Premium
Late Afternoon Seasonal Transition to Dissolution in a Coral Reef: An Early Warning of a Net Dissolving Ecosystem?
Author(s) -
Stoltenberg Laura,
Schulz Kai G.,
Lantz Coulson A.,
Cyronak Tyler,
Eyre Bradley D.
Publication year - 2021
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 - 10.1029/2020gl090811
Subject(s) - reef , dissolution , coral reef , aragonite , ecosystem , oceanography , environmental science , sediment , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , ecology , mineralogy , biology , chemistry , geomorphology , calcite , geotechnical engineering
There are concerns that reefs will transition from net calcifying to net dissolving in the near future due to decreasing calcification and increasing dissolution rates. Here, we present in situ rates of net ecosystem calcification (NEC) and net ecosystem production (NEP) on a coral reef flat using a slack‐water approach. Up until dusk, the reef was net calcifying in most months but shifted to net dissolution in austral summer, coinciding with high respiration rates and a lower aragonite saturation state (Ω arag ). The estimated sediment contribution to NEC ranged from 8% to 21% during the day and 45% to 78% at night, indicating that high rates of sediment dissolution may cause the transition to reef dissolution. This late afternoon seasonal transition to negative NEC may be an early warning sign of the reef shifting to a net dissolving state and may be occurring on other reefs.