title: Ocean acidification accelerates reef bioerosion.
abstract: In the recent discussion how biotic systems may react to ocean acidification caused by the rapid rise in carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO(2)) in the marine realm, substantial research is devoted to calcifiers such as stony corals. The antagonistic process - biologically induced carbonate dissolution via bioerosion - has largely been neglected. Unlike skeletal growth, we expect bioerosion by chemical means to be facilitated in a high-CO(2) world. This study focuses on one of the most detrimental bioeroders, the sponge Cliona orientalis, which attacks and kills live corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Experimental exposure to lowered and elevated levels of pCO(2) confirms a significant enforcement of the sponges' bioerosion capacity with increasing pCO(2) under more acidic conditions. Considering the substantial contribution of sponges to carbonate bioerosion, this finding implies that tropical reef ecosystems are facing the combined effects of weakened coral calcification and accelerated bioerosion, resulting in critical pressure on the dynamic balance between biogenic carbonate build-up and degradation.
authors.affiliation: Marine Research Department, SENCKENBERG am Meer, Wilhelmshaven, Germany. max.wisshak@senckenberg.de
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wisshak
authors.forename: Christine H L
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Schönberg
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Form
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Freiwald
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D002254:Carbonates / Q000378:metabolism; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D057894:Coral Reefs; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D062312:Islands; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011161:Porifera / Q000502:physiology; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D002254:Carbonates