Topic
Ocean acidification research, explained
6 open-access ocean acidification studies, each with a flashcard deck and a quiz.
- Acidified algae, not larvae, block coral settlement
Six weeks of ocean acidification on crustose coralline algae halved Acropora settlement, but larvae still settled on ambient-conditioned CCA even at low pH.
- Fast pH drops damage coralline algae more than slow OA
Red coralline algae coped with a gradual drop to pH 7.7 but showed more skeletal dissolution when pH fell abruptly.
- Warming and acidification squeeze coral habitat
Modeled coral-reef suitability falls about 27–30% in shallow water by 2070, worst in the Western Pacific Warm Pool.
- Lower pH kills spirorbids but favors sponges
A 0.2-unit drop in seawater pH over 100 days thins calcareous tube worms and algae while sponges and some sea squirts increase.
- Bred oysters switch shell carbon under acidification
Selectively bred Saccostrea glomerata keep more ordered calcite and can use different DIC pathways than wild-type oysters in acidified Australian estuaries.
- OA and heat push coral microbes toward pathogens
After 6 days at pH ~7.7 and 32°C, Galaxea and Acropora RNA-based symbionts shifted and virulence/stress genes rose, changes that often persisted 9 days after stressors ended.