Ocean acidification accelerates reef bioerosion

In the recent discussion how biotic systems may react to ocean acidification caused by the rapid rise in carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2) in the marine realm, substantial research is devoted to calcifiers such as stony corals. The antagonistic process-biologically induced carbonate dissolution via bioerosion- has largely been neglected. Unlike skeletal growth, we expect bioerosion by chemical means to be facilitated in a high-CO2 world. This study focuses on one of the most detrimental bioeroders, the sponge Cliona orientalis, which attacks and kills live corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Experimental exposure to lowered and elevated levels of pCO2 confirms a significant enforcement of the sponges' bioerosion capacity with increasing pCO2 under more acidic conditions. […]

在近期关于生物体系可能对海洋酸化（由海洋领域二氧化碳分压（pCO2）的急剧上升所引起）做出的反应的讨论中，大量的研究投入到诸如石珊瑚等钙化生物的研究中。然而，与骨骼生长不同，生物侵蚀所引发的碳酸钙溶解这一对抗过程（生物侵蚀引起的碳酸钙溶解）在很大程度上被忽视了。在二氧化碳含量较高的世界中，我们预期化学手段导致的生物侵蚀将得到促进。本研究聚焦于一种最具破坏性的生物侵蚀者，即海绵Cliona orientalis，它在澳大利亚大堡礁上攻击并杀死活珊瑚。对降低和提升pCO2水平的实验性暴露证实，在酸性条件下，随着pCO2的升高，海绵的生物侵蚀能力得到了显著的增强。