Net rates of calcium carbonate accretion in the marinecoastal ecosystem complex of Ensenada Rancho Luna, Cienfuegos, Cuba

• Main Authors: Aragón-López, Luis Angel, Gómez-Batista, Miguel, Rojas Abrahantes, Gabriel, Helguera Pedraza, Yusmila
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, Universidad de La Habana, Cuba. 2024
• Subjects: calcificación; alga coralina costrosa; acidificación; unidad de acreción; arrecife; Cuba; Calcification; coarse crust algae; acidification; accretion unit; reef; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://revistas.uh.cu/rim/article/view/8745; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10576631

Due to the increasing emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the absorption of this gas by the ocean is carried out at great speed, causing an increase in the acidity of seawater. This process, known as ocean acidification, leads to a reduction in the ability of many calcifying organisms to form their calcium carbonate structures. The objective of this research was to determine the net rates of calcium carbonate accretion (g CaCO3 cm-2 yr-1) of early successional taxa, in the marine-coastal ecosystem complex of Ensenada Rancho Luna, Cienfuegos. To quantify the net calcium carbonate accretion rates, 12 sampling devices were built based on the Vargas-Ángel et al. in 2015, positioning six of them in each ecosystem studied (mangrove and reef). The mean values of net calcium carbonate accretion rates were 0.87 ± 0.19 g CaCO3 cm-2 yr-1 in the reef and 0.59 ± 0.05 g CaCO3 cm-2 yr-1 in the mangrove swamp. Seven taxa were identified, corresponding to four early successional functional groups, grass (turf), CaCO3/sediment, Calcium-free functional group, and crusted coralline algae. The latter were the main contributors of CaCO3, being found mainly in the reef. Magnesite was determined as the dominant crystalline form of CaCO3, and crusty coralline algae, the group with the greatest vulnerability to the effect of ocean acidification. Received: 23.09.2022 Accepted: 06.09.2023 Editor: Susana Perera Valderrama Debido a las emisiones cada vez mayores de dióxido de carbono a la atmósfera, la absorción de este gas por el océano se realiza a gran velocidad, provocando un aumento en la acidez del agua de mar. Este proceso, conocido como acidificación oceánica, conlleva a que en muchos organismos calcificadores se reduzca la capacidad de formar sus estructuras de carbonato de calcio. El objetivo de esta investigación fue determinar las tasas netas de acreción de carbonato de calcio (g CaCO3 cm-2 año-1) de taxones de sucesión temprana, en el complejo de ecosistemas marinos-costeros de la Ensenada Rancho Luna,Cienfuegos. ...