susceptibility to bleaching. Further, results indicate M. alcicornis as a promising bioindicator in South Atlantic reefs. Findings presented here are expected to improve South Atlantic coral reef monitoring programs, as well as to contribute with potential biomarker-monitoring techniques to be used as additional tools in traditional reef monitoring programs worldwide. Further, observations on oxidative stress responses of a hydrocoral undergoing thermal stress conditions in the field are reported here for the first time.