Biological mediation of carbonate dissolution represents a fundamental component of the destructive forces acting on coral reef ecosystems. Whereas ocean acidification can increase dissolution of carbonate substrates, the combined impact of ocean acidification and warming on the microbioerosion of coral skeletons remains unknown. Here, we exposed skeletons of the reef-building corals, Porites c...

Abstract. Foraminiferans are diverse micro- to macroscopic protists abundant especially in (sub)tropical seas, often forming characteristic benthic communities known as “living sands”. Numerous species have migrated through the Suez Canal Mediterranean and one of them, i.e., Amphistegina lobifera, turned invasive, gradually outcompeting indigenous species. At some places, A. lobifera creates th...

Currently, atmospheric CO2 levels fluctuate around 390 ppm and continue to rise at an accelerating rate (Caldeira and Wickett 2003, 2005); projected scenarios indicate that levels will approach 450–600 ppm by 2050 and 750– 1,000 ppm by the end of the twenty-first century (IPCC 2007; gattuso and lavigne 2009). The resultant increase in dissolved seawater CO2 is expected to reduce surface ocean p...

A coral reefs carbonate budget strongly influences reef structural complexity and net reef growth potential, and thus is increasingly recognized as a key “health” metric. Despite this, understanding of habitat specific budget states, how these scale across reef platforms, and our ability to quantify both framework and sediment production values remains limited. Here, we use in-situ census data ...

I n the simplest sense, coral reefs are wave-resistant piles of limestone and calcareous sediments built by a thin veneer of living organisms (Hubbard 1997). But these piles are of great ecological and resource significance for their massiveness, extremely high biodiversity, and distinct trophic structure and primary production. Reefs grow most prolifically in clear, warm, shallow, and nutrient...

Coral reefs have been degrading faster than they have been recovering (Done 1992; Ginsburg 1994; Hughes 1994; Grigg and Birkeland 1997; McManus and Vergara 1998; Wilkinson 1993, 1998) and they have been accruing in their degraded states because they achieve alternate stable states of algae instead of corals (Knowlton et al. 1981; Knowlton 1992; Done 1992; Hughes 1994), and because rates of dama...