Seawater carbonate chemistry during experiments with Stylophora pistillata, 2008, supplement to: Marubini, Francesca; Ferrier-Pagès, Christine; Furla, P; Allemand, D (2008): Coral calcification responds to seawater acidification: a working hypothesis towards a physiological mechanism. Coral Reefs, 27(3), 491-499

• Main Authors: Marubini, Francesca, Ferrier-Pagès, Christine, Furla, P, Allemand, D
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2008
• Subjects: Animalia; Benthic animals; Benthos; Calcification/Dissolution; Cnidaria; Coast and continental shelf; Containers and aquaria 20-1000 L or < 1 m**2; Laboratory experiment; Not applicable; Single species; Stylophora pistillata; Temperate; Experimental treatment; Carbonate system computation flag; Temperature, water; Salinity; Radiation, photosynthetically active; pH; Alkalinity, total; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Carbon dioxide; Carbonate ion; Bicarbonate ion; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Fugacity of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Aragonite saturation state; Calcite saturation state; Calcification rate of calcium carbonate; Experiment; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. 2010; Infrared gas analyzer LI-COR 196SA; Measured; Titration potentiometric Metler-Toledo; Buoyant weighing technique Davies, 1989; European network of excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis EUR-OCEANS; European Project on Ocean Acidification EPOCA; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre OA-ICC; Ferrier; Toledo; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.721770; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.721770

The decrease in the saturation state of seawater, 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), 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. : In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Lavigne and Gattuso, 2011) was used to compute a complete and consistent set of carbonate system variables, as described by Nisumaa et al. (2010). In this dataset the original values were archived in addition with the recalculated parameters (see related PI).