Oceanographic Center, National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, Florida 33004, USA.
Nat Commun. 2011;2:215. doi: 10.1038/ncomms1222.
Ocean acidification causes declines in calcification rates of corals because of decreasing aragonite saturation states (Ω(arag)). Recent evidence also indicates that increasing sea surface temperatures may have already reduced growth and calcification rates because of the stenothermic threshold of localized coral populations. Density banding in coral skeletons provides a record of growth over the coral's lifespan. Here we present coral extension, bulk density and calcification master chronologies from seven subtropical corals (Montastraea faveolata) located in the Florida Keys, USA with a 60-year common period, 1937-1996. Linear trends indicate that extension increased, density decreased and calcification remained stable while the most recent decade was not significantly different than decadal averages over the preceding 50 years for extension and calcification. The results suggest that growth rates in this species of subtropical coral have been tolerant to recent climatic changes up to the time of collection (1996).
海洋酸化会降低珊瑚的钙化率，因为方解石饱和度（Ω（arag））降低。最近的证据还表明，由于局部珊瑚种群的狭温性阈值，不断上升的海水表面温度可能已经降低了生长和钙化速度。珊瑚骨骼中的密度条带为珊瑚一生的生长提供了记录。在这里，我们展示了美国佛罗里达群岛的 7 株亚热带珊瑚（Montastraea faveolata）的珊瑚延伸、体密度和钙化主年表，它们有 60 年的共同时期，即 1937-1996 年。线性趋势表明，延伸增加，密度降低，钙化保持稳定，而最近十年的延伸和钙化与过去 50 年的十年平均值没有显著差异。研究结果表明，在采集（1996 年）时，该亚热带珊瑚种的生长速度已经能够耐受最近的气候变化。
