By Cori Brant
Mark Conlin/Alamy
Since the industrial revolution
carbon dioxide levels in the ocean have sky rocketed. Currently around 22
million tons of carbon dioxide are absorbed into the oceans every day. This is
causing disastrous affects on all ocean life, especially coral reefs. Coral
reefs around the world aren’t able to regrow as fast as they are eroding away,
and are suffering from massive bleaching. Ocean acidification is fast growing
and increases daily, without fast change all coral reefs and their inhabitants
will be gone forever.
Many people have heard of ocean
acidification and coral bleaching but don’t know exactly what affects they have
on coral reefs. Ocean acidification is the rise in pH levels when carbon
dioxide
This is a diagram of how CO2 breaks down when
combined with H2O to cause ocean acidification
|
Coral bleaching is a major issue
facing coral reefs. Coral bleaching is a stress response to many abiotic and
biotic factors such as increased
nutrients it needs to preform photosynthesis. This leads to the release or death of the algal symbionts and in turn causes the coral host to parish (1). Along with being in a symbiotic relationship coral also provides an important recycling system to the ecosystem. Healthy coral produces calcium carbonate, and in turn is taken into the new skeleton base for the new growing coral. But since the coral isn’t producing enough calcium carbonate, it cannot replace its self as fast as it is eroding away. This also affects species that depend on that calcium to produce shells.
With a rise in CO2
levels, this new environment may increase and benefit plants such as photosynthetic
algae and the sea grasses. But this increase in acidification also affects
calcifying species in an extremely negative way. “The main effect of the
symbionts on host calcification is supposed to be mediated by the removal of CO2
for their photosynthesis”(1). The acidification causes a shift in the
equilibrium of the carbonate chemistry in seawater; this leads to a decrease in
carbonate ions that are available for calcifiers to use for their skeletons. Animals
such as oysters, clams, sea urchins and pteropods are a primary part of the
food chain that rely on the carbon ions to produce their calcium skeletons.
Pteropods or “sea butterfly” are small creatures that feed many marine animals.
Sea butterflies use carbonate ions to create their calcium shells. Orr et al.,
2005 conducted a test that increasing the pH of the water to the predicted
level by the year 2100. Within 45 days
the shell of the sea butterfly had dissolved over 50%. Without being able to
sustain a long lasting shell, their populations will decrease, which in turn will
cause a decrease in many marine animals food supply. It is clear that CO2
levels will impact the health, function and activity of many marine invertebrates
(5). Losing keystone species like these will have devastating affects on not
only the marine food web but also on many villages and tribes that rely on
these fish and muscles for food.
The shell above is a sea butterfly after the pH level
had
been increased to the predicted level of 2010.
National Geographic Image
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It’s reported that 75% of coral
reefs are threatened from ocean acidification and bleaching. On these coral
reefs live 25% of all fish species in the ocean. These species depend on those
ecosystems for food and protection. Coral reefs hold the most diverse fish
populations in the entire world. The two largest coral regions are the
Indo-pacific and the tropic western Atlantic, neither of these reefs overlap.
Each contains its own unique fish fauna. If either of these reefs were wiped
out we would lose many endemic fish (3). Many reef fish have adapted their
physical appearance to survive specifically in certain parts of coral reefs. The
symbiotic relationship the reef has with many different species makes it
impossible to try and relocate these creatures. Removing just one of these
species can cause drastic changes to the reef. Along with providing unique
living conditions for many species, reefs also provide numerous benefits such
as protecting shores from wave impact, delivering food resources and medicines
for humans.
To combat the loss of coral reefs,
artificial reefs are being installed to help sustain the diversity. Artificial
reefs are man-made structures that are placed near other reefs to encourage
marine life growth and to support local diversity (4). These structures range
from sinking old ships to carefully made statues. The General Hoyt S.
Vandenberg was an old missile-tracking ship that was sunk a few miles off Key
West in early 2009. This ship, like many others has filled with fish and other
marine life, as can
National Geographic Image |
Willfredo Lee |
Rob Dunbar TedTalk: The Threat of Ocean Acidification
Sources:
Peer-reviewed:
1.
Erez, Jonathan. Reynaud, Stephanie. Silverman,
Jacob. Schneider, Kenneth. Allemand, Denis. “Coral Calcification Under Ocean
Acidification and Global Change.” Coral Reef an Ecosystem in Transition.
2011, p. 151-171.
2.
Meron, Dalit. Rodolfo-Metalpa, Riccardo.
Cunning, Ross. Baker, Andrew. Fine, Maoz. Banin, Ehud. “Changes in Coral
Microbial Communities in Response to Natural pH Gradient.” The ISME Journal.
6. 2012, p.1775-1785.
3.
Plaisance, L. Caley, Mj. Brainard, RE. Knowlton,
N. ”The Diversity of Coral Reefs: What Are We Missing?” PLoS ONE. 6(10):
e25026. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025026
4.
Rilov, Gil. Benayahu, Yenuda. “Rehabilitation of
Coral Reef-fish Communities: The Importance of artificial-reef” Bullet of
Marine Science. 70(1). 2002, p. 185-197.
5.
Widdlcombe, Stephen. Spicer, John. “Predicting
the Impact of Ocean Acidification on Benthic Biodiversity: What Can Animal
Physiology Tell Us?” Experimental Marine Biology. 366. 2008, p. 187-197
Media:
6.
Stephan Harrigan(Febuary 2011). Artificial
Reefs. National Geographic (online). http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/02/artificial-reefs/harrigan-text/1
Video Links:
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgdlAt4CR-4
9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evfgbVjb688
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