Response of the Miliolid Archaias angulatus to Simulated Ocean Acidification
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.45.2.109
Abstract
A common, but not universal, effect of ocean acidification on benthic foraminifera is a reduction in the growth rate. The miliolid Archaias angulatus is a high-Mg (>4 mole% MgCO3), symbiont-bearing, soritid benthic foraminifer that contributes to Caribbean reef carbonate sediments. A laboratory culture study assessed the effects of reduced pH on the growth of A. angulatus. We observed a statistically significant 50% reduction in the growth rate (p < 0.01), calculated from changes in maximum diameter, from 160 μm/28 days in the pH 8.0/pCO2air 480 ppm control group to 80 μm/28 days at a treatment level of pH 7.6/pCO2air 1328 ppm. Additionally, pseudopore area, δ18O values, and Mg/Ca ratio all increased, albeit slightly in the latter two variables. The reduction in growth rate indicates that under a high-CO2 setting, future A. angulatus populations will consist of smaller adults. A model using the results of this study estimates that at pH 7.6 A. angulatus carbonate production in the South Florida reef tract and Florida Bay decreases by 85%, from 0.27 Mt/yr to 0.04 Mt/yr, over an area of 9,000 km2.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Foramineferal Research, v. 45, issue 2, p. 109-127
Scholar Commons Citation
Knorr, Paul O.; Robbins, Lisa L.; Harries, Peter J.; Hallock, Pamela; and Wynn, Jonathan G., "Response of the Miliolid Archaias angulatus to Simulated Ocean Acidification" (2014). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 1020.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/1020
