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Reduced calcification in modern Southern Ocean planktonic foraminifera
Citation
Moy, AD and Howard, W and Bray, SG and Trull, T, Reduced calcification in modern Southern Ocean planktonic foraminifera, Nature Geoscience, 2, (April) pp. 276-280. ISSN 1752-0894 (2009) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
© 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited
Official URL: http://www.nature.com/ngeo/index.html
DOI: doi:10.1038/NGEO460
Abstract
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide has been accumulating in the
oceans, lowering both the concentration of carbonate ions
and the pH (ref. 1), resulting in the acidification of sea
water. Previous laboratory experiments have shown that
decreased carbonate ion concentrations cause many marine
calcareous organisms to show reduced calcification rates2–5.
If these results are widely applicable to ocean settings,
ocean acidification could lead to ecosystem shifts. Planktonic
foraminifera are single-celled calcite-secreting organisms that
represent between 25 and 50% of the total open-ocean marine
carbonate flux6 and influence the transport of organic carbon
to the ocean interior7. Here we compare the shell weights of
the modern foraminifer Globigerina bulloides collected from
sediment traps in the Southern Ocean with the weights of
shells preserved in the underlying Holocene-aged sediments.
We find that modern shell weights are 30–35% lower than
those from the sediments, consistent with reduced calcification
today induced by ocean acidification. We also find a link
between higher atmospheric carbon dioxide and low shell
weights in a 50,000-year-long record obtained froma Southern
Ocean marine sediment core. It is unclear whether reduced
calcification will affect the survival of this and other species,
but a decline in the abundance of foraminifera caused by
acidification could affect both marine ecosystems and the
oceanic uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
| Research Group: | Climate change science |
| Research Field: | Climate change processes |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards |
| Objective Group: | Understanding climate change |
| Objective Field: | Understanding climate change not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Moy, AD (Dr Andrew Moy) |
| UTAS Author: | Howard, W (Associate Professor William Howard) |
| UTAS Author: | Bray, SG (Mr Stephen Bray) |
| UTAS Author: | Trull, T (Professor Thomas Trull) |
| ID Code: | 57655 |
| Year Published: | 2009 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 225 |
| Deposited By: | IASOS |
| Deposited On: | 2009-08-05 |
| Last Modified: | 2012-11-20 |
| Downloads: | 10 View Download Statistics |
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