AI Insight
Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have discovered that marine sponges in tropical coral reefs can utilize photosynthesis in addition to their typical feeding behavior of consuming other organisms for nutrients. This dual nutritional strategy allows sponges to contribute significantly to reef productivity, potentially accounting for 11% of the total energy and food production in these ecosystems. The study suggests this photosynthetic capability may also benefit sponge populations in other marine environments where they are abundant.
Why it matters
This finding challenges the traditional understanding of sponge nutrition and highlights their previously underestimated role in coral reef ecosystems. Understanding how sponges contribute to reef productivity could inform conservation strategies for these threatened ecosystems and help predict how reefs may respond to environmental changes.
Understand the Science
In marine environments, sponges tend to eat other organisms to get their nutrients. But a study published in Functional Ecology by researchers at the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), demonstrates how sponges may also use photosynthesis, just like plants. This phenomenon can help with productivity—the amount of energy and food produced—in tropical coral reefs, and perhaps in other ecosystems where sponges are also common.
Source: Sun-powered sponges may generate 11% of tropical coral reef productivity