A box of Sea Cucumbers - Image by mdid via Flickr
Posted on 12/27/2011 1:15:12 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
From the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University comes word of this paper in JGR.
A box of Sea Cucumbers - Image by mdid via Flickr
Washington, D.C. — Coral reefs are extremely diverse ecosystems that support enormous biodiversity. But they are at risk. Carbon dioxide emissions are acidifying the ocean, threatening reefs and other marine organisms. New research led by Carnegie’s Kenneth Schneider analyzed the role of sea cucumbers in portions of the Great Barrier Reef and determined that their dietary process of dissolving calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from the surrounding reef accounts for about half of at the total nighttime dissolution for the reef. The work is published December 23 by the Journal of Geophysical Research.
Reefs are formed through the biological deposition of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Many of the marine organisms living on and around a reef contribute to either its destruction or construction. Therefore it is crucial that the amount of calcium carbonate remain in balance. When this delicate balance is disrupted, the reef ceases to grow and its foundations can be weakened.
In order to fully understand a reef’s ability to deposit carbonate and grow, it is necessary to understand the roles that the various elements of sea life play in this process. This is especially important because increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is predicted to decrease the amount of carbonate available due to acidification.
The research group set out to examine the role that sea cucumbers play in the reef environment.
Schneider’s team included Carnegie’s Ken Caldeira, as well as Jacob Silverman, of the Israeli Limnology and Oceanography Institute; Maria Byrne and Erika Woolsey, both of the University of Sydney and the latter also from James Cook University; and Hampus Eriksson of Stockholm University.
They studied the growth and dissolution of One Tree Reef, which surrounds One Tree Island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Focusing on an area of the reef known as “DK13″, they found that sea cucumbers were abundant. They collected some of these sea cucumbers and placed them in aquaria to study the effect on sea water resulting from the sand and rubble transported through their gut system as part of their digestive process.
As part of another ongoing study in this area, the team found that the coral reef was dissolving at night. They found that sea cucumbers play a crucial part in this process. They live off the bits of organic matter in the carbonate sand and rubble that they ingest; in this process, their digestive systems produce acids that dissolve parts of these carbonate minerals. The dissolved carbonate minerals are then released into the surrounding environment. The researchers found that these lowly organisms might be responsible for half of the CaCO3 of the reef observed at night.
The burning of coal, oil, and gas releases CO2 into the atmosphere, which is later absorbed by the ocean, causing the ocean to acidify. Ocean acidification is expected to slow reef growth. With slower reef growth, the dissolution of CaCO3 within the guts of sea cucumbers is expected to become even more important to the reef CaCO3 budget.
“Even though the sea cucumbers dissolve CaCO3 on the reef, in a lagoon such as the one at One Tree Reef, where there is limited seawater exchange with the surrounding ocean, they can be important in recycling of nutrients to support primary productivity. They also increase sea water buffer capacity to partially offset ocean acidification effects, helping to maintain the overall health of the coral reef,” Schneider said. “Although sea cucumbers may play a part in reef dissolution, they are also an important part of an incredible marine environment.”
This research was supported by the Moore foundation. The authors thank the University of Sydney’s One Tree Island Research Station facility.
The Department of Global Ecology was established in 2002 to help build the scientific foundations for a sustainable future. The department is located on the campus of Stanford University, but is an independent research organization funded by the Carnegie Institution. Its scientists conduct basic research on a wide range of large-scale environmental issues, including climate change, ocean acidification, biological invasions, and changes in biodiversity.
The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.
new Tactic perhaps....Ocean Acidification is now happening because of the evil gas.
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135 Responses to Sea cucumbers: Dissolving coral reefs?
Yep, Ocean Acidification is the new scare. Yet none of the reports go into much detail about the fact that the ocean is a huge pH buffer of carbonates and bicarbonates which will keep the oceans from acidification. The oceans are alkaline at about pH 8. They are not turning acidic. But the words "acidic" and "acidification" sure do sound scary which the greenies like.
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Brian H says:
IIRC, a paper recently established that lowered alkalinity increased the dissolution of “dead” coral and shells, but accelerated the uptake of CaCO3 into new growth. I.e., the whole cycle ran at greater speed. There would thus be a decrease in the speed with which limestone and chalk was laid down, and an increase in the quantity and number of “living corals”, etc.
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higley7 says:
First, I would love to know how they measured that the reef was dissolving at night. That’s going to be a marginal effect when you are dealing with a saturated or supersaturated calcium carbonate condition. Added CO2 cannot cause a pH change that dissolves calcium carbonate as it is part of an extended equilibrium from CO2 to carbonic acid to bicarbonate to carbonate to calcium carbonate. More CO2 means more calcium carbonate deposition.
Only an outside source of protons (acid), such as the digestive juices of a sea cucumber, can cause dissolution. No surprise here! And the expelled carbonate solution would simply go towards deposition the next day when photosynthesis, which is an alkalizing process, neutralizes the acid released by the sea cucumbers.
SO, there is nothing unusual here and all is normal, except for any reference to added CO2 having any deleterious effects. The fact is that reefs have been thriving over the last 50 years as CO2 has been rising.
“This is especially important because increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is predicted to decrease the amount of carbonate available due to acidification.”
This is their money phrase (more funding, please). The acidification they refer to is simply impossible; marine organisms thrive with more CO2, which goes well with the fact that CO2 has been much higher during the vast majority of the last 600 million years, during which coral evolved and thrived.
I got confused for a minute and thought somebody’d gotten a photo of Lorena Bobbit’s keepsake box...
LOL!
” until a predator adapts them to diet.”
Well,,,, I have eaten sea cucumbers at a traditional Chinese restaurant. Kind of like eating warm Vaseline. But,,, turn the Chinese loose on ‘em!
You will see more and more of these - they launched spending for this assault about 5 years ago - when it was obvious their other hoax was up.
Just the usual mechanism - government funding research to have scary results to give a reason for more control.
Same people same culture same players same plan.
This article actually illustrates why lowering pH on a reef will not be a problem. As the seawater becomes less alkaline or more acidic, the loose sediments, (what the sea cucumbers dissolve), will dissolve and raise the pH or make the seawater more alkaline. Its a complex balanced relationship that actually requires CO2 or acidic dissolution. And there is simply not enough CO2 in the atmosphere to break the equilibrium. There will always be enough sediments to dissolve due to the trace levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
I think the Sea Tomatoes are doing it, they’re very acidic. Thanks Ernest.
Thanks Ernest.
Deep-sea creatures at volcanic vent
BBC | December 27, 2011 | Rebecca Morelle
Posted on 12/28/2011 8:21:06 AM PST by decimon
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2825893/posts
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I am not sure about the point of this article. Sea cucumbers and many star fish feed off reefs and if invasive, often pose a danger until a predator adapts them to diet. This has been known for 70 years. And the so called acidification of the oceans, really reduced alkalinity, is primarily modelling as we have no accurate pre industrialization information.As far as the current status, oceanic calcium carbonate is quite stable.
The danger to reefs continues to be fertilizer, shore structures, dynamite, over-fishing and poor fishing practices, anchorages, and siltation. AGW does not even approach a level of concern when compared to any one of these elements.