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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NCScience Advances

Acute temperature effects on cilia beating increase coral deoxygenation

  • César O. Pacherres1
  • Max S. Dhillon2
  • Mads Bilbo1
  • Mikkel Hansen1
  • Douglas R. Brumley3
  • Manuel Aranda2
  • Soeren Ahmerkamp4
  • Michael Kühl1
4 affiliations
  1. 1Marine Biology Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Strandpromenaden 5, Helsingør, Denmark
  2. 2Marine Science Program, Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
  3. 3School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  4. 4IOW Leibniz-Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Warnemünde, Rostock, Germany
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Abstract

Cilia-induced vortical flows are critical for regulating oxygen (O 2 ) and metabolite exchange across coral-water interfaces. While this active ventilation affects the coral tissue microenvironment, its role in thermal stress remains poorly understood. Using high-speed imaging of cilia beating, particle image velocimetry with O 2 -sensitive nanoparticles, and a mechanistic transport model, we quantified how ciliary dynamics in the reef-building coral Porites lutea respond to acute warming in darkness. Moderate warming (~35°C) enhanced ciliary activity and advective transport yet paradoxically thickened the concentration boundary layer with O 2 -depleted water, exposing tissues to transient hypoxia. At higher temperatures, ventilation failed to meet rising metabolic demands and anoxic regions expanded rapidly. Above ~37°C, ciliary coordination collapsed and vortical flows dissipated, shifting transport to a diffusion-limited regime accelerating coral mortality. These results identify ciliary beating as a key regulator of thermal tolerance and early indicator of critical physiological tipping points for reef-building corals in a warming, deoxygenating ocean.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{pacherres2026acute,
  title = {{Acute temperature effects on cilia beating increase coral deoxygenation}},
  author = {César O. Pacherres and Max S. Dhillon and Mads Bilbo and Mikkel Hansen and Douglas R. Brumley and Manuel Aranda and Soeren Ahmerkamp and Michael Kühl},
  journal = {Science Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aeg0950},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeg0950},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Acute temperature effects on cilia beating increase coral deoxygenation
AU  - César O. Pacherres
AU  - Max S. Dhillon
AU  - Mads Bilbo
AU  - Mikkel Hansen
AU  - Douglas R. Brumley
AU  - Manuel Aranda
AU  - Soeren Ahmerkamp
AU  - Michael Kühl
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/20
JO  - Science Advances
DO  - 10.1126/sciadv.aeg0950
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeg0950
AB  - Cilia-induced vortical flows are critical for regulating oxygen (O 2 ) and metabolite exchange across coral-water interfaces. While this active ventilation affects the coral tissue microenvironment, its role in thermal stress remains poorly understood. Using high-speed imaging of cilia beating, particle image velocimetry with O 2 -sensitive nanoparticles, and a mechanistic transport model, we quantified how ciliary dynamics in the reef-building coral Porites lutea respond to acute warming in darkness. Moderate warming (~35°C) enhanced ciliary activity and advective transport yet paradoxically thickened the concentration boundary layer with O 2 -depleted water, exposing tissues to transient hypoxia. At higher temperatures, ventilation failed to meet rising metabolic demands and anoxic regions expanded rapidly. Above ~37°C, ciliary coordination collapsed and vortical flows dissipated, shifting transport to a diffusion-limited regime accelerating coral mortality. These results identify ciliary beating as a key regulator of thermal tolerance and early indicator of critical physiological tipping points for reef-building corals in a warming, deoxygenating ocean.
SN  - 2375-2548
ER  -