Increasing importance of crustose coralline algae to coral reef carbonate production under ongoing climate change

Abstract

Abstract Understanding the drivers of net coral reef calcium carbonate production is increasingly important as ocean warming, acidification, and other anthropogenic stressors threaten the maintenance of coral reef structures and the services these ecosystems provide. Despite intense research effort on coral reef calcium carbonate production, the inclusion of a key reef forming/accreting calcifying group, the crustose coralline algae (CCA), remains challenging both from a theoretical and practical standpoint. While corals are typically the primary reef builders of today, ongoing declines in coral cover due to a range of environmental perturbations will likely increase the relative importance of CCA and other non-scleractinian calcifying taxa to coral reef carbonate production. Here, we demonstrate that CCA are important carbonate producers that, under certain conditions, can match or even exceed the contribution of corals to coral reef carbonate production. Despite their importance, CCA are often inaccurately recorded in benthic surveys or even entirely missing from coral reef carbonate budgets. We outline several recommendations to improve the inclusion of CCA into such carbonate budgets under the ongoing climate crisis.