Coral may be the canary in a coal mine, as far as ocean acidification goes, but more far-reaching disruptions of ocean biology may be in store.
Donald Potts, US Santa Cruz professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, expanded on this at the AGU Fall Meeting. His talk was entitled "Geobiological Responses to Ocean Acidification."
Potts acknowledged the deleterious impact of more acidic seawater on shell and skeleton formation among corals and other creatures.
‘"It’s not just a question of coral reefs, and it’s not just a question of calcification," Potts said in a university statement. "What we are potentially looking at are disruptions of developmental processes and of populations and communities on many scales."’
