TY - JOUR
T1 - Coral micro- and macro-morphological skeletal properties in response to life-long acclimatization at CO2 vents in Papua New Guinea
AU - Prada, Fiorella
AU - Brizi, Leonardo
AU - Franzellitti, Silvia
AU - Mengoli, Stefano
AU - Fermani, Simona
AU - Polishchuk, Iryna
AU - Baraldi, Nicola
AU - Ricci, Francesco
AU - Palazzo, Quinzia
AU - Caroselli, Erik
AU - Pokroy, Boaz
AU - Giorgini, Loris
AU - Dubinsky, Zvy
AU - Fantazzini, Paola
AU - Falini, Giuseppe
AU - Goffredo, Stefano
AU - Fabricius, Katharina E.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the communities at Upa Upasina and at Dobu to allow us to work at their unique reefs. Many thanks also to Craig Humphrey and Sam Noonan for collecting the samples. The field research was funded by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - This study investigates the effects of long-term exposure to OA on skeletal parameters of four tropical zooxanthellate corals naturally living at CO2 seeps and adjacent control sites from two locations (Dobu and Upa Upasina) in the Papua New Guinea underwater volcanic vent system. The seeps are characterized by seawater pH values ranging from 8.0 to about 7.7. The skeletal porosity of Galaxea fascicularis, Acropora millepora, massive Porites, and Pocillopora damicornis was higher (up to ~ 40%, depending on the species) at the seep sites compared to the control sites. Pocillopora damicornis also showed a decrease of micro-density (up to ~ 7%). Thus, further investigations conducted on this species showed an increase of the volume fraction of the larger pores (up to ~ 7%), a decrease of the intraskeletal organic matrix content (up to ~ 15%), and an increase of the intraskeletal water content (up to ~ 59%) at the seep sites. The organic matrix related strain and crystallite size did not vary between seep and control sites. This multi-species study showed a common phenotypic response among different zooxanthellate corals subjected to the same environmental pressures, leading to the development of a more porous skeletal phenotype under OA.
AB - This study investigates the effects of long-term exposure to OA on skeletal parameters of four tropical zooxanthellate corals naturally living at CO2 seeps and adjacent control sites from two locations (Dobu and Upa Upasina) in the Papua New Guinea underwater volcanic vent system. The seeps are characterized by seawater pH values ranging from 8.0 to about 7.7. The skeletal porosity of Galaxea fascicularis, Acropora millepora, massive Porites, and Pocillopora damicornis was higher (up to ~ 40%, depending on the species) at the seep sites compared to the control sites. Pocillopora damicornis also showed a decrease of micro-density (up to ~ 7%). Thus, further investigations conducted on this species showed an increase of the volume fraction of the larger pores (up to ~ 7%), a decrease of the intraskeletal organic matrix content (up to ~ 15%), and an increase of the intraskeletal water content (up to ~ 59%) at the seep sites. The organic matrix related strain and crystallite size did not vary between seep and control sites. This multi-species study showed a common phenotypic response among different zooxanthellate corals subjected to the same environmental pressures, leading to the development of a more porous skeletal phenotype under OA.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116523984&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-021-98976-9
DO - 10.1038/s41598-021-98976-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 34620911
AN - SCOPUS:85116523984
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 11
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 19927
ER -