Guinotte and Fabry., 2008:

"Potential changes in species distributions and abundances could propagate through multiple trophic levels of marine food webs, though research into the long-term ecosystem impacts of ocean acidification is in its infancy.

The magnitude of both ecosystem responses to ocean acidification and other environmental changes working in synergy is difficult to predict as are the net effects on fish abundance and diversity. Predicting the net effects on fish populations is further complicated by the plethora of unknowns surrounding the long-term effects of increasing CO2 on fish physiology, metabolism, and probable range shifts due to ocean warming.

Cold-water Corals and Fishes

The ecology and species relationships of cold-water coral ecosystems are not as advanced as the state of knowledge for shallow-water coral-reef systems, which is due in large part to logistical challenges and the expense of operating vessels and submersibles in the deep sea. However, cold-water coral ecosystems are thought to provide important habitat, feeding grounds, and recruitment/nursery functions for many deep-water species, including several commercially important fish species(Mortensen., 2000; Fossa et al., 2002; Husebo et al., 2002; Roberts et al., 2006). Many of the species relationships are thought to be facultative, but nonetheless, high fish densities have been reported for these structure-forming ecosystems (Husebo et al., 2002; Costello et al. 2005; Stone 2006). Populations of grouper, snapper, and amberjack use the Oculina varicosa reefs off the Florida coast as feeding and spawning areas(Reed 2002), even though their numbers have been dramatically reduced by commercial and recreational fishing in recent decades (Koenig et al., 2000). Large aggregations of redfish (Sebastes spp.), ling (Molva molva), and tusk (Brosme brosme Ascanius) have been documented in the Lophelia pertusa reefs of the North Atlantic (Husebo et al., 2002), and strong fish–coral associations exist in the cold-water coral ecosystems of the North Pacific (Stone 2006).

Ocean acidification could have significant indirect effects on fishes and other deepsea organisms that rely on cold-water coral ecosystems for protection and nutritional requirements. Roberts and Gage (2003) documented over 1300 species living on the Lophelia pertusa reefs in the NE Atlantic. Future depth projections for the aragonite saturation horizonsindicate 70% of cold-water scleractinians will be in undersaturated waters by the end of the century, and significant decreases in calcification rate could occur well before corals experience undersaturated conditions as aragonite saturation state decreases progressively over time (Guinotte et al., 2006). Quantifying the indirect impacts of ocean acidification on coral-associated fishes is not possible due to uncertainties surrounding facultative and obligate species relationships, but the net effects are likely to be negative as cold-water coral growth, distribution, and area decrease."

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Citation and/or URL

Guinotte, J.M. & Fabry, V.J. 2008, Ocean acidification and its potential effects on marine ecosystems, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,1134: (1) 320-342 

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Spatial Coverage

Global

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Temporal Coverage

This volume is a compilation of information collected from  many sources and spanning many time frames.

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Update Frequency

 Not applicable

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Other Information

Mortensen, P.B. 2000. Lophelia pertusa (Scleractinia) in Norwegian waters; distribution, growth, and associatedfauna. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bergen,Bergen, Norway.

Fossa, J.H., P.B. Mortensen, & D.M. Furevik. 2002. The deep-water coral Lophelia pertusa inNorwegian waters: distribution and fishery impacts. Hydrobiologia 13: 1–12.

Husebo, A. et al. 2002. Distribution and abundance of fish in deep-sea coral habitats. Hydrobiologia 471: 91–99.

Roberts, J.M., A.J. Wheeler, & A. Freiwald. 2006. Reefs of the deep: the biology and geology of cold-water coral ecosystems. Science 312: 543–547.

Costello, M. et al. 2005. Role of cold-water Lophelia pertusa coral reefs as fish habitat in the NE Atlantic. In Cold-water Corals and Ecosystems. A. Freiwald & J.M. Roberts, Eds.: 771–805. Springer-Verlag. Berlin, Heidelberg.

Stone, R.P. 2006. Coral habitat in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska: depth distribution, fine-scale species associations,and fisheries interactions. Coral Reefs 25:229–238.

Reed, J.K. 2002. Deep-water Oculina coral reefs of Florida: biology, impacts and management. Hydrobiologia 471: 43–55.

Koenig, C. et al. 2000. Protection of fish spawning habitat for the conservation of warm- temperate reef-fish fisheries of shelf-edge reefs of Florida. Bull. Mar. Sci. 66: 593–616.

Roberts, J.M., J.D. Gage & the ACES party. 2003. Assessing biodiversity associated with cold-water coral reefs: Pleasures and pitfalls. Erlanger Geol. Abh. 4: 73.

Guinotte, J.M. et al. 2006. Will human induced changes in seawater chemistry alter the distribution of deepsea scleractinian corals? Front. Ecol. Environ. 4: 141–146.