Experimental reef communities persist under future ocean acidification and warming

• Main Authors: Jury, Christopher, Bahr, Keisha, Barba, Evan, Brainard, Russell Eugene, Cros, Annick, Dobson, Kerri, Graham, Andrew, McLachlan, Rowan, Nelson, Craig, Price, James, de Souza, Mariana Rocha, Shizuru, Leah, Smith, Celia, Sparagon, Wesley, Squair, Cheryl, Timmers, Molly, Tran, Tiana, Vicente, Jan, Webb, Maryann, Yamase, Nicole, Grottoli, Andrea, Toonen, Robert
• Other Authors: Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, Department of Oceanography and Sea Grant College Program, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of, School of Life Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Marine Biology Graduate Program, College of Natural Sciences and School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, The Ohio State University
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: Research Square Platform LLC 2021
• Subjects: Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10754/670861; https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-640089/v1

Coral reefs are among the most sensitive ecosystems affected by ocean acidification and warming, and are predicted to shift from net accreting calcifier-dominated systems to net eroding algal-dominated systems over the coming decades. Here we present a long-term experimental study examining the responses of entire mesocosm coral reef communities to acidification (-0.2 pH units), warming (+ 2°C), and combined future ocean (-0.2 pH, + 2°C) treatments. We show that under future ocean conditions, net calcification rates declined yet remained positive, corals showed reduced abundance yet were not extirpated, and community composition shifted while species richness was maintained. Our results suggest that under Paris Climate Agreement targets, coral reefs could persist in an altered functional state rather than collapse. Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Omnibus 2014-2016, Project ID#2180, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean Acidification Program (CPJ, RJT).