Collaborative Research: Resiliency of corals to changing saturation state: A field study.

摘要(斯沃特0550588)的证据表明，大气中二氧化碳的增加所引发的碳酸盐饱和状态的改变，可能会对硬珊瑚的钙化产生负面影响。然而，到目前为止，从珊瑚骨架中提取的岩芯中还没有发现这种减少。这项提案将探讨珊瑚是否能够使其生长适应饱和程度降低的条件的问题，以帮助解决这一困境，方法是利用生长在边缘环境中的珊瑚，这种环境显示出广泛的碳酸钙饱和度。在佛罗里达州海湾等环境中，生存珊瑚群落很小，但看起来很健壮，尽管饱和状态发生了很大的变化，但它们的延伸率与附近珊瑚礁区域的珊瑚相当。PI计划使用Solenastrea sp.的大型菌落。它们生长在佛罗里达州海湾，进行一项独特的实验，在实验中，它们将允许自然环境操纵饱和状态。在18个月的时间里，每两个月一次，钙化将与其他生理参数一起测量。在这种自然变化的基础上，PI将施加饱和度的变化，旨在揭示盐度和饱和状态对钙化和伸展的相互影响。最后，他们将检查珊瑚骨架内的密度和地球化学记录，以确定是什么影响了二氧化碳的变化，以及是否可以从骨骼记录中读取过去二氧化碳的变化。

Abstract (Swart 0550588)Evidence has shown that the changing carbonate saturation state, triggered by the rise in atmospheric CO2, may have a negative influence upon the calcification of scleractinian corals. However, such decreases have to date not been recognized in cores taken from coral skeletons. This proposal will explore the question of whether corals are able to adapt their growth to reduced saturation conditions to help solve this dilemma by using corals growing in marginal environments, which exhibit wide ranges in calcium carbonate saturation. Environments, such as Florida Bay, contain a small but apparently robust community of survivor corals maintaining extension rates comparable to corals on the nearby reef tract in spite of large and documented changes in saturation state. The PIs plan to use large colonies of the genus Solenastrea sp. that grow in Florida Bay to conduct a unique experiment in which they will allow the natural environment to manipulate the saturation state. Every two months over an 18 month period, calcification will be measured together with other physiological parameters. Superimposed upon this natural variation, the PIs will impose changes in saturation aimed at unraveling the competing influences of salinity and saturation state on calcification and extension. Finally, they will examine the density and geochemical record within the coral skeleton in order to determine what influences the changing pCO2 and whether past changes in pCO2 can be read from the skeletal record.