Coral-associated bacterial communities on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

Coral-associated microbial communities on Ningaloo Reef exhibit high diversity and are influenced more by environmental factors such as oceanographic conditions, benthic community structure, and temperature than by coral host specificity. A year-long study sampling three coral species (Pocillopora damicornis, Acropora tenuis, and Favites abdita) every three months revealed that microbial profiles varied significantly over time rather than by species. Comparative analysis of P. damicornis from Ningaloo Reef and Rottnest Island further demonstrated that these associations are not geographically isolated. The research used 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and principal component analysis to uncover these patterns, highlighting the dynamic nature of coral-microbial interactions.

Ceh, J., Van Keulen, M., & Bourne, D. G. (2010). Coral-associated bacterial communities on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 75(1), 134–144. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00986.x