Coral responses to ocean warming and acidification: Implications for future distribution of coral reefs in the South China Sea

The annual sea surface temperature increased at a rate of 0.038 to 0.074 degrees C/year in recent decade, and pH decreased at a rate of 0.012-0.014/year in two coastal waters of the South China Sea. Therefore, a culture experiment was conducted to study the effects of acidification and warming on co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Pollution Bulletin
Main Authors: Yuan, Xiangcheng, Guo, Yajuan, Cai, Wei-jun, Huang, Hui, Zhou, Weihua, Liu, Sheng
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD 2019
Subjects:
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Coral
Warming
Acidification
Refugia
The South China Sea
Environmental Sciences
LUHUITOU FRINGING-REEF
CLIMATE-CHANGE
CARBONIC-ACID
SEAWATER
CALCIFICATION
CO2
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
DISSOCIATION
TEMPERATURE
Carbonic acid
Online Access:http://ir.gig.ac.cn/handle/344008/52696
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.11.053
Description
Summary:The annual sea surface temperature increased at a rate of 0.038 to 0.074 degrees C/year in recent decade, and pH decreased at a rate of 0.012-0.014/year in two coastal waters of the South China Sea. Therefore, a culture experiment was conducted to study the effects of acidification and warming on coral calcification rates. The calcification of three coral species were significantly reduced during the exposure to elevated CO2, while other three coral species were not significantly affected. The reef coral Pocillopora damicornis was resistant to high CO2, but was not able to survive during the exposure to 33 degrees C in our culture experiments. Our findings suggested that some corals might not survive in tropical areas if coral could not adapt to warming rapidly, and subtropical coastal waters with temperature of < 30 degrees C will serve as refugia for the corals resistant to high CO2 at the end of this century.

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