Acclimation to ocean acidification during long‐term CO 2 exposure in the cold‐water coral Lophelia pertusa

• Published in: Global Change Biology
• Main Authors: Form, Armin U., Riebesell, Ulf
• Other Authors: German Research Foundation, European Project on Ocean Acidification
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2011
• Subjects: Lophelia pertusa; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02583.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2486.2011.02583.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02583.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02583.x

Abstract Ocean acidity has increased by 30% since preindustrial times due to the uptake of anthropogenic CO 2 and is projected to rise by another 120% before 2100 if CO 2 emissions continue at current rates. Ocean acidification is expected to have wide‐ranging impacts on marine life, including reduced growth and net erosion of coral reefs. Our present understanding of the impacts of ocean acidification on marine life, however, relies heavily on results from short‐term CO 2 perturbation studies. Here, we present results from the first long‐term CO 2 perturbation study on the dominant reef‐building cold‐water coral L ophelia pertusa and relate them to results from a short‐term study to compare the effect of exposure time on the coral's responses. Short‐term (1 week) high CO 2 exposure resulted in a decline of calcification by 26–29% for a pH decrease of 0.1 units and net dissolution of calcium carbonate. In contrast, L . pertusa was capable to acclimate to acidified conditions in long‐term (6 months) incubations, leading to even slightly enhanced rates of calcification. Net growth is sustained even in waters sub‐saturated with respect to aragonite. Acclimation to seawater acidification did not cause a measurable increase in metabolic rates. This is the first evidence of successful acclimation in a coral species to ocean acidification, emphasizing the general need for long‐term incubations in ocean acidification research. To conclude on the sensitivity of cold‐water coral reefs to future ocean acidification further ecophysiological studies are necessary which should also encompass the role of food availability and rising temperatures.