Flow-driven micro-scale pH variability affects the physiology of corals and coralline algae under ocean acidification.

ABSTRACT: Natural variability in pH in the diffusive boundary layer (DBL), the discrete layer of seawater between bulk seawater and the outer surface of organisms, could be an important factor determining the response of corals and coralline algae to ocean acidification (OA). Here, two corals with different morphologies and one coralline alga were maintained under two different regimes of flow velocities, pH, and light intensities in a 12 flumes experimental system for a period of 27 weeks. We used a combination of geochemical proxies, physiological and micro-probe measurements to assess how these treatments affected the conditions in the DBL and the response of organisms to OA. Overall, low flow velocity did not ameliorate the negative effect of low pH and therefore did not provide a refugia from O

SUBMITTER: Comeau S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6731248 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature