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What are the impacts of sediment on coral? 


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Sediment has various impacts on coral reefs. It can adversely affect corals by causing tissue mortality, reduced growth rates, limited settlement rates, and bleaching . Sediment can smother, abrade, shade, and inhibit coral recruitment . The effects of sediment on corals can be influenced by factors such as sediment grain size and type, as well as coral species and life-history stage . Sediment stress can lead to changes in coral physiology at the molecular level, including the upregulation of genes related to energy metabolism and immune response . Different coral morphologies can also influence their susceptibility to sediment stress, with branching corals showing a larger transcriptomic response compared to massive corals . Overall, sedimentation poses a significant threat to coral health and reef ecosystems, highlighting the need for effective management strategies to mitigate its impacts.

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The paper states that sediment stress has deleterious effects on corals, but it does not provide specific details about the impacts of sediment on corals.
The paper discusses the short-term effects of sedimentation on the condition, survivorship, and photophysiology of adult Montastraea cavernosa and Porites astreoides corals. It found that sediment exposure reduced coral survivorship, growth, and photosynthetic capacity.
The impacts of sediment on coral include adverse physiological effects, tissue mortality, reduced growth rates, bleaching, and limited settlement rates.
The impacts of sediment on coral include smothering, abrasion, shading, and inhibition of coral recruitment. Sediment delivery can cause degradation at the spatial scale of corals or entire reefs.
The paper discusses the transcriptomic response of corals to sediment stress, revealing that sediment exposure induces upregulation of anaerobic glycolysis, glyoxylate bypass enzymes, and genes involved in hydrogen sulphide metabolism and pathogen recognition.

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