Common Caribbean corals exhibit highly variable responses to future acidification and warming

Caribbean coral species exhibit highly variable resilience to future ocean acidification and warming, with Siderastrea siderea standing out as the most resilient due to its ability to maintain positive calcification across all tested conditions. A 93-day experiment assessed the independent and combined effects of elevated CO₂ levels (280−3300 µatm) and temperatures (28°C vs. 31°C) on four key coral species from the Belize Barrier Reef: Siderastrea siderea, Pseudodiploria strigosa, Porites astreoides, and Undaria tenuifolia. While calcification rates declined nonlinearly with increasing CO₂ for all species, warming alone only reduced calcification in Ps. strigosa. Notably, S. siderea was the sole species to sustain positive calcification even under aragonite-undersaturated conditions, whereas U. tenuifolia and Ps. strigosa showed the least resilience. The study underscores the diverse vulnerability of Caribbean corals to projected climate change, with implications for reef conservation strategies.

Bove, C. B., Ries, J. B., Davies, S. W., Westfield, I. T., Umbanhowar, J., & Castillo, K. D. (2019). Common Caribbean corals exhibit highly variable responses to future acidification and warming. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1900), 20182840. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2840