Coral calcifying fluid pH dictates response to ocean acidification

Ocean acidification driven by rising levels of CO2 impairs calcification, threatening coral reef growth. Predicting how corals respond to CO2 requires a better understanding of how calcification is controlled. Here we show how spatial variations in the pH of the internal calcifying fluid (pHcf) in c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Holcomb, Michael, Venn, Alexander A, Tambutté, Eric, Tambutté, Sylvie, Allemand, Denis, Trotter, Julie, McCulloch, Malcolm T
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2014
Subjects:
Acid-base regulation
Alkalinity
total
standard deviation
Animalia
Aragonite saturation state
Benthic animals
Benthos
Bicarbonate ion
Calcification/Dissolution
Calcifying fluid
pH
Calcite saturation state
Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010)
Carbon
inorganic
dissolved
Carbonate ion
Carbonate system computation flag
Carbon dioxide
Cnidaria
Coast and continental shelf
Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2)
Difference
Figure
Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air)
Group
Growth
relative
Growth/Morphology
Identification
Incubation duration
Laboratory experiment
OA-ICC
Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre
Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air)
Potentiometric
Ocean acidification
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.843920
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.843920
Description
Summary:Ocean acidification driven by rising levels of CO2 impairs calcification, threatening coral reef growth. Predicting how corals respond to CO2 requires a better understanding of how calcification is controlled. Here we show how spatial variations in the pH of the internal calcifying fluid (pHcf) in coral (Stylophora pistillata) colonies correlates with differential sensitivity of calcification to acidification. Coral apexes had the highest pHcf and experienced the smallest changes in pHcf in response to acidification. Lateral growth was associated with lower pHcf and greater changes with acidification. Calcification showed a pattern similar to pHcf, with lateral growth being more strongly affected by acidification than apical. Regulation of pHcf is therefore spatially variable within a coral and critical to determining the sensitivity of calcification to ocean acidification.

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