Geochemical responses of scleractinian corals to nutrient stress

The impact of changing nutrient conditions on scleractinian coral-based geochemical proxies is poorly understood, despite the nutrient balance in many coral reefs being disturbed by anthropogenic activity. Here, the geochemical responses of tropical corals Acropora polystoma and Porites lichen to nutrient enrichment and depletion are examined following growth under cultured conditions, to assess the impact of nutrients on traditional geochemical proxies for both temperature and the coral internal carbonate system. The corals were exposed to four different nutrient treatments over a period of 140 days: (1) a replete treatment with optimal levels of nitrate (∼4.5 μM) and phosphate (∼0.6 μM), (2) a nutrient depleted treatment with negligible nitrate and phosphate, (3) a treatment with high nitrate (∼73 μM) and negligible phosphate, and (4) a treatment with high phosphate (∼5.7 μM) and negligible nitrate. Results suggest nutrients play a hitherto under-appreciated role in coral skeleton elemental (Li/Ca, B/Ca, Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, Li/Mg) and isotopic (δ11B) composition, with the internal carbonate chemistry also impacted. For example, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca are lower, and Li/Mg higher, in the nutrient imbalanced and deplete treatments compared to the replete treatment for both species. Disruption to the carbonate system in corals cultured under imbalanced nutrient conditions is best explained by a decrease in dissolved inorganic carbon flux to the extracellular calcifying medium. Variations in nutrient concentration — or nutrient imbalance — can have dramatic consequences on both reconstructed sea surface temperatures and ocean or calcification pH, with reconstructed temperatures varying from −7°C to +52 °C, and δ11B-derived pH by up to 0.13 pH units. The impact from anthropogenically-induced nutrient disturbances should therefore be considered when generating temporal records of environments using coral skeletal archives.