Calvo, E. (Eva)

Coma, R. (Rafel)

Domínguez, C. (Carlos)

Fernández-Guallart, E. (Elisa)

Gori, A. (Andrea)

Grinyó, J. (Jordi)

López-Sanz, A. (Ángel)

Movilla-Martín, J. (Juancho)

Orejas, C. (Covadonga)

Pelejero, C. (Carles)

Ribes, M. (Marta)

Serrano, E. (Eduard)

English

Repositorio Institucional Digital del IEO

ACIDIFICATION RESPONSE OF MEDITERRANEAN SEA TEMPERATE AND COLD-WATER CORALS FROM MID- TO LONG-TERM EXPERIMENTS Movilla, Juancho1, Carles Pelejero2, Rafel Coma3, Andrea Gori1,4, Eva Calvo1, Covadonga Orejas5, Àngel López-Sanz1, Eduard Serrano3, Elisa Fernández-Guallart1, Jordi Grinyó1, Carlos Domínguez1, and Marta Ribes1 The Mediterranean Sea has certain characteristics that make it especially sensitive and vulnerable to changes in atmospheric CO2. Recent studies are starting to confirm that the associated acidification, particularly in the Western Mediterranean, is taking place more rapidly than in the global oceans. Owing to these characteristics, we have run three mid- to long-term manipulative experiments to evaluate potential effects of acidification on corals from this basin. A first experiment (six months long) was run  on the temperate corals Cladocora caespitosa and Oculina patagonica, and confirmed the a priori expected decrease in skeletal growth with decreasing pH for both species. Interestingly, a trend in calcification decrease was observed in colonies from the same species. Faster growing colonies were more affected by acidification that those that grew slower, which could be related to the energy requirements associated to the growing process. In a second experiment (ten months long), we tested the possible effects of acidification in the cold-water coral species Lophelia pertusa, Dendrophyllia cornigera, Desmophyllum dianthus and Madrepora oculata. Subtle differences in calcification were observed between the treatments, with the first three of these species growing slightly slower at low  pH, although these changes were not statistically significant. In a third, still ongoing, experiment (expected to be ~twelve months long), we are combining pH and temperature manipulations in the temperate corals Astroides calycularis and Leptopsammia pruvoti. In this experiment, we are observing a synergistic decrease in coral calcification when pH is lowered and temperature is increased at the same time. 1 Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC, Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. - 192 - 2 ICREA and Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC, Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain (carles.pelejero@icrea.cat) 3 Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes, Accés Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Girona, Catalonia, Spain 4 Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Avenue Saint Martin, 98000 Monaco, Principality of Monaco 5 Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Centro Oceanográfico de Santander, Promontorio de San Martin s/n, 39004 Santander, Spain 

Acidification response of Mediterranean Sea temperate and cold-water corals from mid- to long-term experiments

http://www.repositorio.ieo.es/e-ieo/bitstream/10508/5153/1/Movilla_etal_2012.pdf

Acidification response of Mediterranean Sea temperate and cold-water corals from mid- to long-term experiments

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