Elsevier

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Volume 74, Issue 17, 1 September 2010, Pages 4988-5001
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Physiological and isotopic responses of scleractinian corals to ocean acidification

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.05.023Get rights and content

Abstract

Uptake of anthropogenic CO2 by the oceans is altering seawater chemistry with potentially serious consequences for coral reef ecosystems due to the reduction of seawater pH and aragonite saturation state (Ωarag). The objectives of this long-term study were to investigate the viability of two ecologically important reef-building coral species, massive Porites sp. and Stylophora pistillata, exposed to high pCO2 (or low pH) conditions and to observe possible changes in physiologically related parameters as well as skeletal isotopic composition. Fragments of Porites sp. and S. pistillata were kept for 6–14 months under controlled aquarium conditions characterized by normal and elevated pCO2 conditions, corresponding to pHT values of 8.09, 7.49, and 7.19, respectively. In contrast with shorter, and therefore more transient experiments, the long experimental timescale achieved in this study ensures complete equilibration and steady state with the experimental environment and guarantees that the data provide insights into viable and stably growing corals. During the experiments, all coral fragments survived and added new skeleton, even at seawater Ωarag < 1, implying that the coral skeleton is formed by mechanisms under strong biological control. Measurements of boron (B), carbon (C), and oxygen (O) isotopic composition of skeleton, C isotopic composition of coral tissue and symbiont zooxanthellae, along with physiological data (such as skeletal growth, tissue biomass, zooxanthellae cell density, and chlorophyll concentration) allow for a direct comparison with corals living under normal conditions and sampled simultaneously. Skeletal growth and zooxanthellae density were found to decrease, whereas coral tissue biomass (measured as protein concentration) and zooxanthellae chlorophyll concentrations increased under high pCO2 (low pH) conditions. Both species showed similar trends of δ11B depletion and δ18O enrichment under reduced pH, whereas the δ13C results imply species-specific metabolic response to high pCO2 conditions. The skeletal δ11B values plot above seawater δ11B vs. pH borate fractionation curves calculated using either the theoretically derived αB value of 1.0194 (Kakihana et al. (1977) Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 50, 158) or the empirical αB value of 1.0272 (Klochko et al. (2006) EPSL 248, 261). However, the effective αB must be greater than 1.0200 in order to yield calculated coral skeletal δ11B values for pH conditions where Ωarag  1. The δ11B vs. pH offset from the seawater δ11B vs. pH fractionation curves suggests a change in the ratio of skeletal material laid down during dark and light calcification and/or an internal pH regulation, presumably controlled by ion-transport enzymes. Finally, seawater pH significantly influences skeletal δ13C and δ18O. This must be taken into consideration when reconstructing paleo-environmental conditions from coral skeletons.

Introduction

Atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased from pre-industrial levels of 280 ppmv to over 380 ppmv, the highest concentration over the last 800,000 years (Luthi et al., 2008). By the end of this century, atmospheric CO2 concentration is predicted to double relative to pre-industrial levels as a direct result of human activity (Solomon et al., 2007). Approximately a quarter of anthropogenic CO2 is being absorbed by the ocean (Sabine et al., 2004, Canadell et al., 2007), and at the current rate of CO2 uptake the average surface ocean pH will drop from 8.2 to 7.8 by the end of 2100 (Caldeira and Wickett, 2005). This represents a shift in seawater pH to levels below those experienced by marine organisms during the last several million years (Pearson and Palmer, 2000). The associated decrease in seawater carbonate ion concentration [CO32-] could substantially impact calcifying organisms, such as scleractinian corals, by lowering the saturation of ocean water with respect to the carbonate mineralogy of their skeletons (Gattuso et al., 1998, Kleypas et al., 1999a, Leclercq et al., 2000, Orr et al., 2005, Schneider and Erez, 2006, Anthony et al., 2008, Marubini et al., 2008). The aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) is defined as:Ωarag=[Ca2+]·[CO32-]Karagwhere Karag is the apparent solubility product of the mineral. Values of Ωarag > 1 indicate supersaturation, whereas Ωarag < 1 is undersaturated. Coral reefs in the modern ocean are restricted to regions where seawater Ωarag exceeds 3.3 (Kleypas et al., 1999b). Modeling of future Ωarag indicates that by 2040 surface waters in regions like the Australian Great Barrier Reef will become marginal for coral calcification (Kleypas et al., 2006) potentially threatening the existence of these unique ecosystems.

Accurate predictions of the viability of coral reef ecosystems under conditions of ocean acidification require information on how coral physiology and calcification will respond (Kleypas et al., 2006). In particular, the effect of ocean acidification on the relationship between the symbiotic photosynthetic algae (zooxanthellae) contained within the tissue of most coral and the calcification of the coral’s aragonite skeleton. Zooxanthellae activity strongly stimulates calcification; during daylight, when the algae are photosynthesizing, calcification rates are 3–4 times greater than in the dark (Gattuso et al., 1999, Furla et al., 2000). However, the explanation for how zooxanthellae photosynthesis and coral calcification are connected remains controversial (Muscatine, 1990, Gattuso et al., 1999, Cohen and McConnaughey, 2003, Schneider and Erez, 2006).

In this study, we have investigated the response of scleractinian reef-forming corals and their zooxanthellae after long-term (up to 14 months) exposure to normal and reduced pH conditions (8.09, 7.49, and 7.19 on the pHT scale). Corals in the low-end pH treatment were exposed to extremely high pCO2 (equivalent to seven times the predicted CO2 level by 2100), to investigate the physiological response at Ωarag < 1 and its translation into skeletal C, O, and B isotopic signatures. Two zooxanthellate coral species with very different life strategies were studied to provide information on the range of potential responses. The massive Porites sp. form large multi-century old colonies and calcify relatively slowly (extending 1–2 cm yr−1), whereas the branching Stylophora pistillata is short-lived and deposits skeleton rapidly. The responses of both species to shifts in CO2 and seawater carbonate chemistry were monitored using isotopic tracers (skeletal δ11B, δ13C, and δ18O, and coral tissue and zooxanthellae δ13C) and key physiological parameters including skeletal growth, tissue biomass, zooxanthellae cell density, and chlorophyll concentration.

The isotopic systems (δ11B, δ18O, and δ13C) investigated in this study are often used as palaeo-environmental proxies. Skeletal δ18O is the most commonly used proxy for seawater temperature and salinity (Cole et al., 2000, Gagan et al., 2000, Hendy et al., 2002, Al-Rousan et al., 2003, Asami et al., 2004, Linsley et al., 2006). Skeletal, tissue, and zooxanthellae δ13C has been used to trace seawater carbonate chemistry and metabolic processes that cause preferential addition or subtraction of 12C from the internal DIC pool through respiration and photosynthesis (Risk et al., 1994, McConnaughey et al., 1997, Grottoli, 1999, Grottoli, 2002, Grottoli and Wellington, 1999, Heikoop et al., 2000, Asami et al., 2004, Swart et al., 2005, Omata et al., 2008). ‘Vital effects’ during the biomineralization of the coral skeleton have been observed to shift both δ13C and δ18O values (McConnaughey, 1989b, Allison et al., 1996, Heikoop et al., 2000, Omata et al., 2008). Since many potential sources of ‘vital effects’ are pH sensitive physiological processes (e.g., zooxanthellae photosynthetic activity, polyp metabolism, calcification rate), ocean acidification may also affect these skeletal isotopic tracers. Investigations into the effect of seawater pH on coral δ18O and δ13C are limited and there are no studies of species-specific variation of δ18O and δ13C in a controlled pCO2 system.

Reconstruction of past seawater pH levels may assist in understanding future impacts of reduced oceanic pH on corals and their resilience to ocean acidification. The boron isotopic composition (δ11B) of marine carbonates is used as a proxy for reconstructing paleo-pH, as applied in studies of experimentally cultured (Hönisch et al., 2004, Reynaud et al., 2004) and retrieved corals (Hemming and Hanson, 1992, Hemming et al., 1998, Pelejero et al., 2005, Kasemann et al., 2009, Wei et al., 2009). The relative concentration of boric acid [B(OH)3] and the borate ion [B(OH)4-], the two main boron species in the ocean, is pH dependent and there is a ∼27‰ difference in δ11B between these two species (Klochko et al., 2006). Environmental variables such as water temperature, irradiance, food supply, and water depth have been shown to have little effect on bulk δ11B values of coral skeleton (Hönisch et al., 2004, Reynaud et al., 2004). However, ‘vital effects’ have been implicated in micron-scale skeletal δ11B variations measured in both deep-sea (i.e., non-zooxanthellate) and shallow-water (i.e., zooxanthellate) corals by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) (Rollion-Bard et al., 2003, Blamart et al., 2007). As a result, fundamental questions remain regarding the degree to which bulk B isotopic compositions of shallow-water scleractinian corals correlate with changes in water pH and the degree to which species-dependent ‘vital effects’ perturb this relationship (Hönisch et al., 2004, Blamart et al., 2007).

Section snippets

Experimental design

Two colonies of Porites sp. and four colonies of S. pistillata were collected in July 2007 from the reef in front of the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Science in Eilat, Israel (IUI) (29°30′N, 34°55′E), at 8 m depth. Following fragmentation, pieces were glued to pre-labeled glass slides. After a one-month recovery period the fragments were dyed with Alizerine Red (Sigma–Aldrich, USA) in order to mark the beginning of the experiment in the skeleton, and 20 fragments of each species were

Results

All corals survived throughout the 14 months of the experiment and new skeletal growth was observed on the glass slides under all three experimental conditions. We also note that corals from the same batch, which were not harvested, are still alive and continue to add skeletal material at the time this paper was written, 28 months after the beginning of the experiment.

Acclimatization to high pCO2

Stylophora pistillata and massive Porites sp. fragments were exposed to pCO2 levels of up to sevenfold higher than those predicted to prevail by the end of this century. Following 14 months incubation under reduced pH conditions (8.09, 7.49, and 7.19), all coral fragments survived and added new skeletal calcium carbonate, despite Ωarag values as low as 1.25 and 0.65 (Table 1). These findings suggest that scleractinian coral species will be able to acclimate to a high pCO2 ocean even if changes

Conclusions

The long acclimation time of this study allowed the coral colonies to reach a steady state in terms of their physiological responses to elevated pCO2. As a result, the physiological response to higher pCO2/lower pH conditions was significant, but less extreme than reported in previous experiments. Our findings suggest that scleractinian coral species will be able to acclimate to a high pCO2 ocean even if changes in seawater pH are faster and more dramatic than predicted. Although skeletal

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Murielle Dray for technical assistance, Irena Brailovsky for assistance with isotopic analysis at the Weizmann Institute, and Simon Berkowicz and Lena Hazanov for comments on an early version of the manuscript. The authors also thank the staff of the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat for the technical support throughout the experiment and the members of the Bristol Isotope Group (BIG), University of Bristol. This work was supported by the UK Natural

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