Seawater carbonate chemistry and growth rate during experiments with coral Acropora cervicornis, 2005

• Main Authors: Renegar, D Abigail, Riegl, Bernhard M
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2005
• Subjects: Acropora cervicornis; Alkalinity; potentiometric; total; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Auto-analyzer; Technicon; Armstrong et al.; 1967; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (<20 L); Buoyant weighing technique (Davies; 1989); Calcite saturation state; Calculated; Calculated from pH and alkalinity; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Cnidaria; Coast and continental shelf; EPOCA; EUR-OCEANS; European network of excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis; European Project on Ocean Acidification; EXP; Experiment; Experimental treatment; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Growth/Morphology; Growth rate; Laboratory experiment; Macro-nutrients; Measured; Nitrate; North Atlantic; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; Phosphate; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.721887; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.721887

The growth rate of Acropora cervicornis branch tips maintained in the laboratory was measured before, during, and after exposure to elevated nitrate (5 and 10 µM NO3-), phosphate (2 and 4 µM P-PO43) and/or pCO2 (CO2 ~700 to 800 µatm). The effect of increased pCO2 was greater than that of nutrient enrichment alone. High concentrations of nitrate or phosphate resulted in significant decreases in growth rate, in both the presence and absence of increased pCO2. The effect of nitrate and phosphate enrichment combined was additive or antagonistic relative to nutrient concentration and pCO2 level. Growth rate recovery was greater after exposure to increased nutrients or CO2 compared to increased nutrients and CO2. If these results accurately predict coral response in the natural environment, it is reasonable to speculate that the survival and reef-building potential of this species will be significantly negatively impacted by continued coastal nutrification and projected pCO2 increases.