Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef
Ocean acidification (OA) reduces the concentration of seawater carbonate ions that stony corals need to produce their calcium carbonate skeletons, and is considered a significant threat to the functional integrity of coral reef ecosystems. However, detection and attribution of OA impact on corals in...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2020
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10754/664990 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl086761 |
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ftkingabdullahun:oai:repository.kaust.edu.sa:10754/664990 2024-01-07T09:45:39+01:00 Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef Guo, Weifu Bokade, Rohit Cohen, Anne L. Mollica, Nathaniel R. Leung, Muriel Brainard, Russell E. Now at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Red Sea Research Center Thuwal Saudi Arabia Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) Department of Geology and GeophysicsWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA USA Department of Mechanical and Industrial EngineeringNortheastern University Boston MA USA Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography Woods Hole MA USA Department of Physics and Astronomythe University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA USA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Honolulu HI USA 2020-09-07T12:35:29Z application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10754/664990 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl086761 unknown American Geophysical Union (AGU) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019GL086761 Guo, W., Bokade, R., Cohen, A. L., Mollica, N. R., Leung, M., & Brainard, R. E. (2020). Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef. Geophysical Research Letters. doi:10.1029/2019gl086761 doi:10.1029/2019gl086761 0094-8276 1944-8007 Geophysical Research Letters http://hdl.handle.net/10754/664990 Archived with thanks to Geophysical Research Letters 2021-02-27 Article 2020 ftkingabdullahun https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl086761 2023-12-09T20:20:59Z Ocean acidification (OA) reduces the concentration of seawater carbonate ions that stony corals need to produce their calcium carbonate skeletons, and is considered a significant threat to the functional integrity of coral reef ecosystems. However, detection and attribution of OA impact on corals in nature are confounded by concurrent environmental changes, including ocean warming. Here we use a numerical model to isolate the effects of OA and temperature, and show that OA alone has caused 13±3% decline in the skeletal density of massive Porites corals on the Great Barrier Reef since 1950. This OA-induced thinning of coral skeletons, also evident in Porites from the South China Sea but not in the central equatorial Pacific, reflects enhanced acidification of reef water relative to the surrounding open ocean. Our finding reinforces concerns that even corals that might survive multiple heatwaves are structurally weakened and increasingly vulnerable to the compounding effects of climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: KAUST Repository Pacific Geophysical Research Letters 47 19 |
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King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: KAUST Repository |
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ftkingabdullahun |
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unknown |
description |
Ocean acidification (OA) reduces the concentration of seawater carbonate ions that stony corals need to produce their calcium carbonate skeletons, and is considered a significant threat to the functional integrity of coral reef ecosystems. However, detection and attribution of OA impact on corals in nature are confounded by concurrent environmental changes, including ocean warming. Here we use a numerical model to isolate the effects of OA and temperature, and show that OA alone has caused 13±3% decline in the skeletal density of massive Porites corals on the Great Barrier Reef since 1950. This OA-induced thinning of coral skeletons, also evident in Porites from the South China Sea but not in the central equatorial Pacific, reflects enhanced acidification of reef water relative to the surrounding open ocean. Our finding reinforces concerns that even corals that might survive multiple heatwaves are structurally weakened and increasingly vulnerable to the compounding effects of climate change. |
author2 |
Now at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Red Sea Research Center Thuwal Saudi Arabia Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) Department of Geology and GeophysicsWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA USA Department of Mechanical and Industrial EngineeringNortheastern University Boston MA USA Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography Woods Hole MA USA Department of Physics and Astronomythe University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA USA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Honolulu HI USA |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Guo, Weifu Bokade, Rohit Cohen, Anne L. Mollica, Nathaniel R. Leung, Muriel Brainard, Russell E. |
spellingShingle |
Guo, Weifu Bokade, Rohit Cohen, Anne L. Mollica, Nathaniel R. Leung, Muriel Brainard, Russell E. Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef |
author_facet |
Guo, Weifu Bokade, Rohit Cohen, Anne L. Mollica, Nathaniel R. Leung, Muriel Brainard, Russell E. |
author_sort |
Guo, Weifu |
title |
Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef |
title_short |
Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef |
title_full |
Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef |
title_fullStr |
Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef |
title_sort |
ocean acidification has impacted coral growth on the great barrier reef |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/664990 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl086761 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_relation |
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019GL086761 Guo, W., Bokade, R., Cohen, A. L., Mollica, N. R., Leung, M., & Brainard, R. E. (2020). Ocean Acidification has Impacted Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef. Geophysical Research Letters. doi:10.1029/2019gl086761 doi:10.1029/2019gl086761 0094-8276 1944-8007 Geophysical Research Letters http://hdl.handle.net/10754/664990 |
op_rights |
Archived with thanks to Geophysical Research Letters 2021-02-27 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl086761 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
19 |
_version_ |
1787427236558667776 |