Newly deceased Caribbean reef-building corals experience rapid carbonate loss and colonization by endolithic organisms.

ABSTRACT: Coral mortality triggers the loss of carbonates fixed within coral skeletons, compromising the reef matrix. Here, we estimate rates of carbonate loss in newly deceased colonies of four Caribbean reef-building corals. We use samples from living and recently deceased colonies following a stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) outbreak. Optical densitometry and porosity analyses reveal a loss of up to 40% of the calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) content in dead colonies. The metabolic activity of the endolithic organisms colonizing the dead skeletons is likely partially responsible for the observed dissolution. To test for the consequences of mass mortality events over larger spatial scales, we integrate our estimates of carbonate loss with field data of the composition and size structure

SUBMITTER: Medellin-Maldonado F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10497637 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature