Fig. 2

Dynamics of modeled Symbiodinium light absorption in hospite due to skeletal backscattering (\( \mu ^{\prime}_{{S,m}} \)). Symbiodinium in hospite of high- (gray line) and low-\( \mu ^{\prime}_{{S,m}} \) (black line) corals are (conservatively) predicted by an empirical model to have differential skeleton-dependent light absorption per unit pigment (I _a2/ρ). Under a CT, the absorption of light in high- and low-\( \mu ^{\prime}_{{S,m}} \) corals is similar when exposed to CL (solid line) and HL (broken line). Under b HT, the absorption of light in low-\( \mu ^{\prime}_{{S,m}} \) corals is several times larger under either light condition, but the increase under HL is dramatic. Additionally, the increase in (conservatively) estimated temporal rates of light absorbed per unit pigment \( \left( {{{\varDelta \left( {{{I_{a2} } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{I_{a2} } \rho }} \right.\kern-0pt} \rho }} \right)} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\varDelta \left( {{{I_{a2} } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{I_{a2} } \rho }} \right. \kern-0pt} \rho }} \right)} {\varDelta t}}} \right. \kern-0pt}{\varDelta t}}} \right) \) in low-\( \mu ^{\prime}_{{S,m}} \) corals (black bars) is progressively greater as heat and light stress were combined (c). All abbreviations follow Fig. 1 and error bars are standard error of the mean