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Validation of the alkalinity anomaly technique for investigating calcification of photosynthesis in coral reef communities
Author(s) -
Chisholm John R. M.,
Gattuso JeanPierre
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1991.36.6.1232
Subject(s) - alkalinity , coral , reef , oceanography , nutrient , titration , environmental science , coral reef , ecology , chemistry , environmental chemistry , geology , biology , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry
Experiments were conducted to establish the validity of the alkalinity anomaly technique for investigating rates of calcification and photosynthesis by coral reef‐building organisms. Rates of CaCO 3 precipitation by whole colonies of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis (L.) were estimated under light and dark conditions with two different methods: complexometric titration of Ca with EGTA and acid titration of total alkalinity, with and without correction for alterations in the concentrations of ions other than carbonate species. The two techniques provided equivalent estimates of light‐enhanced and dark calcification, irrespective of whether corrections were applied to the total alkalinity data for changes in nutrient concentration. These results confirm that the assumptions of the alkalinity anomaly technique are fundamentally correct and that it is not necessary to correct total alkalinity data for changes in nutrient concentration because the corrections which apply are smaller than the variability observed in calcification data.