Regulation of calcification site pH is a polyphyletic but not always governing response to ocean acidification.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32064331.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aax1314 and PMC identifier 6989143.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
The response of marine-calcifying organisms to ocean acidification (OA) is highly variable, although the mechanisms behind this variability are not well understood. Here, we use the boron isotopic composition (δ<sup>11</sup>B) of biogenic calcium carbonate to investigate the extent to which organisms' ability to regulate pH at their site of calcification (pH<sub>CF</sub>) determines their calcification responses to OA. We report comparative δ<sup>11</sup>B analyses of 10 species with divergent calcification responses (positive, parabolic, threshold, and negative) to OA. Although the pH<sub>CF</sub> is closely coupled to calcification responses only in 3 of the 10 species, all 10 species elevate pH<sub>CF</sub> above pH<sub>sw</sub> under elevated pCO<sub>2</sub>. This result suggests that these species may expend additional energy regulating pH<sub>CF</sub> under future OA. This strategy of elevating pH<sub>CF</sub> above pH<sub>sw</sub> appears to be a polyphyletic, if not universal, response to OA among marine calcifiers-although not always the principal factor governing a species' response to OA.