Cohen Lab  Impacts of Ocean Acidification   PI: Anne Cohen
(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Co-PIs Steven Lentz and
Kathryn Shamberger (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)  Coral
reefs exist because reef calcifying organisms produce calcium
carbonate faster than it can be eroded by the sea, or by boring
organisms. Today, rates of calcium carbonate accretion only
barely exceed rates of dissolution, and as a result coral reefs
grow very slowly, if at all.  Ocean acidification threatens to
tip the balance between reef accretion and erosion, by slowing
rates of calcium carbonate production and accelerating rates of
natural erosion. However, we know very little about how this
might occur, when it might occur for different reef systems in
different parts of the world, and which reef systems are most
vulnerable.  To date, much of our understanding of the impact of
ocean acidification on coral reef calcification comes from
laboratory manipulation experiments with single organisms. By
comparison, there is a pa