Ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment
Deep-water or cold-water corals are abundant and highly diverse, greatly increase habitat heterogeneity and species richness, thereby forming one of the most significant ecosystems in the deep sea. Despite this remote location, they are not removed from the different anthropogenic disturbances that...
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fttempleuniv:oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/1317 2023-05-15T17:08:43+02:00 Ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment Gomez, Carlos E Cordes, Erik E. Sanders, Robert W. Helmus, Matthew R. Etnoyer, Peter J. 2018 178 pages https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/1317 eng eng Temple University. Libraries http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/1299 Theses and Dissertations http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/1317 IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Biology Ecology Aragonite Saturation Cold-water Coral Lophelia Pertusa Ocean Acidification Octocoral Thesis/Dissertation Text 2018 fttempleuniv https://doi.org/20.500.12613/1317 https://doi.org/10.34944/dspace/1299 2021-08-26T18:58:53Z Deep-water or cold-water corals are abundant and highly diverse, greatly increase habitat heterogeneity and species richness, thereby forming one of the most significant ecosystems in the deep sea. Despite this remote location, they are not removed from the different anthropogenic disturbances that commonly impact their shallow-water counterparts. The global decrease in seawater pH due to increases in atmospheric CO2 are changing the chemical properties of the seawater, decreasing the concentration of carbonate ions that are important elements for different physiological and ecological processes. Predictive models forecast a shoaling of the carbonate saturation in the water column due to OA, and suggest that cold-water corals are at high risk, since large areas of suitable habitat will experience suboptimal conditions by the end of the century. The main objective of this study was to explore the fate of the deep-water coral community in time of environmental change. To better understand the impact of climate change this study focused in two of the most important elements of deep-sea coral habitat, the reef forming coral Lophelia pertusa and the octocoral community, particularly the gorgonian Callogorgia delta. By means of controlled experiments, I examined the effects of long- and short-term exposures to seawater simulating future scenarios of ocean acidification on calcification and feeding efficiency. Finally In order to understand how the environment influences the community assembly, and ultimately how species cope with particular ecological filters, I integrated different aspects of biology such functional diversity and ecology into a more evolutionary context in the face of changing environment. My results suggest that I) deep-water corals responds negatively to future OA by lowering the calcification rates, II) not all individuals respond in the same way to OA with high intra-specific variability providing a potential for adaptation in the long-term III) there is a disruption in the balance between accretion and dissolution that in the long term can shift from net accretion to net dissolution, and IV) there is an evolutionary implication for certain morphological features in the coral community that can give an advantage under stresfull conditions. Nevertheless, the suboptimal conditions that deep-water corals will experience by the end of the century could potentially threaten their persistence, with potentially negative consequences for the future stability of this already fragile ecosystem. Biology Thesis Lophelia pertusa Ocean acidification TUScholarShare (Temple University) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
TUScholarShare (Temple University) |
op_collection_id |
fttempleuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology Ecology Aragonite Saturation Cold-water Coral Lophelia Pertusa Ocean Acidification Octocoral |
spellingShingle |
Biology Ecology Aragonite Saturation Cold-water Coral Lophelia Pertusa Ocean Acidification Octocoral Gomez, Carlos E Ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment |
topic_facet |
Biology Ecology Aragonite Saturation Cold-water Coral Lophelia Pertusa Ocean Acidification Octocoral |
description |
Deep-water or cold-water corals are abundant and highly diverse, greatly increase habitat heterogeneity and species richness, thereby forming one of the most significant ecosystems in the deep sea. Despite this remote location, they are not removed from the different anthropogenic disturbances that commonly impact their shallow-water counterparts. The global decrease in seawater pH due to increases in atmospheric CO2 are changing the chemical properties of the seawater, decreasing the concentration of carbonate ions that are important elements for different physiological and ecological processes. Predictive models forecast a shoaling of the carbonate saturation in the water column due to OA, and suggest that cold-water corals are at high risk, since large areas of suitable habitat will experience suboptimal conditions by the end of the century. The main objective of this study was to explore the fate of the deep-water coral community in time of environmental change. To better understand the impact of climate change this study focused in two of the most important elements of deep-sea coral habitat, the reef forming coral Lophelia pertusa and the octocoral community, particularly the gorgonian Callogorgia delta. By means of controlled experiments, I examined the effects of long- and short-term exposures to seawater simulating future scenarios of ocean acidification on calcification and feeding efficiency. Finally In order to understand how the environment influences the community assembly, and ultimately how species cope with particular ecological filters, I integrated different aspects of biology such functional diversity and ecology into a more evolutionary context in the face of changing environment. My results suggest that I) deep-water corals responds negatively to future OA by lowering the calcification rates, II) not all individuals respond in the same way to OA with high intra-specific variability providing a potential for adaptation in the long-term III) there is a disruption in the balance between accretion and dissolution that in the long term can shift from net accretion to net dissolution, and IV) there is an evolutionary implication for certain morphological features in the coral community that can give an advantage under stresfull conditions. Nevertheless, the suboptimal conditions that deep-water corals will experience by the end of the century could potentially threaten their persistence, with potentially negative consequences for the future stability of this already fragile ecosystem. Biology |
author2 |
Cordes, Erik E. Sanders, Robert W. Helmus, Matthew R. Etnoyer, Peter J. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Gomez, Carlos E |
author_facet |
Gomez, Carlos E |
author_sort |
Gomez, Carlos E |
title |
Ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment |
title_short |
Ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment |
title_full |
Ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment |
title_fullStr |
Ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment |
title_sort |
ecological and physiological constraints of deep-sea corals in a changing environment |
publisher |
Temple University. Libraries |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/1317 |
genre |
Lophelia pertusa Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Lophelia pertusa Ocean acidification |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/1299 Theses and Dissertations http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/1317 |
op_rights |
IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.12613/1317 https://doi.org/10.34944/dspace/1299 |
_version_ |
1766064549149016064 |