Will human-induced changes in seawater chemistry alter the distribution of deep-sea scleractinian corals?

Guinotte, John M.; Orr, James C.; Cairns, Stephen D.; Freiwald, André; Morgan, Lance E.; George, Robert Y.

doi:10.1890/1540-9295(2006)004[0141:whcisc]2.0.co;2

Cited by 347 publications

(349 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…On the other hand, the eMLR and TTD results suggest a broader distribution of C ant through the North Atlantic water column, implying that North Atlantic uptake might be less limited by changes in the carbonate system chemistry of the upper water column. Our results also imply that more anthropogenic carbon is entering deeper parts of the ocean close to the calcite and aragonite saturation horizons: This finding suggests more potential for dissolving carbonate deposits, that in turn will restore oceanic C ant uptake capacity on millenial time scales but may have negative impact on calcifying deep water corals (39,40). Over the mid-Atlantic Ridge and in the eastern basin, we find relatively shallow penetration of C ant , which will thus mainly affect the aragonite saturation horizon (Fig.…”

Section: [5]mentioning

confidence: 54%

An estimate of anthropogenic CO ₂ inventory from decadal changes in oceanic carbon content

Tanhua

Körtzinger

Friis

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

110

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Increased knowledge of the present global carbon cycle is important for our ability to understand and to predict the future carbon cycle and global climate. Approximately half of the anthropogenic carbon released to the atmosphere from fossil fuel burning is stored in the ocean, although distribution and regional fluxes of the ocean sink are debated. Estimates of anthropogenic carbon (Cant) in the oceans remain prone to error arising from (i) a need to estimate preindustrial reference concentrations of carbon for different oceanic regions, and (ii) differing behavior of transient ocean tracers used to infer Cant. We introduce an empirical approach to estimate Cant that circumvents both problems by using measurement of the decadal change of ocean carbon concentrations and the exponential nature of the atmospheric Cant increase. In contrast to prior approaches, the results are independent of tracer data but are shown to be qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with tracer-derived estimates. The approach reveals more Cant in the deep ocean than prior studies; with possible implications for future carbon uptake and deep ocean carbonate dissolution. Our results suggest that this approachs applied on the unprecedented global data archive provides a means of estimating the Cant for large parts of the world's ocean.anthropogenic carbon ͉ marine chemistry ͉ North Atlantic

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Section: [5]mentioning

confidence: 54%

An estimate of anthropogenic CO ₂ inventory from decadal changes in oceanic carbon content

Tanhua

Körtzinger

Friis

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

110

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“…Intriguingly, aragonitic CWC species are found close to and even below the aragonite saturation horizon (Roberts et al, 2009a;Findlay et al, 2014), raising the question of whether species adapted to lower saturation states may have inherent adaptations to future lower pH ocean conditions. However, with many of the known CWC reefs projected to be bathed in undersaturated water by the end of the century (Guinotte et al, 2006;Roberts et al, 2006) the accumulated biogenic reef structures will degrade over time, even if living corals persist (Hennige et al, 2015). This degradation could have implications for habitat provision with consequent effects on fish populations and fisheries production.…”

Section: Seafloor Ecosystem Changes Under Future Climate Change Scenamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This degradation could have implications for habitat provision with consequent effects on fish populations and fisheries production. Likely major impact zones include CWC reefs found in the northern Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, the Southern Ocean, and around New Zealand (Guinotte et al, 2006;Yesson et al, 2012) where deep-water pH could decrease by approximately 0.3-0.4 pH units by 2100 relative to current day values. Reduced food supply owing to lower POC fluxes could exacerbate these impacts because the metabolic cost of increased rates of calcification become greater as pH declines (Wood et al, 2008).…”

Section: Seafloor Ecosystem Changes Under Future Climate Change Scenamentioning

confidence: 99%

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Sweetman

Thurber

Smith

et al. 2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

253

292

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The deep sea encompasses the largest ecosystems on Earth. Although poorly known, deep seafloor ecosystems provide services that are vitally important to the entire ocean and biosphere. Rising atmospheric greenhouse gases are bringing about significant changes in the environmental properties of the ocean realm in terms of water column oxygenation, temperature, pH and food supply, with concomitant impacts on deep-sea ecosystems. Projections suggest that abyssal (3000-6000 m) ocean temperatures could increase by 1°C over the next 84 years, while abyssal seafloor habitats under areas of deep-water formation may experience reductions in water column oxygen concentrations by as much as 0.03 mL L -1 by 2100. Bathyal depths (200-3000 m) worldwide will undergo the most significant reductions in pH in all oceans by the year 2100 (0.29 to 0.37 pH units). O 2 concentrations will also decline in the bathyal NE Pacific and Southern Oceans, with losses up to 3.7% or more, especially at intermediate depths. Another important environmental parameter, the flux of particulate organic matter to the seafloor, is likely to decline significantly in most oceans, most notably in the abyssal and bathyal Indian Ocean where it is predicted to decrease by 40-55% by the end of the century. Unfortunately, how these major changes will affect deep-seafloor ecosystems is, in some cases, very poorly understood. In this paper, we provide a detailed overview of the impacts of these changing environmental parameters on deep-seafloor ecosystems that will most likely be seen by 2100 in continental margin, abyssal and polar settings. We also consider how these changes may combine with other anthropogenic stressors (e.g., fishing, mineral mining, oil and gas extraction) to further impact deep-seafloor ecosystems and discuss the possible societal implications.

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“…These slow-growing corals, which inhabit cold waters down to 3,000-m water depth, have built extensive reef systems on the shelves and along the continental margins extending from Northern Norway to the west coast of Africa. With unabated CO 2 emissions, 70% of the presently known reef locations will be in corrosive waters by the end of this century (82). Coral reefs provide the habitat for the ocean's most diverse ecosystems, are the breeding grounds for commercially important fish, protect shorelines in tropical areas from erosion and flooding, and generate billions of dollars annually in tourism.…”

Section: Impacts On the Biological Carbon Pumpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivities of marine carbon fluxes to ocean change

Riebesell

Körtzinger

Oschlies

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

261

195

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Throughout Earth's history, the oceans have played a dominant role in the climate system through the storage and transport of heat and the exchange of water and climate-relevant gases with the atmosphere. The ocean's heat capacity is Ϸ1,000 times larger than that of the atmosphere, its content of reactive carbon more than 60 times larger. Through a variety of physical, chemical, and biological processes, the ocean acts as a driver of climate variability on time scales ranging from seasonal to interannual to decadal to glacial-interglacial. The same processes will also be involved in future responses of the ocean to global change. Here we assess the responses of the seawater carbonate system and of the ocean's physical and biological carbon pumps to (i) ocean warming and the associated changes in vertical mixing and overturning circulation, and (ii) ocean acidification and carbonation. Our analysis underscores that many of these responses have the potential for significant feedback to the climate system. Because several of the underlying processes are interlinked and nonlinear, the sign and magnitude of the ocean's carbon cycle feedback to climate change is yet unknown. Understanding these processes and their sensitivities to global change will be crucial to our ability to project future climate change.climate change ͉ marine carbon cycle ͉ ocean acidification ͉ ocean warming T he ocean is presently undergoing major changes. Over the past 50 years, the ocean has stored 20 times more heat than the atmosphere (1). The Arctic Ocean surface layers have recently experienced a pronounced freshening (2), and although there is still considerable uncertainty in current observational estimates (3), climate models run under increasing atmospheric CO 2 levels essentially all predict a slowdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC), which is part of the global thermohaline circulation (4). Since preindustrial times, the ocean has also taken up Ϸ50% of fossil fuel CO 2 , which has already led to substantial changes in its chemical properties (5).Carbon fluxes from the sea surface into the ocean interior are often described in terms of a solubility pump and a biological pump (6). The abiotic solubility pump is caused by the solubility of CO 2 increasing with decreasing temperature. In present climate conditions, deep water forms at high latitudes. As a result, volume-averaged ocean temperatures are lower than average sea-surface temperatures. The solubility pump then ensures that, associated with the mean vertical temperature gradient, there is a vertical gradient of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). This solubility-driven gradient explains Ϸ30-40% of today's ocean surfaceto-depth DIC gradient (7).A key process responsible for the remaining two thirds of the surface-to-depth DIC gradient is the biological carbon pump. It transports photosynthetically fixed organic carbon from the sunlit surface layer to the deep ocean. Integrated over the global ocean, the biotically mediated oceanic surface-to-depth DIC grad...

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Will human-induced changes in seawater chemistry alter the distribution of deep-sea scleractinian corals?

Cited by 347 publications

References 22 publications

An estimate of anthropogenic CO ₂ inventory from decadal changes in oceanic carbon content

An estimate of anthropogenic CO ₂ inventory from decadal changes in oceanic carbon content

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Sensitivities of marine carbon fluxes to ocean change

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Will human-induced changes in seawater chemistry alter the distribution of deep-sea scleractinian corals?

Cited by 347 publications

References 22 publications

An estimate of anthropogenic CO 2 inventory from decadal changes in oceanic carbon content

An estimate of anthropogenic CO 2 inventory from decadal changes in oceanic carbon content

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Sensitivities of marine carbon fluxes to ocean change

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Product

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An estimate of anthropogenic CO ₂ inventory from decadal changes in oceanic carbon content

An estimate of anthropogenic CO ₂ inventory from decadal changes in oceanic carbon content