Porites Calcifying Fluid pH on Seasonal to Diurnal Scales

Coral resilience to ocean acidification is largely determined by the degree of physiological control corals can exert on their calcifying fluid carbonate chemistry. In this study, the boron isotopic composition (delta B-11) of a Porites colony growing on a reef flat on Kiritimati Island in the equatorial central Pacific is examined to quantify the sensitivity of calcifying fluid pH (pH(cf)) to ambient environmental conditions. Skeletal delta B-11 along the growth axis of one annual growth band was determined with bulk analysis and by laser ablation (LA) MC-ICP-MS. Furthermore, the oxygen and carbon isotopic composition, trace element ratios, and skeletal density were quantified. Sclerochronological data were interpreted in the context of simultaneous recordings of reef flat seawater pH (pH(sw)), temperature, salinity, and water depth, and by measurements of these parameters on the fore-reef. A recent model of pH(cf) upregulation, after optimization with seasonally resolved data, was used to simulate pH(cf) variability on a diurnal scale. Results showed that on a seasonal scale, Porites pH(cf) is upregulated compared to ambient seawater: both bulk and LA-MC-ICP-MS derived delta B-11 resulted in a mean pH(cf) of 8.35 pH units. Calcifying fluid pH upregulation primarily followed variations in seawater temperatures, that is likely related to the control of temperature on calcification rate. On the reef flat, the diurnal range in pH(sw) was substantially higher (0.29 pH units) than on the fore-reef (0.07 pH units). However, model results suggest that the high diurnal variability in reef flat pH(sw) resulted only in a limited variability in Porites pH(cf).

Automated summary

Coral resilience to ocean acidification is largely determined by the physiological control corals have over their calcifying fluid carbonate chemistry. A study on a Porites colony on Kiritimati Island in the equatorial central Pacific showed that calcifying fluid pH is primarily regulated by seawater temperature, with diurnal variability in seawater pH on the reef flat having only limited impact on coral calcifying fluid pH.