Effects of seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of massive Porites spp. Corals

Nicola  Allison; Phoebe Ross; Alexander Brasier; Nadia Cieminska; Nicolás  López Martín; Catherine  Cole; Chris Hintz; Ken Hintz; Adrian  Finch

doi:10.1007/s00227-022-04060-9

Effects of seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of massive Porites spp. Corals

Nicola Allison^* (Corresponding Author), Phoebe Ross, Alexander Brasier, Nadia Cieminska, Nicolás López Martín, Catherine Cole, Chris Hintz, Ken Hintz, Adrian Finch

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geology and Geophysics

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Abstract

Ocean acidification alters the dissolved inorganic carbon chemistry of seawater and can reduce the calcification rates of tropical corals. Here we explore the effect of altering seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of 4 genotypes of massive Porites spp which display widely different calcification rates. Increasing seawater pCO2 causes significant changes in in the skeletal morphology of all Porites spp. studied regardless of whether or not calcification was significantly affected by seawater pCO2. Both the median calyx size and the proportion of skeletal surface occupied by the calices decreased significantly at 750 µatm compared to 400 µatm indicating that polyp size shrinks in this genus in response to ocean acidification. The coenosteum, connecting calices, expands to occupy a larger proportion of the coral surface to compensate for this decrease in calyx area. At high seawater pCO2 the spines deposited at the skeletal surface became more numerous and the trabeculae (vertical skeletal pillars) became significantly thinner in 2 of the 4 genotypes. The effect of high seawater pCO2 is most pronounced in the fastest growing coral and the regular placement of trabeculae and synapticulae is disturbed in this genotype resulting in a skeleton that is more randomly organised. The study demonstrates that ocean acidification decreases the polyp size and fundamentally alters the architecture of the skeleton in this major reef building species in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

Original language	English
Article number	73
Number of pages	11
Journal	Marine Biology
Volume	169
Issue number	6
Early online date	10 May 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-022-04060-9
Publication status	Published - 10 May 2022

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (award NE/I022973/1) to AAF and NA. The participation of NC and NLM in the study was supported by the University of St. Andrews Undergraduate Research Assistant Scheme. We thank Dave Steven, Mark Robertson, Casey Perry, Mike Scaboo and Andy Mackie for their assistance with the culture system build and Truce Jack, Alex Millar and Innes Manders for assistance with preliminary image analysis. John Still assisted with scanning electron microscopy in the ACEMAC Facility at the University of Aberdeen.

Data Availability Statement

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article as Appendix 2. Additional images of the coral skeletons are included in the supplementary data.

Keywords

coral
calcification
skeleton
polyp size
ocean acidification

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Research Facilities: Facility

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abstract = "Ocean acidification alters the dissolved inorganic carbon chemistry of seawater and can reduce the calcification rates of tropical corals. Here we explore the effect of altering seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of 4 genotypes of massive Porites spp which display widely different calcification rates. Increasing seawater pCO2 causes significant changes in in the skeletal morphology of all Porites spp. studied regardless of whether or not calcification was significantly affected by seawater pCO2. Both the median calyx size and the proportion of skeletal surface occupied by the calices decreased significantly at 750 µatm compared to 400 µatm indicating that polyp size shrinks in this genus in response to ocean acidification. The coenosteum, connecting calices, expands to occupy a larger proportion of the coral surface to compensate for this decrease in calyx area. At high seawater pCO2 the spines deposited at the skeletal surface became more numerous and the trabeculae (vertical skeletal pillars) became significantly thinner in 2 of the 4 genotypes. The effect of high seawater pCO2 is most pronounced in the fastest growing coral and the regular placement of trabeculae and synapticulae is disturbed in this genotype resulting in a skeleton that is more randomly organised. The study demonstrates that ocean acidification decreases the polyp size and fundamentally alters the architecture of the skeleton in this major reef building species in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.",

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note = "Acknowledgements This work was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (award NE/I022973/1) to AAF and NA. The participation of NC and NLM in the study was supported by the University of St. Andrews Undergraduate Research Assistant Scheme. We thank Dave Steven, Mark Robertson, Casey Perry, Mike Scaboo and Andy Mackie for their assistance with the culture system build and Truce Jack, Alex Millar and Innes Manders for assistance with preliminary image analysis. John Still assisted with scanning electron microscopy in the ACEMAC Facility at the University of Aberdeen. ",

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AU - Allison, Nicola

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AU - Cieminska, Nadia

AU - López Martín, Nicolás

AU - Cole, Catherine

AU - Hintz, Chris

AU - Hintz, Ken

AU - Finch, Adrian

N1 - Acknowledgements This work was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (award NE/I022973/1) to AAF and NA. The participation of NC and NLM in the study was supported by the University of St. Andrews Undergraduate Research Assistant Scheme. We thank Dave Steven, Mark Robertson, Casey Perry, Mike Scaboo and Andy Mackie for their assistance with the culture system build and Truce Jack, Alex Millar and Innes Manders for assistance with preliminary image analysis. John Still assisted with scanning electron microscopy in the ACEMAC Facility at the University of Aberdeen.

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N2 - Ocean acidification alters the dissolved inorganic carbon chemistry of seawater and can reduce the calcification rates of tropical corals. Here we explore the effect of altering seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of 4 genotypes of massive Porites spp which display widely different calcification rates. Increasing seawater pCO2 causes significant changes in in the skeletal morphology of all Porites spp. studied regardless of whether or not calcification was significantly affected by seawater pCO2. Both the median calyx size and the proportion of skeletal surface occupied by the calices decreased significantly at 750 µatm compared to 400 µatm indicating that polyp size shrinks in this genus in response to ocean acidification. The coenosteum, connecting calices, expands to occupy a larger proportion of the coral surface to compensate for this decrease in calyx area. At high seawater pCO2 the spines deposited at the skeletal surface became more numerous and the trabeculae (vertical skeletal pillars) became significantly thinner in 2 of the 4 genotypes. The effect of high seawater pCO2 is most pronounced in the fastest growing coral and the regular placement of trabeculae and synapticulae is disturbed in this genotype resulting in a skeleton that is more randomly organised. The study demonstrates that ocean acidification decreases the polyp size and fundamentally alters the architecture of the skeleton in this major reef building species in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

AB - Ocean acidification alters the dissolved inorganic carbon chemistry of seawater and can reduce the calcification rates of tropical corals. Here we explore the effect of altering seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of 4 genotypes of massive Porites spp which display widely different calcification rates. Increasing seawater pCO2 causes significant changes in in the skeletal morphology of all Porites spp. studied regardless of whether or not calcification was significantly affected by seawater pCO2. Both the median calyx size and the proportion of skeletal surface occupied by the calices decreased significantly at 750 µatm compared to 400 µatm indicating that polyp size shrinks in this genus in response to ocean acidification. The coenosteum, connecting calices, expands to occupy a larger proportion of the coral surface to compensate for this decrease in calyx area. At high seawater pCO2 the spines deposited at the skeletal surface became more numerous and the trabeculae (vertical skeletal pillars) became significantly thinner in 2 of the 4 genotypes. The effect of high seawater pCO2 is most pronounced in the fastest growing coral and the regular placement of trabeculae and synapticulae is disturbed in this genotype resulting in a skeleton that is more randomly organised. The study demonstrates that ocean acidification decreases the polyp size and fundamentally alters the architecture of the skeleton in this major reef building species in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

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KW - calcification

KW - skeleton

KW - polyp size

KW - ocean acidification

U2 - 10.1007/s00227-022-04060-9

DO - 10.1007/s00227-022-04060-9

M3 - Article

SN - 0025-3162

VL - 169

JO - Marine Biology

JF - Marine Biology

IS - 6

M1 - 73

ER -

Effects of seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of massive Porites spp. Corals

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Keywords

UN SDGs

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