Coral calcification responds to seawater acidification: a working hypothesis towards a physiological mechanism
By F. Marubini, C. Ferrier‐Pagès, P. Furla, Denis Allemand. Coral reefs, 2008
227 citations recorded by the source corpus.
The decrease in the saturation state of seawater, Ω, following seawater acidification, is believed to be the main factor leading to a decrease in the calcification of marine organisms. To provide a physiological explanation for this phenomenon, the effect of seawater acidification was studied on the calcification and photosynthesis of the scleractinian tropical coral Stylophora pistillata. Coral nubbins were incubated for 8 days at three different pH (7.6, 8.0, and 8.2). To differentiate between the effects of the various components of the carbonate chemistry (pH, CO32−, HCO3−, CO2, Ω), tanks were also maintained under similar pH, but with 2-mM HCO3− added to the seawater. The addition of 2-mM bicarbonate significantly increased the photosynthesis in S. pistillata, suggesting carbon-limited conditions. Conversely, photosynthesis was insensitive to changes in pH and pCO2. Seawater acidification decreased coral calcification by ca. 0.1-mg CaCO3 g−1 d−1 for a decrease of 0.1 pH units. This correlation suggested that seawater acidification affected coral calcification by decreasing the availability of the CO32− substrate for calcification. However, the decrease in coral calcification could also be attributed either to a decrease in extra- or intracellular pH or to a change in the buffering capacity of the medium, impairing supply of CO32− from HCO3−.
Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Oceanography
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/bdce8660bb71641c557ca8d0bf7442e8c16342d0
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Citations in the corpus
- Is the response of coral calcification to seawater acidification related to nutrient loading? (2011, background): “Up-regulation of either carbon transport mechanisms or of the photosynthetic system may occur with long-term increases in HCO3 - availability (Marubini et al. 2008).”
- A nonlinear calcification response to CO2-induced ocean acidification by the coral Oculina arbuscula (2010, methodology): “Many experiments on scleractinian (stony) corals reveal that skeletal growth generally declines relatively linearly with reductions in seawater [CO3 2-] (Marubini and Atkinson 1999; Marubini et al. 2001, 2003, 2008; Langdon and Atkinson 2005; Schneider and Erez 2006).”
- Effect of pH on Gene Expression and Thermal Tolerance of Early Life History Stages of Red Abalone (Haliotis rufescens) (2010, background): “…al. 2009, Todgham& Hofmann 2009), corals (Marubini & Thake 1999, Langdon & Atkinson 2005, Schneider & Erez 2006, Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2007, Herfort et al. 2008, Marubini et al. 2008), coralline algae (Kuffner et al. 2008) and molluscs (Bibby et al. 2007, Gazeau et al. 2007, Kurihara et al. 2008a).”
- Living in the now: physiological mechanisms to tolerate a rapidly changing environment. (2010, background): “Mechanistically, the decline in calcification is linked to the acidification-driven decrease in carbonate concentrations and not to the effects of seawater acidification on symbiont photosynthesis (84, 85).”
- Possible effects of ocean acidification on coral reef biogeochemistry: topics for research (2008, methodology): “One interpretation of this evidence is that a simple diffusion pathway must exist, possibly revealing an increase in the flux of bicarbonate from enhanced light respiration (see discussion in Marubini et al. 2008).”
- Ocean acidification impacts multiple early life history processes of the Caribbean coral Porites astreoides (2011, result): “The observed reductions in juvenile growth rates are consistent with the hypothesis that calcification and, ultimately, growth decline as pCO2 increases and saturation state decreases (Albright et al., 2008; Jokiel et al., 2008; Marubini et al., 2008; Cohen et al., 2009).”
- The responses of eight coral reef calcifiers to increasing partial pressure of CO2 do not exhibit a tipping point (2013, background): “In addition, only one study (Marubini et al. 2008) to date has resolved precisely the shape of the relationship between calcification and PCO2, and therefore it is not possible to distinguish among functionally dissimilar relationships (Doney et al. 2009; Ries et al. 2009).”
- The impact of seawater saturation state and bicarbonate ion concentration on calcification by new recruits of two Atlantic corals (2011, background): “In several other studies, coral calcification rates were observed to be positively correlated with increased [HCO3 ] (Marubini and Thake 1999; Schneider and Erez 2006; Marubini et al. 2008).”
- The effect of ocean acidification on symbiont photorespiration and productivity in Acropora formosa (2010, methodology): “In contrast, by doubling ambient bicarbonate concentrations, Marubini et al. (2008) demonstrated over a longer time frame of 1 week, that Pnmax per gram host (with chlorophyll per gram host constant) is principally driven by bicarbonate limitation as opposed to pH.”
- Interactive effects of ocean acidification and temperature on two scleractinian corals from Moorea, French Polynesia (2012, background): “Furthermore, most studies of OA and coral calcification have been phenomenological, focusing on experimental outcomes rather than mechanisms, in part because of the complexity of the calcification process (Allemand et al., 2004, 2011; Marubini et al., 2008).”
- Effects of acidified seawater on early life stages of scleractinian corals (Genus Acropora) (2009, background): “by lowered pH levels have been reported in several marine calcifying organisms, such as corals [4, 5], foraminiferans”