Ocean warming and acidification synergistically increase coral mortality

Organisms that accumulate calcium carbonate structures are particularly vulnerable to ocean warming (OW) and ocean acidification (OA), potentially reducing the socioeconomic benefits of ecosystems reliant on these taxa. Since rising atmospheric CO is responsible for global warming and increasing oce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2017-01, Vol.7 (1), p.40842-40842, Article 40842
Main Authors: Prada, F, Caroselli, E, Mengoli, S, Brizi, L, Fantazzini, P, Capaccioni, B, Pasquini, L, Fabricius, K E, Dubinsky, Z, Falini, G, Goffredo, S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidification
Acidity
Animals
Anthozoa - growth & development
Calcification
Calcium carbonate
Calcium Carbonate - analysis
Carbon dioxide
Coral Reefs
Corals
Ecosystem
Global Warming
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Marine organisms
Mediterranean Sea
Mortality
pH effects
Seawater - analysis
Seawater - chemistry
Species
Temperature
Temperature effects
Temperature tolerance
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Summary:Organisms that accumulate calcium carbonate structures are particularly vulnerable to ocean warming (OW) and ocean acidification (OA), potentially reducing the socioeconomic benefits of ecosystems reliant on these taxa. Since rising atmospheric CO is responsible for global warming and increasing ocean acidity, to correctly predict how OW and OA will affect marine organisms, their possible interactive effects must be assessed. Here we investigate, in the field, the combined temperature (range: 16-26 °C) and acidification (range: pH 8.1-7.4) effects on mortality and growth of Mediterranean coral species transplanted, in different seasonal periods, along a natural pH gradient generated by a CO vent. We show a synergistic adverse effect on mortality rates (up to 60%), for solitary and colonial, symbiotic and asymbiotic corals, suggesting that high seawater temperatures may have increased their metabolic rates which, in conjunction with decreasing pH, could have led to rapid deterioration of cellular processes and performance. The net calcification rate of the symbiotic species was not affected by decreasing pH, regardless of temperature, while in the two asymbiotic species it was negatively affected by increasing acidification and temperature, suggesting that symbiotic corals may be more tolerant to increasing warming and acidifying conditions compared to asymbiotic ones.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep40842