Increased ocean acidity breaks down coral reefs

MicroCT scan of experiemental blocks reveals bioerosion scars. Image courtesy N Silbiger/SOEST, M Riccio/Cornell.

Coral reefs persist in a balance between construction and breakdown. As corals grow, they construct the complex calcium carbonate framework that provides habitat for fish and other reef organisms. Simultaneously, bioeroders, such as parrotfish and boring marine worms, breakdown the reef structure into rubble and the sand that nourishes our beaches. This balance is threatened by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, which causes ocean acidification (decreasing ocean pH). Prior research has largely focused on the negative impacts of acidification on reef growth, but new research from scientists at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) demonstrates that lower ocean pH also increases reef breakdown.

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