Comparability of slack water and Lagrangian flow respirometry methods for community metabolic measurements

• Published in: PLoS ONE
• Main Authors: Shaw, Emily C., Phinn, Stuart R., Tilbrook, Bronte, Steven, Andy
• Other Authors: Merks, Roeland M.H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science 2014
• Subjects: Engineering; Environmental; Environmental Sciences; Water Resources; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; 1100 Agricultural and Biological Sciences; 1300 Biochemistry; Genetics and Molecular Biology; 2700 Medicine; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:347499

Coral reef calcification is predicted to decline as a result of ocean acidification and other anthropogenic stressors. The majority of studies predicting declines based on in situ relationships between environmental parameters and net community calcification rate have been location-specific, preventing accurate predictions for coral reefs globally. In this study, net community calcification and production were measured on a coral reef flat at One Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef, using Lagrangian flow respirometry and slack water methods. Net community calcification, daytime net photosynthesis and nighttime respiration were higher under the flow respirometry method, likely due to increased water flow relative to the slack water method. The two methods also varied in the degrees to which they were influenced by potential measurement uncertainties. The difference in the results from these two commonly used methods implies that some of the locationspecific differences in coral reef community metabolism may be due to differences in measurement methods.