Figure 3.

Cycling of Dissolved and Particulate Organic Matter through the Microbial and Sponge Loops

As coral reef ecosystems shift toward an algae-dominated state after coral bleaching and/or disease, significant amounts of readily available DOM are released into the environment, which stimulates growth of copiotrophic and potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Although microbes in healthy reefs dominated by calcifying corals excel at capturing and recycling energy and nutrients within the reef—thereby supporting high primary production and a diverse marine food web—microbialization limits the flow of energy to higher trophic levels and can lead to an overall loss of energy from the ecosystem under future climate change conditions.