Experimental coral reef communities transform yet persist under mitigated future ocean warming and acidification

Jury, Christopher P.; Bahr, Keisha D.; Cros, Annick; Dobson, Kerri L.; Freel, Evan B.; Graham, Andrew T.; McLachlan, Rowan H.; Nelson, Craig E.; Price, James T.; Rocha de Souza, Mariana; Shizuru, Leah; Smith, Celia M.; Sparagon, Wesley J.; Squair, Cheryl A.; Timmers, Molly A.; Vicente, Jan; Webb, Maryann K.; Yamase, Nicole H.; Grottoli, Andréa G.; Toonen, Robert J.

doi:10.1073/pnas.2407112121

i

Experimental coral reef communities transform yet persist under mitigated future ocean warming and acidification

2024
By Jury, Christopher P. ; Bahr, Keisha D. ; Cros, Annick ; ...

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Journal Title:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Personal Author:

Jury, Christopher P. ; Bahr, Keisha D. ; Cros, Annick ; Dobson, Kerri L. ; Freel, Evan B. ; Graham, Andrew T. ; McLachlan, Rowan H. ; Nelson, Craig E. ; Price, James T. ; Rocha de Souza, Mariana ; Shizuru, Leah ; Smith, Celia M. ; Sparagon, Wesley J. ; Squair, Cheryl A. ; Timmers, Molly A. ; Vicente, Jan ; Webb, Maryann K. ; Yamase, Nicole H. ; Grottoli, Andréa G. ; Toonen, Robert J.
NOAA Program & Office:

Sea Grant ; CoRIS (Coral Reef Information System) ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
Description:

Coral reefs are among the most sensitive ecosystems affected by ocean warming and acidification, and are predicted to collapse over the next few decades. Reefs are predicted to shift from net accreting calcifier-dominated systems with exceptionally high biodiversity to net eroding algal-dominated systems with dramatically reduced biodiversity. Here, we present a two-year experimental study examining the responses of entire mesocosm coral reef communities to warming (+2 °C), acidification (−0.2 pH units), and combined future ocean (+2 °C, −0.2 pH) treatments. Contrary to modeled projections, we show that under future ocean conditions, these communities shift structure and composition yet persist as novel calcifying ecosystems with high biodiversity. Our results suggest that if climate change is limited to Paris Climate Agreement targets, coral reefs could persist in an altered state rather than collapse.
Source:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(45)
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2407112121
ISSN:

0027-8424 ; 1091-6490
Format:

pdf
Publisher:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA09OAR4170060
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

Library
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:df61e14b250e4f5e9927b23fffa4877d2e8d5149da1568d947e926393dc6cdd19027fe19b3e655990421c633dd5035a871cc2b64ff0d29808d1b3f899f0738d7
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/67653/noaa_67653_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 343.90 KB ]

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