Corals in a higher CO2 seawater environment...

[wade1]

Science, issue 315 (1181), 2007

Scleractinian Coral Species Survive and Recover from Decalcification

Basically, the researchers grew 2 species (O patagonia and M pharencis) of corals at pH 7.4 for 12 months. The skeleton actually degraded away and left the coral tissue/polyps behind attached to the solid rock surface, but they survived. The article has pictures...


So what does that mean for corals able to adapt to the higher acidity we're pushing at the oceans due to increasing CO2 levels? Will the corals survive? Will the reef structure survive? After all... once the corals aren't producing calcareous structure, there's no more reef production (and probably severe degredation due to the high porosity).


What do you think?

 

[fcmatt]

my thought goes to the times when our earth had higher
co2 levels and the corals managed to get through that.

co2 will be used by plants as they flourish during this time
frame of global warming. yada yada..

i think we need to look at problems that trouble the coral reefs
now, instead of ones that take place over 1000s of years.

i am just throwing my thoughts out there for discussion.
i could be wrong or right on any statement. i am not a scientist.

 

[wade1]

There's some discrepancies in your thoughts though...

1- CO2 levels haven't been higher (or they won't be within a single generation) through the period in which modern corals have existed ~10,000 years (I'm fairly certain of this, though I'd have to search to find the details).

2- its been documented that ocean pH has already fallen significantly across the world - and estimates are that it will continue to plummet at faster rates.

I guess I just can't write off the problem, because based on current science, it is a real problem and one that we'll have to address within the next 50 years. Current estimates are that coral reef diversity will fall to <10% of current levels within 50 years (quoting from memory, I could have the numbers wrong again).


Can we, as dedicated hobbyists, do something to help protect the corals we enjoy so much? Can we learn enough in the next dozen years to allow us to save the diversity of the coral reefs around the world, at least in a captive environment?

 

[Len]

I'm aware CO2 levels are on the rise, but has there also been a marked increase in acidity of NSW?

 

[Anonymous]

There's some discrepancies in your thoughts though...

1- CO2 levels haven't been higher (or they won't be within a single generation) through the period in which modern corals have existed ~10,000 years (I'm fairly certain of this, though I'd have to search to find the details).

Hi Wade, while modern corals (genera and species) have been around far longer than 10 ky (orders of magnitude), your point is correct: modern coral genera have never experienced the dissolved CO2 amounts in which they currently reside.