title: Reduced heterotrophy in the stony coral Galaxea fascicularis after life-long exposure to elevated carbon dioxide.
abstract: Ocean acidification imposes many physiological, energetic, structural and ecological challenges to stony corals. While some corals may increase autotrophy under ocean acidification, another potential mechanism to alleviate some of the adverse effects on their physiology is to increase heterotrophy. We compared the feeding rates of Galaxea fascicularis colonies that have lived their entire lives under ocean acidification conditions at natural carbon dioxide (CO2) seeps with colonies living under present-day CO2 conditions. When provided with the same quantity and composition of zooplankton as food, corals acclimatized to high CO2 showed 2.8 to 4.8 times depressed rates of zooplankton feeding. Results were consistent over four experiments, from two expeditions and both in field and chamber measurements. Unless replenished by other sources, reduced zooplankton uptake in G. fascicularis acclimatized to ocean acidification is likely to entail a shortage of vital nutrients, potentially jeopardizing their health and survival in future oceans.
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.|Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.|University of Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Joy N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.|The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Strahl
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Sam H C
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Noonan
authors.affiliation: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.
authors.forename: Gertraud M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.|University of Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Katharina E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Fabricius
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D052836:Heterotrophic Processes; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D015048:Zooplankton
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide