News that increasing carbon dioxide pollution reduces the ability of coral reefs to grow reached notoriety with this landmark report. It is a result of a workshop in St. Petersburg, Florida involving peak research bodies NSF, NOAA and USGS. Lead by Dr Joan Kleypas, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, they outlined the sensitivity of ocean chemistry and the implications of Ocean Acidification.
What conclusion did their landmark work – Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers – reach?
We need to know more, a lot more.
How do corals and ‘shell-growers’, or calcifiers, respond to rising CO2 levels? In high concentrations these calcifiers will begin to dissolve, but it is important to know how the interaction of variables such as light, temperature and available nutrients may accelerate or slow down this process.
Seasonal changes in CO2 are important to understand as well according to the report. Reefs exist in shallow waters where they are easily influenced by their local environment. To get a clear understanding of acidification and its effects on calcifiers like coral we will need to account for these seasonal influences.
Importantly, these scientists highlighted the need to investigate the consequences of reducing our reef and key ‘shell-grower’ populations. Reefs currently shelter both our coastlines and marine life. Many tiny snails and other ‘shell-growers’ form an important part of the oceans’ food-web.
“We are only beginning to understand the complex interactions between large-scale chemistry changes and marine ecology,” says Dr. Kleypas, “It is vital to develop research strategies to better understand the long-term vulnerabilities of sensitive marine organisms to these changes.”
“This threat is hitting coral reefs at the same time that they are being hit by warming-induced mass bleaching events,” Prof Chris Langdon, another key author, warns. This bleaching occurs when coral is exposed to unusually warm temperatures causing them expel the colourful algae the coral polyps rely on for food.
→ Read the full press release and download the report published on the University Corporation for Atomspheric Research website www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2006/acidification.shtml
