Calcification of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa, under ambient and reduced pH

By Cornelia Maier, J. Hegeman, M. Weinbauer, Jean-Pierre Gattuso. 2009

177 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract. The cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa is one of the few species able to build reef-like structures and a 3-dimensional coral framework in the deep oceans. Furthermore, deep cold-water coral bioherms may be among the first marine ecosystems to be affected by ocean acidification. Colonies of L. pertusa were collected during a cruise in 2006 to cold-water coral bioherms of the Mingulay reef complex (Hebrides, North Atlantic). Shortly after sample collection onboard these corals were labelled with calcium-45. The same experimental approach was used to assess calcification rates and how those changed due to reduced pH during a cruise to the Skagerrak (North Sea) in 2007. The highest calcification rates were found in youngest polyps with up to 1% d−1 new skeletal growth and average rates of 0.11±0.02% d−1±S.E.). Lowering pH by 0.15 and 0.3 units relative to the ambient level resulted in calcification being reduced by 30 and 56%. Lower pH reduced calcification more in fast growing, young polyps (59% reduction) than in older polyps (40% reduction). Thus skeletal growth of young and fast calcifying corallites suffered more from ocean acidification. Nevertheless, L. pertusa exhibited positive net calcification (as measured by 45Ca incorporation) even at an aragonite saturation state (Ωa) below 1.

Subfields: Ecology, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9370d025a26dc3cd3050f8bddcfbe38fbc6498b3

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Citations in the corpus

Acute survivorship of the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa from the Gulf of Mexico under acidification, warming, and deoxygenation (2014, background): “…studies of L. pertusa growth rate show allometric patterns, the differential growth of select parts of a colony relative to the whole (e.g., Mortensen, 2001; Gass and Roberts, 2006; Brooke and Young, 2009), with younger polyps growing significantly faster than older polyps (Maier et al., 2009).”
Deep, diverse and definitely different: unique attributes of the world's largest ecosystem (2010, background): “Increased acidification of the water column may result in the dissolution of the calcium carbonate skeletons of deep-water corals (Guinotte et al., 2006) as has been shown in an experimental study withLopphelia pertusa(Maier et al., 2009) and in the shells of adult molluscs and echinoderms.”
A nonlinear calcification response to CO2-induced ocean acidification by the coral Oculina arbuscula (2010, background): “These results agree with earlier experiments showing that the cold water coral L. pertusa (Maier et al. 2009) and larvae of the tropical coral Favia fragum (Cohen et al. 2009) are able to continue accreting new skeletal aragonite in undersaturated conditions.”
Acclimation to ocean acidification during long‐term CO2 exposure in the cold‐water coral Lophelia pertusa (2012, methodology): “Therefore, cold-water coral reefs are considered the ecosystem most vulnerable to ocean acidification (Raven et al., 2005; Guinotte et al., 2006; Maier et al., 2009; Roberts et al., 2009).”
Reviewing the Effects of Ocean Acidification on Sexual Reproduction and Early Life History Stages of Reef-Building Corals (2011, background): “[105] showed that calcification in younger polyps of Lophelia pertusa was more sensitive to acidified seawater than older polyps.”
Comparing the impact of high CO2 on calcium carbonate structures in different marine organisms (2011, background): “…0.3 units below the control levels; Checkley et al. (2009) showed young fish have enhanced aragonite otolith growth when grown under elevated CO2; Maier et al. (2009) showed that, although there was a decrease in calcification in cold-water corals, overall they showed a positive net…”
Man and the Last Great Wilderness: Human Impact on the Deep Sea (2011, background): “Aragonite, high magnesium calcite and calcite are the main calcium carbonate crystals made by these organisms and, because high magnesium calcite and aragonite are more soluble than calcite, the species that use these compounds – such as scleractinian corals and echinoderms – are more vulnerable and”
Cold-water corals in a changing ocean (2014, background): “[57] presented the first information on calcification rates in Lophelia pertusa and showed that, over short incubations of 24 hours, reducing pH by 0.”
Habitat-forming cold-water corals show affinity for seamounts in the New Zealand region (2011, background): “…threat of increasing global significance is that of decreased calcification rates in cold-water corals due to ocean acidification, which is predicted to affect their distribution (Caldeira & Wickett 2003, Guinotte et al. 2006, Turley et al. 2007, Maier et al. 2009, Tittensor et al. 2010).”