01777nas a2200205   4500008004100000245005200041210005200093260001800145300001100163490000600174520113500180653002201315653002801337653002601365100001701391700003301408700001601441700002101457856009301478       2012                        eng d00aOcean acidification accelerates reef bioerosion0 aOcean acidification accelerates reef bioerosion  aUnited States  ae451240 v73 aIn the recent discussion how biotic systems may react to ocean acidification caused by the rapid rise in carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO(2)) in the marine realm, substantial research is devoted to calcifiers such as stony corals. The antagonistic process - biologically induced carbonate dissolution via bioerosion - has largely been neglected. Unlike skeletal growth, we expect bioerosion by chemical means to be facilitated in a high-CO(2) world. This study focuses on one of the most detrimental bioeroders, the sponge Cliona orientalis, which attacks and kills live corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Experimental exposure to lowered and elevated levels of pCO(2) confirms a significant enforcement of the sponges' bioerosion capacity with increasing pCO(2) under more acidic conditions. Considering the substantial contribution of sponges to carbonate bioerosion, this finding implies that tropical reef ecosystems are facing the combined effects of weakened coral calcification and accelerated bioerosion, resulting in critical pressure on the dynamic balance between biogenic carbonate build-up and degradation.10aAcids - chemistry10aCarbonates - metabolism10aPorifera - physiology1 aWisshak, Max1 aSchönberg, Christine, H. L.1 aForm, Armin1 aFreiwald, André  uhttps://reefichno.myspecies.info/content/ocean-acidification-accelerates-reef-bioerosion