Crumbling Reefs and Cold-Water Coral Habitat Loss in a Future Ocean: Evidence of “Coralporosis” as an Indicator of Habitat Integrity

Ocean acidification is a threat to the net growth of tropical and deep-sea coral reefs, due to gradual changes in the balance between reef growth and loss processes. Here we go beyond identification of coral dissolution induced by ocean acidification and identify a mechanism that will lead to a loss...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Marine Science
Main Authors: Hennige, Sebastian J. (author), Wolfram, Uwe (author), Wickes, Leslie (author), Murray, Fiona (author), Roberts, J. Murray (author), Kamenos, Nicholas A. (author), Schofield, Sebastian (author), Groetsch, Alexander (author), Spiesz, E.M. (author), Aubin-Tam, M.E. (author), Etnoyer, Peter J. (author)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a09ecc0b-c303-486e-9e14-663071e987e0
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00668
id fttudelft:oai:tudelft.nl:uuid:a09ecc0b-c303-486e-9e14-663071e987e0
record_format openpolar
spelling fttudelft:oai:tudelft.nl:uuid:a09ecc0b-c303-486e-9e14-663071e987e0 2024-04-28T08:27:59+00:00 Crumbling Reefs and Cold-Water Coral Habitat Loss in a Future Ocean: Evidence of “Coralporosis” as an Indicator of Habitat Integrity Hennige, Sebastian J. (author) Wolfram, Uwe (author) Wickes, Leslie (author) Murray, Fiona (author) Roberts, J. Murray (author) Kamenos, Nicholas A. (author) Schofield, Sebastian (author) Groetsch, Alexander (author) Spiesz, E.M. (author) Aubin-Tam, M.E. (author) Etnoyer, Peter J. (author) 2020 http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a09ecc0b-c303-486e-9e14-663071e987e0 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00668 en eng http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091913144&partnerID=8YFLogxK Frontiers in Marine Science--9709d3c0-e33c-44f0-aecf-0f8d4b060f5a http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a09ecc0b-c303-486e-9e14-663071e987e0 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00668 © 2020 Sebastian J. Hennige, Uwe Wolfram, Leslie Wickes, Fiona Murray, J. Murray Roberts, Nicholas A. Kamenos, Sebastian Schofield, Alexander Groetsch, E.M. Spiesz, M.E. Aubin-Tam, Peter J. Etnoyer coral deep-sea coral dissolution habitat loss and degradation Lophelia pertusa ocean acidification journal article 2020 fttudelft https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00668 2024-04-10T00:03:45Z Ocean acidification is a threat to the net growth of tropical and deep-sea coral reefs, due to gradual changes in the balance between reef growth and loss processes. Here we go beyond identification of coral dissolution induced by ocean acidification and identify a mechanism that will lead to a loss of habitat in cold-water coral reef habitats on an ecosystem-scale. To quantify this, we present in situ and year-long laboratory evidence detailing the type of habitat shift that can be expected (in situ evidence), the mechanisms underlying this (in situ and laboratory evidence), and the timescale within which the process begins (laboratory evidence). Through application of engineering principals, we detail how increased porosity in structurally critical sections of coral framework will lead to crumbling of load-bearing material, and a potential collapse and loss of complexity of the larger habitat. Importantly, in situ evidence highlights that cold-water corals can survive beneath the aragonite saturation horizon, but in a fundamentally different way to what is currently considered a biogenic cold-water coral reef, with a loss of the majority of reef habitat. The shift from a habitat with high 3-dimensional complexity provided by both live and dead coral framework, to a habitat restricted primarily to live coral colonies with lower 3-dimensional complexity represents the main threat to cold-water coral reefs of the future and the biodiversity they support. Ocean acidification can cause ecosystem-scale habitat loss for the majority of cold-water coral reefs. BN/Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam Lab Article in Journal/Newspaper Lophelia pertusa Ocean acidification Delft University of Technology: Institutional Repository Frontiers in Marine Science 7
institution Open Polar
collection Delft University of Technology: Institutional Repository
op_collection_id fttudelft
language English
topic coral
deep-sea coral
dissolution
habitat loss and degradation
Lophelia pertusa
ocean acidification
spellingShingle coral
deep-sea coral
dissolution
habitat loss and degradation
Lophelia pertusa
ocean acidification
Hennige, Sebastian J. (author)
Wolfram, Uwe (author)
Wickes, Leslie (author)
Murray, Fiona (author)
Roberts, J. Murray (author)
Kamenos, Nicholas A. (author)
Schofield, Sebastian (author)
Groetsch, Alexander (author)
Spiesz, E.M. (author)
Aubin-Tam, M.E. (author)
Etnoyer, Peter J. (author)
Crumbling Reefs and Cold-Water Coral Habitat Loss in a Future Ocean: Evidence of “Coralporosis” as an Indicator of Habitat Integrity
topic_facet coral
deep-sea coral
dissolution
habitat loss and degradation
Lophelia pertusa
ocean acidification
description Ocean acidification is a threat to the net growth of tropical and deep-sea coral reefs, due to gradual changes in the balance between reef growth and loss processes. Here we go beyond identification of coral dissolution induced by ocean acidification and identify a mechanism that will lead to a loss of habitat in cold-water coral reef habitats on an ecosystem-scale. To quantify this, we present in situ and year-long laboratory evidence detailing the type of habitat shift that can be expected (in situ evidence), the mechanisms underlying this (in situ and laboratory evidence), and the timescale within which the process begins (laboratory evidence). Through application of engineering principals, we detail how increased porosity in structurally critical sections of coral framework will lead to crumbling of load-bearing material, and a potential collapse and loss of complexity of the larger habitat. Importantly, in situ evidence highlights that cold-water corals can survive beneath the aragonite saturation horizon, but in a fundamentally different way to what is currently considered a biogenic cold-water coral reef, with a loss of the majority of reef habitat. The shift from a habitat with high 3-dimensional complexity provided by both live and dead coral framework, to a habitat restricted primarily to live coral colonies with lower 3-dimensional complexity represents the main threat to cold-water coral reefs of the future and the biodiversity they support. Ocean acidification can cause ecosystem-scale habitat loss for the majority of cold-water coral reefs. BN/Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam Lab
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Hennige, Sebastian J. (author)
Wolfram, Uwe (author)
Wickes, Leslie (author)
Murray, Fiona (author)
Roberts, J. Murray (author)
Kamenos, Nicholas A. (author)
Schofield, Sebastian (author)
Groetsch, Alexander (author)
Spiesz, E.M. (author)
Aubin-Tam, M.E. (author)
Etnoyer, Peter J. (author)
author_facet Hennige, Sebastian J. (author)
Wolfram, Uwe (author)
Wickes, Leslie (author)
Murray, Fiona (author)
Roberts, J. Murray (author)
Kamenos, Nicholas A. (author)
Schofield, Sebastian (author)
Groetsch, Alexander (author)
Spiesz, E.M. (author)
Aubin-Tam, M.E. (author)
Etnoyer, Peter J. (author)
author_sort Hennige, Sebastian J. (author)
title Crumbling Reefs and Cold-Water Coral Habitat Loss in a Future Ocean: Evidence of “Coralporosis” as an Indicator of Habitat Integrity
title_short Crumbling Reefs and Cold-Water Coral Habitat Loss in a Future Ocean: Evidence of “Coralporosis” as an Indicator of Habitat Integrity
title_full Crumbling Reefs and Cold-Water Coral Habitat Loss in a Future Ocean: Evidence of “Coralporosis” as an Indicator of Habitat Integrity
title_fullStr Crumbling Reefs and Cold-Water Coral Habitat Loss in a Future Ocean: Evidence of “Coralporosis” as an Indicator of Habitat Integrity
title_full_unstemmed Crumbling Reefs and Cold-Water Coral Habitat Loss in a Future Ocean: Evidence of “Coralporosis” as an Indicator of Habitat Integrity
title_sort crumbling reefs and cold-water coral habitat loss in a future ocean: evidence of “coralporosis” as an indicator of habitat integrity
publishDate 2020
url http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a09ecc0b-c303-486e-9e14-663071e987e0
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00668
genre Lophelia pertusa
Ocean acidification
genre_facet Lophelia pertusa
Ocean acidification
op_relation http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091913144&partnerID=8YFLogxK
Frontiers in Marine Science--9709d3c0-e33c-44f0-aecf-0f8d4b060f5a
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a09ecc0b-c303-486e-9e14-663071e987e0
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00668
op_rights © 2020 Sebastian J. Hennige, Uwe Wolfram, Leslie Wickes, Fiona Murray, J. Murray Roberts, Nicholas A. Kamenos, Sebastian Schofield, Alexander Groetsch, E.M. Spiesz, M.E. Aubin-Tam, Peter J. Etnoyer
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00668
container_title Frontiers in Marine Science
container_volume 7
_version_ 1797586688716832768