Calcification is not the Achilles'heel of cold-water corals in an acidifying ocean

• Main Authors: Rodolfo-Metalpa, Riccardo, Montagna, Paolo, Aliani, Stefano, Borghini, Mireno, Canese, Simonepietro, Hall-Spencer, Jason M, Foggo, A, Milazzo, Marco, Taviani, Marco, Houlbrèque, Fanny
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2015
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Bari_Canyon; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Calcification/Dissolution; Calcification rate of calcium carbonate; 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; Caryophyllia smithii; Cnidaria; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); Deep-sea; Dendrophyllia cornigera; Desmophyllum dianthus; Dissolution rate; Event label; EXP; Experiment; Field experiment; Figure; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Identification; Ionian_Sea; Laboratory experiment; Malta_OA; Mediterranean Sea; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.847763; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.847763

Ocean acidification is thought to be a major threat to coral reefs: laboratory evidence and CO2 seep research has shown adverse effects on many coral species, although a few are resilient. There are concerns that cold-water corals are even more vulnerable as they live in areas where aragonite saturation (Omega ara) is lower than in the tropics and is falling rapidly due to CO2 emissions. Here, we provide laboratory evidence that net (gross calcification minus dissolution) and gross calcification rates of three common cold-water corals, Caryophyllia smithii, Dendrophyllia cornigera, and Desmophyllum dianthus, are not affected by pCO2 levels expected for 2100 (pCO2 1058 µatm, Omega ara 1.29), and nor are the rates of skeletal dissolution in D. dianthus. We transplanted D. dianthus to 350 m depth (pHT 8.02; pCO2 448 µatm, Omega ara 2.58) and to a 3 m depth CO2 seep in oligotrophic waters (pHT 7.35; pCO2 2879 µatm, Omega ara 0.76) and found that the transplants calcified at the same rates regardless of the pCO2 confirming their resilience to acidification, but at significantly lower rates than corals that were fed in aquaria. Our combination of field and laboratory evidence suggests that ocean acidification will not disrupt cold-water coral calcification although falling aragonite levels may affect other organismal physiological and/or reef community processes.