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Tidal downwelling and implications for the carbon biogeochemistry of cold-water corals in relation to future ocean acidification and warming

Tidal downwelling and implications for the carbon biogeochemistry of cold-water corals in relation to future ocean acidification and warming
Tidal downwelling and implications for the carbon biogeochemistry of cold-water corals in relation to future ocean acidification and warming
Cold-water coral (CWC) reefs are recognized as ecologically and biologically significant areas that generate habitats and diversity. The interaction between hydrodynamics and CWCs has been well studied at the Mingulay Reef Complex, a relatively shallow area of reefs found on the continental shelf off Scotland, UK. Within ‘Mingulay Area 01’ a rapid tidal downwelling of surface waters, brought about as an internal wave, is known to supply warmer, phytoplankton-rich waters to corals growing on the northern flank of an east-west trending seabed ridge. This study shows that this tidal downwelling also causes short-term perturbations in the inorganic carbon (CT) and nutrient dynamics through the water column and immediately above the reef. Over a 14 h period, corresponding to one semi-diurnal tidal cycle, seawater pH overlying the reef varied by ca. 0.1 pH unit, while pCO2 shifted by >60 ?atm, a shift equivalent to a ca. 25 year jump into the future, with respect to atmospheric pCO2. During the summer stratified period, these downwelling events result in the reef being washed over with surface water that has higher pH, is warmer, nutrient depleted, but rich in phytoplankton-derived particles compared to the deeper waters in which the corals sit. Empirical observations, together with outputs from the European Regional Shelf Sea Ecosystem Model, demonstrate that the variability that the CWC reefs experience changes through the seasons and into the future. Hence, as ocean acidification and warming increase into the future, the downwelling event specific to this site could provide short-term amelioration of corrosive conditions at certain times of the year; however, it could additionally result in enhanced detrimental impacts of warming on CWCs. Natural variability in the CT and nutrient conditions, as well as local hydrodynamic regimes, must be accounted for in any future predictions concerning the responses of marine ecosystems to climate change.
biogeochemistry, climate change, cold-water corals, ecologically and biologically significant Areas (EBSAs), hydrography, ocean acidification, Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs)
1354-1013
2708-2719
Findlay, Helen S.
39d71ef8-07ef-4dba-b894-e28ba96db4d9
Artioli, Yuri
a1e872ea-6c0a-4b06-b258-d37c9b6d1b4f
Moreno Navas, Juan
54a72ba7-a0cd-41bb-8e10-582d1852cb52
Hennige, Sebastian J.
69a95e29-4a68-4e11-b0f7-f7dee24e37e7
Wicks, Laura C.
b36f78b9-615a-46d2-849a-8e4aae376a45
Huvenne, Veerle A.I.
f22be3e2-708c-491b-b985-a438470fa053
Woodward, E. Malcolm S.
3a11b7bf-b110-448a-b1ee-ae1ce7d0fef5
Roberts, J. Murray
f254ac2d-38cd-44e4-b625-279eab5e06f2
Findlay, Helen S.
39d71ef8-07ef-4dba-b894-e28ba96db4d9
Artioli, Yuri
a1e872ea-6c0a-4b06-b258-d37c9b6d1b4f
Moreno Navas, Juan
54a72ba7-a0cd-41bb-8e10-582d1852cb52
Hennige, Sebastian J.
69a95e29-4a68-4e11-b0f7-f7dee24e37e7
Wicks, Laura C.
b36f78b9-615a-46d2-849a-8e4aae376a45
Huvenne, Veerle A.I.
f22be3e2-708c-491b-b985-a438470fa053
Woodward, E. Malcolm S.
3a11b7bf-b110-448a-b1ee-ae1ce7d0fef5
Roberts, J. Murray
f254ac2d-38cd-44e4-b625-279eab5e06f2

Findlay, Helen S., Artioli, Yuri, Moreno Navas, Juan, Hennige, Sebastian J., Wicks, Laura C., Huvenne, Veerle A.I., Woodward, E. Malcolm S. and Roberts, J. Murray (2013) Tidal downwelling and implications for the carbon biogeochemistry of cold-water corals in relation to future ocean acidification and warming. Global Change Biology, 19 (9), 2708-2719. (doi:10.1111/gcb.12256).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Cold-water coral (CWC) reefs are recognized as ecologically and biologically significant areas that generate habitats and diversity. The interaction between hydrodynamics and CWCs has been well studied at the Mingulay Reef Complex, a relatively shallow area of reefs found on the continental shelf off Scotland, UK. Within ‘Mingulay Area 01’ a rapid tidal downwelling of surface waters, brought about as an internal wave, is known to supply warmer, phytoplankton-rich waters to corals growing on the northern flank of an east-west trending seabed ridge. This study shows that this tidal downwelling also causes short-term perturbations in the inorganic carbon (CT) and nutrient dynamics through the water column and immediately above the reef. Over a 14 h period, corresponding to one semi-diurnal tidal cycle, seawater pH overlying the reef varied by ca. 0.1 pH unit, while pCO2 shifted by >60 ?atm, a shift equivalent to a ca. 25 year jump into the future, with respect to atmospheric pCO2. During the summer stratified period, these downwelling events result in the reef being washed over with surface water that has higher pH, is warmer, nutrient depleted, but rich in phytoplankton-derived particles compared to the deeper waters in which the corals sit. Empirical observations, together with outputs from the European Regional Shelf Sea Ecosystem Model, demonstrate that the variability that the CWC reefs experience changes through the seasons and into the future. Hence, as ocean acidification and warming increase into the future, the downwelling event specific to this site could provide short-term amelioration of corrosive conditions at certain times of the year; however, it could additionally result in enhanced detrimental impacts of warming on CWCs. Natural variability in the CT and nutrient conditions, as well as local hydrodynamic regimes, must be accounted for in any future predictions concerning the responses of marine ecosystems to climate change.

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More information

Published date: September 2013
Keywords: biogeochemistry, climate change, cold-water corals, ecologically and biologically significant Areas (EBSAs), hydrography, ocean acidification, Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs)
Organisations: Marine Geoscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 356315
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/356315
ISSN: 1354-1013
PURE UUID: 36de3e20-7434-4fba-8805-9b833af0de83
ORCID for Veerle A.I. Huvenne: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7135-6360

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Date deposited: 02 Sep 2013 12:55
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:19

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Contributors

Author: Helen S. Findlay
Author: Yuri Artioli
Author: Juan Moreno Navas
Author: Sebastian J. Hennige
Author: Laura C. Wicks
Author: Veerle A.I. Huvenne ORCID iD
Author: E. Malcolm S. Woodward
Author: J. Murray Roberts

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