Seawater carbonate chemistry and Astrangia poculata mass and zooxanthellate during experiments, 2012

The effects of nutrients and pCO2 on zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate colonies of the temperate scleractinian coral Astrangia poculata (Ellis and Solander, 1786) were investigated at two different temperatures (16 °C and 24 °C). Corals exposed to elevated pCO2 tended to have lower relative calcification rates, as estimated from changes in buoyant weights. Experimental nutrient enrichments had no significant effect nor did there appear to be any interaction between pCO2 and nutrients. Elevated pCO2 appeared to have a similar effect on coral calcification whether zooxanthellae were present or absent at 16 °C. However, at 24 °C, the interpretation of the results is complicated by a significant interaction between gender and pCO2 for spawning corals.

本研究在16℃与24℃两个温度条件下，探究了营养盐与二氧化碳分压（pCO2）对温带石珊瑚（scleractinian coral）物种Astrangia poculata（Ellis & Solander, 1786）具虫黄藻（zooxanthellate）与无虫黄藻（azooxanthellate）珊瑚群体的影响。通过浮力重量变化估算的相对钙化速率结果显示，暴露于升高二氧化碳分压环境中的珊瑚，其相对钙化速率普遍偏低。实验性营养盐富集未产生显著影响，二氧化碳分压与营养盐之间亦未出现明显交互作用。在16℃条件下，无论是否存在虫黄藻，升高的二氧化碳分压对珊瑚钙化的影响均较为相似。然而在24℃时，产卵珊瑚的性别与二氧化碳分压之间存在显著交互作用，这使得实验结果的解读变得更为复杂。