Coral reef glue questioned in acidified waters

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
15,441
150
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Over the past few years, new information has arisen pointing to the difficulty of calcifying organisms to retain a foothold in their respective ecological niches, however. This information has focussed on the ability to build and maintain their chalky shells in acidifying ocean waters.

Now, it appears another problem faces these important group of organisms. The ability to cement themselves to a substrate.

This could pose problems for other sedentary animals as well. The byssal thread and gland of shellfish like oysters and mussels, who also make use of a calcified cement ( calcium dependent on carbonate content) to attach to a suitable feeding/breeding location relies on a well defined ratio in the water to be able to attach in sometimes very strong currents.

A new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at ocean CO2 levels (carbonate and bicarbonate) and found that reefs in already higher carbonate concentrations, produced only trace amounts of the cement, while organisms in other areas of the globe with lower CO2 in the water produced large amounts of the cement.

The ocean story just keeps going from bad to worse and worse still...

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/29/coral-reefs-glue.html
 

scratch

Senate Member
May 20, 2008
5,658
22
38
Over the past few years, new information has arisen pointing to the difficulty of calcifying organisms to retain a foothold in their respective ecological niches, however. This information has focussed on the ability to build and maintain their chalky shells in acidifying ocean waters.

Now, it appears another problem faces these important group of organisms. The ability to cement themselves to a substrate.

This could pose problems for other sedentary animals as well. The byssal thread and gland of shellfish like oysters and mussels, who also make use of a calcified cement ( calcium dependent on carbonate content) to attach to a suitable feeding/breeding location relies on a well defined ratio in the water to be able to attach in sometimes very strong currents.

A new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at ocean CO2 levels (carbonate and bicarbonate) and found that reefs in already higher carbonate concentrations, produced only trace amounts of the cement, while organisms in other areas of the globe with lower CO2 in the water produced large amounts of the cement.

The ocean story just keeps going from bad to worse and worse still...

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/29/coral-reefs-glue.html


......a lot of posts telling of abnormalities, climate changes etc.....and who can we blame.....ourselves...our own worst enemies....and we are doing a fine job of doing ourselves in....