Seawater carbonate chemistry and calcification rate of cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa during experiments, 2011

• Main Authors: Form, Armin, Riebesell, Ulf
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2012
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Automated segmented-flow analyzer (Quaatro); Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; BIOACID; Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification; Buoyant weighing technique according to Davies (1989); Calcification/Dissolution; Calcification rate; Calcification rate of calcium carbonate per polyp; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; partial pressure; Cnidaria; Conductivity meter (WTW; Weilheim; Gemany); Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); Deep-sea; EPOCA; EUR-OCEANS; European network of excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis; European Project on Ocean Acidification; Experimental treatment; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Laboratory experiment; Lophelia pertusa; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.778439; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.778439

Ocean acidity has increased by 30% since preindustrial times due to the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 and is projected to rise by another 120% before 2100 if CO2 emissions continue at current rates. Ocean acidification is expected to have wide-ranging impacts on marine life, including reduced growth and net erosion of coral reefs. Our present understanding of the impacts of ocean acidification on marine life, however, relies heavily on results from short-term CO2 perturbation studies. Here we present results from the first long-term CO2 perturbation study on the dominant reef-building cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa and relate them to results from a short-term study to compare the effect of exposure time on the coral's responses. Short-term (one week) high CO2 exposure resulted in a decline of calcification by 26-29% for a pH decrease of 0.1 units and net dissolution of calcium carbonate. In contrast, L. pertusa was capable to acclimate to acidified conditions in long-term (six months) incubations, leading to even slightly enhanced rates of calcification. Net growth is sustained even in waters sub-saturated with respect to aragonite. Acclimation to seawater acidification did not cause a measurable increase in metabolic rates. This is the first evidence of successful acclimation in a coral species to ocean acidification, emphasizing the general need for long-term incubations in ocean acidification research. To conclude on the sensitivity of cold-water coral reefs to future ocean acidification further ecophysiological studies are necessary which should also encompass the role of food availability and rising temperatures.