Corals in deep-water : will the unseen hand of ocean acidification destroy cold-water ecosystems?

Scleractinian cold-water corals, sometimes referred to as deep-water or deep-sea corals, form perhaps the most vulnerable marine ecosystems to the human dependence on burning fossil fuels. Increased greenhouse gases are causing the oceans to warm and become more acidic at unprecedented rates. The pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coral reefs 2007-09, Vol.26 (3), p.445-448
Main Authors: TURLEY, C. M, ROBERTS, J. M, GUINOTTE, J. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidification
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Cnidaria. Ctenaria
Deep water
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Invertebrates
Marine
Marine ecosystems
Ocean acidification
Scleractinia
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
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Summary:Scleractinian cold-water corals, sometimes referred to as deep-water or deep-sea corals, form perhaps the most vulnerable marine ecosystems to the human dependence on burning fossil fuels. Increased greenhouse gases are causing the oceans to warm and become more acidic at unprecedented rates. The paleo record tells us that scleractinians have survived several mass extinction events, but in all cases took several millions of years to recover. It now seems likely that perturbations in the carbon cycle, most likely resulting in ocean acidification, has played a fundamental role in all major mass extinctions of the Scleractinia. However, the extremely rapid release of anthropogenic CO sub(2) from fossil fuel deposits is unprecedented in geological history and risks fundamentally perturbing deep-water coral ecosystems before the scientific community has begun to map and understand them.
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/s00338-007-0247-5