Detrimental effects of ocean acidification on the economically important Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum)

• Published in: Global Change Biology
• Main Authors: Bramanti, Lorenzo, Movilla, Juancho, Guron, Maricel, Guron M, Calvo, Eva, Gori, Andrea, Dominguez-Carrió, Carlos, Grinyo, Jordi, Lopez-Sanz, Angel, Martínez-Quintana, Angela, Martínez-Quintana, A, Pelejero, Carles, Ziveri, Patrizia, Rossi, S.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Ecogéochimie des environnements benthiques (LECOB), Observatoire océanologique de Banyuls (OOB), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des sciences et techniques de l'information, de la communication et de la connaissance (Lab-STICC), École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Brest (ENIB)-Université de Bretagne Sud (UBS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées Bretagne (ENSTA Bretagne)-Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bretagne Loire (UBL)-IMT Atlantique (IMT Atlantique), Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT), Institute of Marine Sciences / Institut de Ciències del Mar Barcelona (ICM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas España = Spanish National Research Council Spain (CSIC), Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage (ONCFS), European Project: 221072,EC:FP7:PEOPLE,FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF,CORGARD(2009)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Mediterranean red coral; Metabolic effects of Ocean Acidification; Climate change; Economic impact of Ocean Acidification; Calcification; Biochemical balance; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04429435; https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12171

International audience The mean predicted decrease of 0.3–0.4 pH units in the global surface ocean by the end of the century has prompted urgent research to assess the potential effects of ocean acidification on the marine environment, with strong emphasis on calcifying organisms. Among them, the Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum) is expected to be particularly susceptible to acidification effects, due to the elevated solubility of its Mg-calcite skeleton. This, together with the large overexploitation of this species, depicts a bleak future for this organism over the next decades. In this study, we evaluated the effects of low pH on the species from aquaria experiments. Several colonies of C. rubrum were long-term maintained for 314 days in aquaria at two different pH levels (8.10 and 7.81, pHT). Calcification rate, spicule morphology, major biochemical constituents (protein, carbohydrates and lipids) and fatty acids composition were measured periodically. Exposure to lower pH conditions caused a significant decrease in the skeletal growth rate in comparison with the control treatment. Similarly, the spicule morphology clearly differed between both treatments at the end of the experiment, with aberrant shapes being observed only under the acidified conditions. On the other hand, while total organic matter was significantly higher under low pH conditions, no significant differences were detected between treatments regarding total carbohydrate, lipid, protein and fatty acid composition. However, the lower variability found among samples maintained in acidified conditions relative to controls, suggests a possible effect of pH decrease on the metabolism of the colonies. Our results show, for the first time, evidence of detrimental ocean acidification effects on this valuable and endangered coral species. La diminution moyenne prédite de 0,3 à 0,4 unités de pH dans l'océan mondial en surface d'ici la fin du siècle a suscité des recherches urgentes pour évaluer les effets potentiels de l'acidification des ...