New Research Reveals: How Ocean Acidification Affects Coral Skeletons

A new study conducted at the Coral Biomineralization and Physiology Laboratory led by Prof. Tali Mass from the Department of Marine Biology, in collaboration with an international team, examined how ocean acidification affects the earliest stage of coral skeleton formation.

The research, led by Dr. Federica Scucchia – then a PhD student in Prof. Mass’s lab – used high-resolution imaging at the BESSY facility in Berlin and revealed a surprising finding: under ocean acidification conditions, coral skeletons become denser, but not in a positive way. Certain parts of the skeleton do not develop properly, resulting in increased brittleness and elevated fracture risk.

The phenomenon is similar to a building that appears stable from the outside, but the materials inside are not of the required quality.

These findings are highly significant, as they help us understand which corals may adapt better to climate change, and how we can protect our coral reefs.

The research was conducted in collaboration with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, with support from the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), the German Research Foundation (DFG), and the ERC.

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