Variations in coral reef net community calcification and aragonite saturation state on local and global scales
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/6219Location
Red SeaPuerto Rico
Florida Keys
DOI
10.1575/1912/6219Keyword
Ocean acidification; Chemical oceanographyAbstract
Predicting the response of net community calcification (NCC) to ocean acidification
(OA) and declining aragonite saturation state (Ωa) requires a thorough understanding of
controls on NCC. The diurnal control of light and net community production (NCP) on
NCC confounds the underlying control of Ωa on NCC and must be averaged out in order
to predict the general response of NCC to OA. I did this by generating a general NCC-Ωa
correlation based on data from 15 field and mesocosm studies around the globe. The
general relationship agrees well with results from mesocosm experiments. This general
relationship implies that NCC will transition from net calcification to net dissolution at a
Ωa of 1.0 ± 0.6 and predicts that NCC will decline by 50% from 1880 to 2100, for a reef
of any percent calcifier cover and short reef water residence time. NCC will also decline
if percent calcifier cover declines, as evidenced by estimates of NCC in two Caribbean
reefs having declined by an estimated 50-90% since 1880. The general NCC-Ωa
relationship determined here, along with changes in percent calcifier cover, will be useful
in predicting changes in NCC in response to OA and for refining models of reef water Ωa.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 2013
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Suggested Citation
Thesis: Bernstein, Whitney N., "Variations in coral reef net community calcification and aragonite saturation state on local and global scales", 2013-09, DOI:10.1575/1912/6219, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/6219Related items
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