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Shift from coral to macroalgae dominance on a volcanically acidified reef

Nature Climate Change volume 5, pages 1083–1088 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Rising anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere is accompanied by an increase in oceanic CO2 and a concomitant decline in seawater pH (ref. 1). This phenomenon, known as ocean acidification (OA), has been experimentally shown to impact the biology and ecology of numerous animals and plants2, most notably those that precipitate calcium carbonate skeletons, such as reef-building corals3. Volcanically acidified water at Maug, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is equivalent to near-future predictions for what coral reef ecosystems will experience worldwide due to OA. We provide the first chemical and ecological assessment of this unique site and show that acidification-related stress significantly influences the abundance and diversity of coral reef taxa, leading to the often-predicted shift from a coral to an algae-dominated state4,5. This study provides field evidence that acidification can lead to macroalgae dominance on reefs.

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Figure 1: Map showing the location of the study site at Maug.
Figure 2: Spatial extent of the acidified vent plume and location of sites as determined by interpolation of single-point bottle sample data (n = 33).
Figure 3: High-resolution photomosaic imagery of benthic cover at high- p CO 2 , mid- p CO 2 and control sites, showing the progression from coral-dominated to algae-dominated systems.
Figure 4: The influence of vent proximity on the cover of coral reef taxa.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by NOAA’s CRCP and OAP. We are grateful for the support and guidance of F. Rabauliman and F. Castro at BECQ/DCRM, M. Pangelinan and T. Miller at DFW, as well as J. Morgan, J. Tomczuk and D. Okano at NOAA. The crews of the Hi’Ialakai and Super Emerald provided logistic support. F. Forrestal and T. Dearg provided assistance with developing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, Florida 33149, USA,

    I. C. Enochs, G. Kolodziej, L. Valentino, R. Carlton & T. Burton

  2. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories (AOML), NOAA, 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, Florida 33149, USA,

    I. C. Enochs, D. P. Manzello, G. Kolodziej, L. Valentino & R. Carlton

  3. Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road Moss Landing, California 95039, USA,

    E. M. Donham

  4. Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, 60 Bigelow Drive East Boothbay, Maine 04544, USA,

    E. M. Donham & N. N. Price

  5. Division of Coastal Resources Management, CNMI Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, Gualo Rai Center Chalan Pale Arnold, Middle Road Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands 96950, USA,

    R. Okano, L. Johnston, J. Iguel, S. Johnson & D. Benavente

  6. Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), NOAA/University of Hawaii, 1000 Pope Road, Marine Science Building 312 Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA,

    C. Young & S. J. Clark

  7. Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, California 92093, USA,

    C. B. Edwards, M. D. Fox & Y. Eynaud

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  1. I. C. Enochs
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Contributions

I.C.E., D.P.M., E.M.D., G.K., R.O., L.J., C.Y., J.I., S.J., D.B., R.C. and N.N.P. assisted in study design and project planning. I.C.E., E.M.D., G.K., R.O., L.J., C.Y., J.I., C.B.E., M.D.F., S.J., D.B. and S.J.C. collected the data presented herein. I.C.E., D.P.M., E.M.D., G.K., R.O., L.J., J.I., C.B.E., M.D.F., L.V., S.J., D.B., S.J.C., R.C., T.B., Y.E. and N.N.P. worked on data analysis. I.C.E., D.P.M., E.M.D., G.K., R.O., L.J., C.Y., C.B.E., M.D.F., L.V. and N.N.P. contributed to manuscript preparation.

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Correspondence to I. C. Enochs.

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Enochs, I., Manzello, D., Donham, E. et al. Shift from coral to macroalgae dominance on a volcanically acidified reef. Nature Clim Change 5, 1083–1088 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2758

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