Secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditions
Climate change threatens both the accretion and erosion processes that sustain coral reefs. Secondary calcification, bioerosion, and reef dissolution are integral to the structural complexity and long-term persistence of coral reefs, yet these processes have received less research attention than ree...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2015-01-01
|
Series: | Biogeosciences |
Online Access: | http://www.biogeosciences.net/12/567/2015/bg-12-567-2015.pdf |
id |
doaj-705d7620d68b40f58ce30284436dddbf |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-705d7620d68b40f58ce30284436dddbf2020-11-24T22:32:55ZengCopernicus PublicationsBiogeosciences1726-41701726-41892015-01-0112256757810.5194/bg-12-567-2015Secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditionsN. J. Silbiger0M. J. Donahue1University of Hawaii, at Manoa, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, PO Box 1346, Kaneohe, HawaiiUniversity of Hawaii, at Manoa, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, PO Box 1346, Kaneohe, HawaiiClimate change threatens both the accretion and erosion processes that sustain coral reefs. Secondary calcification, bioerosion, and reef dissolution are integral to the structural complexity and long-term persistence of coral reefs, yet these processes have received less research attention than reef accretion by corals. In this study, we use climate scenarios from RCP 8.5 to examine the combined effects of rising ocean acidity and sea surface temperature (SST) on both secondary calcification and dissolution rates of a natural coral rubble community using a flow-through aquarium system. We found that secondary reef calcification and dissolution responded differently to the combined effect of <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> and temperature. Calcification had a non-linear response to the combined effect of <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> and temperature: the highest calcification rate occurred slightly above ambient conditions and the lowest calcification rate was in the highest temperature–<i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> condition. In contrast, dissolution increased linearly with temperature–<i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> . The rubble community switched from net calcification to net dissolution at +271 μatm <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> and 0.75 °C above ambient conditions, suggesting that rubble reefs may shift from net calcification to net dissolution before the end of the century. Our results indicate that (i) dissolution may be more sensitive to climate change than calcification and (ii) that calcification and dissolution have different functional responses to climate stressors; this highlights the need to study the effects of climate stressors on both calcification and dissolution to predict future changes in coral reefs.http://www.biogeosciences.net/12/567/2015/bg-12-567-2015.pdf |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
N. J. Silbiger M. J. Donahue |
spellingShingle |
N. J. Silbiger M. J. Donahue Secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditions Biogeosciences |
author_facet |
N. J. Silbiger M. J. Donahue |
author_sort |
N. J. Silbiger |
title |
Secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditions |
title_short |
Secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditions |
title_full |
Secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditions |
title_fullStr |
Secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditions |
title_sort |
secondary calcification and dissolution respond differently to future ocean conditions |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
series |
Biogeosciences |
issn |
1726-4170 1726-4189 |
publishDate |
2015-01-01 |
description |
Climate change threatens both the accretion and erosion processes that
sustain coral reefs. Secondary calcification, bioerosion, and reef
dissolution are integral to the structural complexity and long-term
persistence of coral reefs, yet these processes have received less research
attention than reef accretion by corals. In this study, we use climate
scenarios from RCP 8.5 to examine the combined effects of rising ocean
acidity and sea surface temperature (SST) on both secondary calcification and
dissolution rates of a natural coral rubble community using a flow-through
aquarium system. We found that secondary reef calcification and dissolution
responded differently to the combined effect of <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> and temperature.
Calcification had a non-linear response to the combined effect of <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>
and temperature: the
highest calcification rate occurred slightly above ambient conditions and the
lowest calcification rate was in the highest temperature–<i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>
condition. In contrast, dissolution increased linearly with temperature–<i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>
. The rubble community switched from net calcification to net
dissolution at +271 μatm <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> and 0.75 °C above
ambient conditions, suggesting that rubble reefs may shift from net
calcification to net dissolution before the end of the century. Our results
indicate that (i) dissolution may be more sensitive to climate change than
calcification and (ii) that calcification and dissolution have different
functional responses to climate stressors; this highlights the need to study
the effects of climate stressors on both calcification and dissolution to
predict future changes in coral reefs. |
url |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/12/567/2015/bg-12-567-2015.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT njsilbiger secondarycalcificationanddissolutionresponddifferentlytofutureoceanconditions AT mjdonahue secondarycalcificationanddissolutionresponddifferentlytofutureoceanconditions |
_version_ |
1725731744205766656 |