Resistance of Two Mediterranean Cold-Water Coral Species to Low-pH Conditions

• Published in: Water
• Main Authors: Movilla, Juancho, Gori, Andrea, Calvo, Eva, Orejas, Covadonga, López-Sanz, Àngel, Domínguez-Carrió, Carlos, Grinyó, Jordi, Pelejero, Carles
• Other Authors: Institute of Marine Sciences / Institut de Ciències del Mar Barcelona (ICM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas España = Spanish National Research Council Spain (CSIC), 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), Instituto Español de Oceanografía - Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Lophelia pertusa; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04429634; https://doi.org/10.3390/w6010059

International audience Deep-water ecosystems are characterized by relatively low carbonate concentration values and, due to ocean acidification (OA), these habitats might be among the first to be exposed to undersaturated conditions in the forthcoming years. However, until now, very few studies have been conducted to test how cold-water coral (CWC) species react to such changes in the seawater chemistry. The present work aims to investigate the mid-term effect of decreased pH on calcification of the two branching CWC species most widely distributed in the Mediterranean, Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata. No significant effects were observed in the skeletal growth rate, microdensity and porosity of both species after 6 months of exposure. However, while the calcification rate of M. oculata was similar for all colony fragments, a heterogeneous skeletal growth pattern was observed in L. pertusa, the younger nubbins showing higher growth rates than the older ones. A higher energy demand is expected in these young, fast-growing fragments and, therefore, a reduction in calcification might be noticed earlier during long-term exposure to acidified conditions.