Spatial pH variability of coral reef flats of Kiritimati Island, Kiribati

TY - JOUR

T1 - Spatial pH variability of coral reef flats of Kiritimati Island, Kiribati

AU - Knebel, Oliver

AU - Carvajal, Carlos

AU - Kench, Paul

AU - Gehrels, Roland

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.

PY - 2023/3/1

Y1 - 2023/3/1

N2 - Ocean acidification poses a threat to carbonate-dominated marine systems, such as tropical coral reefs, as it impacts the ability of organisms to calcify. For assessing the susceptibility of coral reef flats to open ocean acidification it is crucial to better understand the dynamics between the carbonate chemistry of open ocean waters flowing onto coral reef flats and the ecological and hydrodynamic processes that locally modify seawater conditions. In this study, variations in seawater pH and temperature were measured along cross-reef flat transects in high resolution (∼0.3 m) and complemented by surveys of the benthic community composition and reef flat bathymetry. Results represent a snapshot in time and suggest that reef flat hydrodynamic processes determine spatial pH modifications, with little influence of variations in benthic community composition. As mean reef flat pH largely equals ocean conditions, ocean acidification has had and will have an unhampered impact on narrow fringing reef flats.

AB - Ocean acidification poses a threat to carbonate-dominated marine systems, such as tropical coral reefs, as it impacts the ability of organisms to calcify. For assessing the susceptibility of coral reef flats to open ocean acidification it is crucial to better understand the dynamics between the carbonate chemistry of open ocean waters flowing onto coral reef flats and the ecological and hydrodynamic processes that locally modify seawater conditions. In this study, variations in seawater pH and temperature were measured along cross-reef flat transects in high resolution (∼0.3 m) and complemented by surveys of the benthic community composition and reef flat bathymetry. Results represent a snapshot in time and suggest that reef flat hydrodynamic processes determine spatial pH modifications, with little influence of variations in benthic community composition. As mean reef flat pH largely equals ocean conditions, ocean acidification has had and will have an unhampered impact on narrow fringing reef flats.

KW - Acidification

KW - Benthos

KW - Coastal waters

KW - Community composition

KW - Coral reef

KW - Kiritimati

KW - pH

KW - Reef flat

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147290663&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105861

DO - 10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105861

M3 - Article

C2 - 36709655

AN - SCOPUS:85147290663

SN - 0141-1136

VL - 185

JO - Marine Environmental Research

JF - Marine Environmental Research

M1 - 105861

ER -