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Direct measurements of air‐sea CO 2 exchange over a coral reef
Author(s) -
McGowan Hamish A.,
MacKellar Mellissa C.,
Gray Michael A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl068772
Subject(s) - reef , coral reef , oceanography , atmosphere (unit) , environmental science , eddy covariance , coral , great barrier reef , geology , atmospheric sciences , ecosystem , geography , meteorology , ecology , biology
Quantification of CO 2 exchange with the atmosphere over coral reefs has relied on microscale measurements of p CO 2 gradients across the air‐sea interfacial boundary; shipboard measurements of air‐sea CO 2 exchange over adjacent ocean inferred to represent over reef processes or ecosystem productivity modeling. Here we present by way of case study the first direct measurements of air‐sea CO 2 exchange over a coral reef made using the eddy covariance method. Research was conducted during the summer monsoon over a lagoonal platform reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Results show the reef flat to be a net source of CO 2 to the atmosphere of similar magnitude as coastal lakes, while adjacent shallow and deep lagoons were net sinks as was the surrounding ocean. This heterogeneity in CO 2 exchange with the atmosphere confirms need for spatially representative direct measurements of CO 2 over coral reefs to accurately quantify their role in atmospheric carbon budgets.