Ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, Porolithon onkodes in an experimental system
There are concerns that Mg-calcite crustose coralline algae (CCA), which are key reef builders on coral reefs, will be most susceptible to increased rates of dissolution under higher pCO 2 and ocean acidification. Due to the higher solubility of Mg-calcite, it has been hypothesised that magnesium co...
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ftanucanberra:oai:digitalcollections.anu.edu.au:1885/103262 2023-05-15T17:50:50+02:00 Ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, Porolithon onkodes in an experimental system Nash, Merinda Uthicke, S. Negri, A.P. Cantin, N. 2016-06-14T23:20:13Z http://hdl.handle.net/1885/103262 unknown Copernicus GmbH 1726-4170 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/103262 Biogeosciences Journal article 2016 ftanucanberra 2016-06-20T22:19:55Z There are concerns that Mg-calcite crustose coralline algae (CCA), which are key reef builders on coral reefs, will be most susceptible to increased rates of dissolution under higher pCO 2 and ocean acidification. Due to the higher solubility of Mg-calcite, it has been hypothesised that magnesium concentrations in CCA Mg-calcite will decrease as the ocean acidifies, and that this decrease will make their skeletons more chemically stable. In addition to Mg-calcite, CCA Porolithon onkodes, the predominant encrusting species on tropical reefs, can have dolomite (Ca 0.5 Mg 0.5 CO 3 ) infilling cell spaces which increases their stability. However, nothing is known about how bio-mineralised dolomite formation responds to higher pCO 2 . Using P. onkodes grown for 3 and 6 months in tank experiments, we aimed to determine (1) if mol % MgCO 3 in new crust and new settlement was affected by increasing CO 2 levels (365, 444, 676 and 904 μatm), (2) whether bio-mineralised dolomite formed within these time frames, and (3) if so, whether this was effected by CO 2 . Our results show that there was no significant effect of CO 2 on mol % MgCO 3 in any sample set, indicating an absence of a plastic response under a wide range of experimental conditions. Dolomite within the CCA cells formed within 3 months and dolomite abundance did not vary significantly with CO 2 treatment. While evidence mounts that climate change will impact many sensitive coral and CCA species, the results from this study indicate that reef-building P. onkodes will continue to form stabilising dolomite infill under near-future acidification conditions, thereby retaining its higher resistance to dissolution. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Australian National University: ANU Digital Collections |
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Open Polar |
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Australian National University: ANU Digital Collections |
op_collection_id |
ftanucanberra |
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unknown |
description |
There are concerns that Mg-calcite crustose coralline algae (CCA), which are key reef builders on coral reefs, will be most susceptible to increased rates of dissolution under higher pCO 2 and ocean acidification. Due to the higher solubility of Mg-calcite, it has been hypothesised that magnesium concentrations in CCA Mg-calcite will decrease as the ocean acidifies, and that this decrease will make their skeletons more chemically stable. In addition to Mg-calcite, CCA Porolithon onkodes, the predominant encrusting species on tropical reefs, can have dolomite (Ca 0.5 Mg 0.5 CO 3 ) infilling cell spaces which increases their stability. However, nothing is known about how bio-mineralised dolomite formation responds to higher pCO 2 . Using P. onkodes grown for 3 and 6 months in tank experiments, we aimed to determine (1) if mol % MgCO 3 in new crust and new settlement was affected by increasing CO 2 levels (365, 444, 676 and 904 μatm), (2) whether bio-mineralised dolomite formed within these time frames, and (3) if so, whether this was effected by CO 2 . Our results show that there was no significant effect of CO 2 on mol % MgCO 3 in any sample set, indicating an absence of a plastic response under a wide range of experimental conditions. Dolomite within the CCA cells formed within 3 months and dolomite abundance did not vary significantly with CO 2 treatment. While evidence mounts that climate change will impact many sensitive coral and CCA species, the results from this study indicate that reef-building P. onkodes will continue to form stabilising dolomite infill under near-future acidification conditions, thereby retaining its higher resistance to dissolution. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nash, Merinda Uthicke, S. Negri, A.P. Cantin, N. |
spellingShingle |
Nash, Merinda Uthicke, S. Negri, A.P. Cantin, N. Ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, Porolithon onkodes in an experimental system |
author_facet |
Nash, Merinda Uthicke, S. Negri, A.P. Cantin, N. |
author_sort |
Nash, Merinda |
title |
Ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, Porolithon onkodes in an experimental system |
title_short |
Ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, Porolithon onkodes in an experimental system |
title_full |
Ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, Porolithon onkodes in an experimental system |
title_fullStr |
Ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, Porolithon onkodes in an experimental system |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, Porolithon onkodes in an experimental system |
title_sort |
ocean acidification does not affect magnesium composition or dolomite formation in living crustose coralline algae, porolithon onkodes in an experimental system |
publisher |
Copernicus GmbH |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1885/103262 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Biogeosciences |
op_relation |
1726-4170 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/103262 |
_version_ |
1766157752694996992 |