Reefs as Source or Sink of CO2

Kayanne kayanne at geogr.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Mon Feb 19 07:26:15 EST 1996


Dear coral-list participants, 

Thank you for the recent information exchange on our paper "Diurnal changes 
in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in coral reef water" in Science, 
269, 214-216 (1995). 

As Dr. Jean-Pierre Gattuso showed, we have received two comments from Dr. 
Gattuso et al. and Prof. Buddemeier and I responded to them.  Their 
principal criticisms are that our examples are too small 
(representativeness of our study site and statistical poverty etc.) to 
contradict the current idea that reef calcium carbonate production exceeds 
net photosynthetic production and act as a sources of CO2. 

In my response to their comments, I stressed that our basic question is to 
the idea of a closed reef originated from Odum in 1950's that reef net 
primary production is zero, because reefs are surrounded by tropical 
oligotrophic water.  We wish that the discussion of the relation between 
reefs and CO2 will not remain in sink/source controversy but is sublated to 
create new viewpoint on coral reefs. 

This March, we will hold an "International Workshop on Response of Coral 
Reefs to Global Changes" in Tsukuba, Japan. One of the topics in it is to 
extend the idea of open reefs both to the outer ocean and  to the 
atmosphere in relation not only to carbon but also to nitrogen and 
phosphate.  Basically this workshop is composed of the presentations only 
by invited speakers and is not a open symposium.  We would like to discuss 
the issues from interdisciplinary points of views and both from longer and 
shorter timescales and hope to create a new research program on reefs and 
global changes.   

Hajime Kayanne 
Univ. Tokyo 
------------------------ 
International Workshop on Response of Coral Reefs to Global Changes 

Date: 4-6 March, 1996 
Venue: Auditorium, Tsukuba Research Center, Agency of Industrial Science 
and Technology, MITI (Tsukuba 305, Japan) 

Rationale:  
   Coral reefs are landforms constructed by corals themselves, on which 
diversified creatures live and they drive biogeochemical cycles in relation 
to the ocean and the atmosphere.  Coral reefs are related not only to local 
environmental changes but also to major elements of the global changes: CO2 
increase, global warming and sea-level changes.  To understand reef 
response to the global changes, we should view them from interdisciplinary 
points of view (geological, physical, ecological and biogeochemical) and in 
relation to the ocean and the atmosphere. 
   The target timescale of the future global changes is 100 years. At this 
timescale, reef landforms and functions of reefs to the global cycles have 
been changed and will be changed.  We should approach this timescale both 
from longer (>1000 years) and from shorter (<10 years) timescales. 
   On the basis of these points, this workshop intends to create new 
research fields to evaluate and predict response of coral reefs to the 
global changes from interdisciplinary points of view. Though the speakers 
approaches the issue from various viewpoints and timescales, they are asked 
to comment the relation between reefs and the global changes with a 
timescale of 100 years. 

Sponsors 
Science and Technology Agency, Japan 
Geological Survey of Japan 

4 March  
Yonekura, N. (Univ. Tokyo): Background and outline of this workshop 

Session 1. Coral reefs and global changes: To review global changes which 
affect coral reefs and to discuss their relation to reef development mainly 
from longer timescales and change in reef landforms accompanying with the 
changes. 
Chair: Matsumoto, E. (Inst. Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Sci., Nagoya Univ.) 
Fairbanks, R. G. (Lamont-Doherty Geoscience Observatory): The response of 
reefs to changing sea level. 
Kayanne, H. (Univ. Tokyo): Reef development through postglacial time with 
change in geomorphological, physical, biological and biogeochemical 
interactions. 

Session 2. Changes in physical conditions: To review hydrological 
environment around coral reefs and to discuss necessary researches to 
evaluate and predict responses of reefs to the past and future global 
changes. 
Chair: Hosokawa, Y. (Port Harbour Res. Inst.) 
Wolanski, E., Massel, S. and Furukawa, K. (Australian Institute of Marine 
Science): Oceanographic impacts of sea level rise on coral reefs. 
Nakamura, Y. (Kyushu Univ.): Hydrodynamic control of mass transfer at the 
sea floor. 

Session 3. Characteristics of coral reef ecosystems: To show uniqueness of 
coral reef ecosystems and their biogeochemical cycles comparing with the 
other ecosystems. 
Chair: Omori, M. (Tokyo Univ. Fisheries) 
Hughes, T. (James Cook Univ.): Geographic variation in community structure 
of coral reefs: Implications for global climate change. 
Fry, B. (Florida Int. Univ.): N budgets and possible uses of 15N to study 
coral reef N cycles. 
Wada, E. (Kyoto Univ.): Isotope biogeochemical structures of several 
aquatic ecosystems with emphasis on N2 fixation. 

Session 4. Response of corals and reef ecosystems to the global changes: To 
discuss the past and the future responses of corals and reef ecosystems to 
the global changes. 
Chair: Yamazato, K. (Univ. Ryukyus) 
Muscatine, L. (Univ. California L. A.): Response of corals to global changes. 
Eakin, C. M. (NOAA): Response of coral reef ecosystems to global changes. 
Tsuchiya, M. (Univ. Ryukyus): Environmental purification in coral reefs: 
maintenance of beautiful landscape by biological activities. 

5 March  

Session 5. Role of coral reefs in the global biogeochemical cycles: To 
discuss the functions of reefs in the global carbon and nutrient cycles. 
Chair: Koike I. (Ocean Res. Inst., Univ. Tokyo) 
Gattuso, J. -P. (Observatoire Oceanologique Europeen): Productivity and 
calcification in recent coral reefs: effect on air-sea CO2 fluxes. 
Szmant, A. M. (Univ. Miami): Nutrient dynamics and cycling within coral 
reef communities: contrasts between oligotrophic benthic and eutrophic 
planktonic production systems. 
Capone, D. (Chesapeake Biol. Lab.): Coral reef ecosystems in the context of 
the marine nitrogen cycle. 
Yamamuro, M. (Geological Survey of Japan): Coral reefs as sustainable 
organic producers. 

Session 6. Organic geochemistry of coral reefs: To view reefs from organic 
geochemical points of view and to discuss the role of reefs in organic 
geochemical cycles. 
Chair: Ishiwatari, R. (Tokyo Metropolitan Univ.) 
Logan, G. (CSIRO): Potential of organic geochemistry for study of coral 
reefs and global change. 
Yamamoto, M.(Geol. Survey Japan): Characteristics of organic matter in 
coral reef sediments. 

Session 7. Strategy in coral reef researches: To view future research 
strategy in coral reef researches to solve the relation between the global 
changes and reefs. 
Chair: Harashima, S. (Natioanl Inst. Environmental Studies) 
McManus, J. W. (Int. Center Living Aquatic Resources Management): 
Determining the effects of global changes on coral reefs: A strategy for 
International research, data exchange and meta-analysis. 
Grigg, R. W. (Univ. Hawaii): Global climate change and coral reef 
research:future priorities, planning, funding and scientific organization. 

Sato, T. (Geol. Survey Japan) Closing remarks 

6 March 

Closed expert workshop to create new research fields. 

------------------------ 
Sorry if you feel my response is delayed. 
I am now crazy busy in WS prep, univ works etc. 
I cut off sleeping time to respond to you ! 
Hajime KAYANNE 
Dept. Geography, Univ. Tokyo 
Tel: +81-3-3812-2111 (ex4573) 
Fax: +81-3-5684-0518 



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