Response of the temperate coral Cladocora caespitosa to mid- and long-term exposure to p CO 2 and temperature levels projected for the year 2100 AD

By R. Rodolfo-Metalpa, S. Martin, C. Ferrier‐Pagès, Jean-Pierre Gattuso. 2010

193 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract. Atmospheric CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) is expected to increase to 700 μatm or more by the end of the present century. Anthropogenic CO2 is absorbed by the oceans, leading to decreases in pH and the CaCO3 saturation state (Ω) of the seawater. Elevated pCO2 was shown to drastically decrease calcification rates in tropical zooxanthellate corals. Here we show, using the Mediterranean zooxanthellate coral Cladocora caespitosa, that an increase in pCO2, in the range predicted for 2100, does not reduce its calcification rate. Therefore, the conventional belief that calcification rates will be affected by ocean acidification may not be widespread in temperate corals. Seasonal change in temperature is the predominant factor controlling photosynthesis, respiration, calcification and symbiont density. An increase in pCO2, alone or in combination with elevated temperature, had no significant effect on photosynthesis, photosynthetic efficiency and calcification. The lack of sensitivity C. caespitosa to elevated pCO2 might be due to its slow growth rates, which seem to be more dependent on temperature than on the saturation state of calcium carbonate in the range projected for the end of the century.

Subfields: Ecology, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0b04bc7c1698386f0e6756761ba5f0814f960d99

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In Ecology

1. J. Ries
2. Peter J. Edmunds
3. R. Carpenter
4. S. Comeau
5. N. B. Spindel
6. U. Riebesell
7. A. Cohen
8. D. McCorkle

In Oceanography

1. J. Ries
2. Peter J. Edmunds
3. S. Comeau
4. R. Carpenter
5. N. B. Spindel
6. U. Riebesell
7. A. Form
8. A. Cohen

Citations in the corpus

• The responses of eight coral reef calcifiers to increasing partial pressure of CO2 do not exhibit a tipping point (2013, background): “…show a relatively small effect of OA on corals, with null results following increasing PCO2 reported for the temperate coral Cladocora caespitosa (Rodolfo-Metalpa et al. 2010) and the tropical coral Stylophora pistillata at ambient temperatures (Reynaud et al. 2003) and fed massive Porites spp.…”
• A nonlinear calcification response to CO2-induced ocean acidification by the coral Oculina arbuscula (2010, background): “ Rodolfo-Metalpa et al. (2010) showed that the temperate coral Cladocora caespitosa exhibited no statistically significant difference in calcification rate when reared in experimental seawaters bubbled with CO2-air mixtures of ca. 400 and 700 ppm pCO2.”
• Acclimation to ocean acidification during long‐term CO2 exposure in the cold‐water coral Lophelia pertusa (2012, background): “The apparent lack of CO2/pH sensitivity was attributed to the slow growth rate of these species (Rodolfo-Metalpa et al., 2010).”
• Effects of ocean acidification and high temperatures on the bryozoan Myriapora truncata at natural CO2 vents (2010, background): “2009), although some can maintain normal calcification rates (Rodolfo-Metalpa et al. 2009) or even increase their calcification rates (Jury et al.”
• Interactive effects of ocean acidification and temperature on two scleractinian corals from Moorea, French Polynesia (2012, background): “…al., 2007; Erez et al., 2011), even though a few taxa have some capacity to resist the harmful effects of OA on calcification (Reynaud et al., 2003; Rodolfo-Metalpa et al., 2010; dePutron et al., 2011; Fabricius et al., 2011; Pandolfi et al., 2011; see Form & Riebesell (2012) for an example from…”
• Fast coral reef calcifiers are more sensitive to ocean acidification in short‐term laboratory incubations (2014, background): “To maintain high rates of calcification, organisms that calcify rapidly potentially require more CO2{3 than those calcifying more slowly (Rodolfo-Metalpa et al. 2010), and therefore fast-growing taxa would be expected to be limited by declining [CO2{3 ] more quickly than slow-growing taxa as the…”
• The impact of seawater saturation state and bicarbonate ion concentration on calcification by new recruits of two Atlantic corals (2011, background): “Conversely, Rodolfo-Metalpa et al. (2010) showed that elevation of temperature had no effect on the calcification response of the temperate coral Cladocora caespitosa to elevated pCO2.”