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Environmental controls on modern scleractinian coral and reef-scale calcification

Environmental controls on modern scleractinian coral and reef-scale calcification
Environmental controls on modern scleractinian coral and reef-scale calcification
Modern reef-building corals sustain a wide range of ecosystem services because of their ability to build calcium carbonate reef systems. The influence of environmental variables on coral calcification rates has been extensively studied, but our understanding of their relative importance is limited by the absence of in situ observations and the ability to decouple the interactions between different properties. We show that temperature is the primary driver of coral colony (Porites astreoides and Diploria labyrinthiformis) and reef-scale calcification rates over a 2-year monitoring period from the Bermuda coral reef. On the basis of multimodel climate simulations (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) and assuming sufficient coral nutrition, our results suggest that P. astreoides and D. labyrinthiformis coral calcification rates in Bermuda could increase throughout the 21st century as a result of gradual warming predicted under a minimum CO2 emissions pathway [representative concentration pathway (RCP) 2.6] with positive 21st-century calcification rates potentially maintained under a reduced CO2 emissions pathway (RCP 4.5). These results highlight the potential benefits of rapid reductions in global anthropogenic CO2 emissions for 21st-century Bermuda coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide.
2375-2548
1-9
Courtney, Travis A.
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Lebrato, Mario
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Bates, Nicholas R.
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Collins, Andrew
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De Putron, Samantha J.
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Garley, Rebecca
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Johnson, Rod
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Molinero, Juan-carlos
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Noyes, Timothy J.
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Sabine, Christopher L.
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Andersson, Andreas J.
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Courtney, Travis A.
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Lebrato, Mario
0c14d20e-c641-4a61-8ba2-b6377cdf1777
Bates, Nicholas R.
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Collins, Andrew
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De Putron, Samantha J.
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Garley, Rebecca
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Johnson, Rod
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Molinero, Juan-carlos
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Noyes, Timothy J.
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Sabine, Christopher L.
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Andersson, Andreas J.
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Courtney, Travis A., Lebrato, Mario, Bates, Nicholas R., Collins, Andrew, De Putron, Samantha J., Garley, Rebecca, Johnson, Rod, Molinero, Juan-carlos, Noyes, Timothy J., Sabine, Christopher L. and Andersson, Andreas J. (2017) Environmental controls on modern scleractinian coral and reef-scale calcification. Science Advances, 3 (11), 1-9, [e1701356]. (doi:10.1126/sciadv.1701356).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Modern reef-building corals sustain a wide range of ecosystem services because of their ability to build calcium carbonate reef systems. The influence of environmental variables on coral calcification rates has been extensively studied, but our understanding of their relative importance is limited by the absence of in situ observations and the ability to decouple the interactions between different properties. We show that temperature is the primary driver of coral colony (Porites astreoides and Diploria labyrinthiformis) and reef-scale calcification rates over a 2-year monitoring period from the Bermuda coral reef. On the basis of multimodel climate simulations (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) and assuming sufficient coral nutrition, our results suggest that P. astreoides and D. labyrinthiformis coral calcification rates in Bermuda could increase throughout the 21st century as a result of gradual warming predicted under a minimum CO2 emissions pathway [representative concentration pathway (RCP) 2.6] with positive 21st-century calcification rates potentially maintained under a reduced CO2 emissions pathway (RCP 4.5). These results highlight the potential benefits of rapid reductions in global anthropogenic CO2 emissions for 21st-century Bermuda coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide.

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Accepted/In Press date: 17 October 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 November 2017
Published date: 8 November 2017

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 418879
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/418879
ISSN: 2375-2548
PURE UUID: 2c8a386c-166e-494a-84aa-4130b09baa88

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Date deposited: 23 Mar 2018 17:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 18:53

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Contributors

Author: Travis A. Courtney
Author: Mario Lebrato
Author: Andrew Collins
Author: Samantha J. De Putron
Author: Rebecca Garley
Author: Rod Johnson
Author: Juan-carlos Molinero
Author: Timothy J. Noyes
Author: Christopher L. Sabine
Author: Andreas J. Andersson

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