Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2011, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (2): 1-9.doi: 10.11978/j.issn.1009-5470.2011.02.001cstr: 32234.14.j.issn.1009-5470.2011.02.001

• Coral Reefs •     Next Articles

Effect of global warming and thermal effluents on calcification of the Porites coral in Daya Bay, northern South China Sea

CHEN Tian-ran, YU Ke-fu, SHI Qi, CHEN Te-gu, WANG Rong   

  1. CAS Key laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, CAS, Guangzhou 510301, China
  • Received:2009-10-25 Revised:2009-11-22 Online:2011-05-06 Published:2011-05-04
  • About author:陈天然(1981—), 男, 江苏省镇江市人,博士, 主要从事珊瑚高分辨率环境记录与生态响应研究。E-mail: chentian-ran2008@gmail.com
  • Supported by:

    中国科学院战略性先导科技专项(XDA05080300); 国家自然科学基金重点项目(40830852、41025007); 国家重点基础研究发展计划项目(2007CB815905); 国家科技支撑计划项目(2006BAB19B03); 中国科学院南海海洋研究所青年人才领域前沿项目(SQ201009); 中国科学院边缘海地质重点实验室开放研究基金项目(MSGL09-01)

Abstract:

Mass coral bleaching and decreased calcification triggered by global warming have seriously threatened the coral reef ecosystems worldwide. Relative high-latitude coral communities may have the potential to act as regions of refugia for many coral species in the face of future global warming. Skeletal parameters (growth rate, density and calcification) of a 46-yr-long (1962-2007) Porites coral were analyzed, in order to investigate the responses of coral calcification (carbonate depositional processes) in high-latitude regions to increasing sea surface temperature (SST) associated with global warming and anthropogenic thermal discharge. Results showed that annual-mean growth rate, density and calcification were 0.97 cm•yr-1 (0.41?1.32 cm•yr-1), 1.45 g•cm-3 (1.17-1.65 g•cm-3) and 1.40 g•(cm2•yr)-1 [0.59?1.93 g•(cm2•yr)-1], respectively. SST is the major control effect of coral growth in this area. At the initial stage of global warming (1962?1993), increased SST al-leviated seasonal low temperature stress and promoted coral calcification. When SST increased continuously combined with nuclear power stations operation in Daya Bay, however, synthesized high SST in summer stressed coral skeletogenesis, and caused decreased growth and calcification rates after 1993, as well as relatively low levels of growth and calcification rates during 1997-2001 and 2006. Therefore, global warming, at least in the beginning, promoted coral calcification and reef development at high-latitude areas, whereas mass coral bleaching caused by continuously increasing SST, ENSO events and human activates, may happen in the future.

Key words: global warming, thermal effluent, Porites, calcification, relative high-latitude, Daya Bay