Water chemistry, carbonate system parameters, and macro-organism biomass of vent and off-vent sites in the Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve ...

Ocean acidification is receiving increasing attention because of its potential to affect marine ecosystems. Rare CO2 vents offer a unique opportunity to investigate the response of benthic ecosystems to acidification. However, the benthic habitats investigated so far are mainly found at very shallow...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Linares, Cristina, Vidal, Montserrat, Canals, Miquel, Kersting, Diego K, Amblas, David, Aspillaga, Eneko, Cebrián, E, Delgado-Huertas, Antonio, Díaz, D, Garrabou, Joaquim, Hereu, B, Navarro, L, Teixidó, Núria, Ballesteros, Manuel
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2015
Subjects:
Multiple investigations
Ocean acidification
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.854963
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.854963
Description
Summary:Ocean acidification is receiving increasing attention because of its potential to affect marine ecosystems. Rare CO2 vents offer a unique opportunity to investigate the response of benthic ecosystems to acidification. However, the benthic habitats investigated so far are mainly found at very shallow water (less than or equal to 5 m depth) and therefore are not representative of the broad range of continental shelf habitats. Here, we show that a decrease from pH 8.1 to 7.9 observed in a CO2 vent system at 40 m depth leads to a dramatic shift in highly diverse and structurally complex habitats. Forests of the kelp Laminaria rodriguezii usually found at larger depths (greater than 65 m) replace the otherwise dominant habitats (i.e. coralligenous outcrops and rhodolith beds), which are mainly characterized by calcifying organisms. Only the aragonite-calcifying algae are able to survive in acidified waters, while high-magnesium-calcite organisms are almost completely absent. Although a long-term survey of the ... : Supplement to: Linares, Cristina; Vidal, Montserrat; Canals, Miquel; Kersting, Diego K; Amblas, David; Aspillaga, Eneko; Cebrián, E; Delgado-Huertas, Antonio; Díaz, D; Garrabou, Joaquim; Hereu, B; Navarro, L; Teixidó, Núria; Ballesteros, Manuel (2015): Persistent natural acidification drives major distribution shifts in marine benthic ecosystems. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 282(1818), 20150587 ...

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