Award: EF-1041124

Andrea G Grottoli (lead Principle Investigator), School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University INTELLECTUAL MERIT Continued increases in atmospheric CO2 are causing the oceans to warm and become more acidic. We investigated the effects of ocean acidification and warming that is expected by the end of this century on the health of four species of corals. We found that only one species was negatively affected by ocean conditions expected by the year 2100 (i.e., lower calcification rates, less fats in their tissues, changes in organic carbon losses) (Schoepf et al 2013; Levas et al in press) despite having increased the production of genes that facilitate calcification (Hoadley et al submitted). The lack of any negative effects on the other three species suggests that some species may be able to survive and persist. We hypothesize that adequate nutrition (i.e., zooplankton food) and hosting thermally tolerant endosymbiontic algae was critical to their resilience. Further research is needed to test the effects of longer exposure periods and with more species to confirm these findings. BROADER IMPACT This research supported the education and training of three graduate students, at least 10 undergraduate students, and a postdoctoral researcher. To date we have reported our findings in two peer-reviewed journal articles, one more article is in press, and two more are in preparation. Graduate students or postdocs are the lead authors on all of the publications, which greatly enhances their training and educational experience. Eight additional journal articles were published that were in part supported by this project. In addition, findings from this research were presented seven times at scientific conferences, incorporated into undergraduate and graduate courses taught by the principle investigator, and incorporated into at least eight public seminars and 2 public lectures. The Ocean ExplorerÆs Program at the Batelle Discovery Center – a tropical marine touch tank and education program for pre-school children – was established through this research project. Finally, videos, interviews, and other publications were produced as part of this work (e.g., "Edge of Light" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdfm9mO6j0U). The data has been archived at OA-ICC http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.833874 and at http://www.bco-dmo.org/project/528004. For additional details, please contact Dr. Andrea Grottoli at grottoli.1@osu.edu. REFERENCES Schoepf V, Grottoli AG, Warner ME, et al (2013) Coral energy reserves and calcification in a high-CO2 world at two temperatures. PLoS ONE 8(10): e75049 http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0075049. Levas S, Grottoli AG, Warner ME, et al (accepted) Organic carbon fluxes mediated by corals at elevated pCO2 and temperature. Marine Ecology Progress Series. Hoadley KD, Warner ME, Grottoli AG, et al (submitted) Acclimation and stress response of four Pacific coral species to elevated temperature and pCO2: comparing the host vs. symbiont response. Marine Ecology Progress Series. Last Modified: 10/17/2014 Submitted by: Andrea G Grottoli