Data on calcification rate of coral and crustose coralline algae were used to test the proton flux model of calcification. There was a significant correlation between calcification (G) and the ratio of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) to proton concentration ([DIC] : [H+] ratio). The ratio is tightly correlated with [CO32−] and with aragonite saturation state (Ωa). An argument is presented that correlation does not prove cause and effect, and that Ωa and [CO32−] have no basic physiological meaning on coral reefs other than a correlation with [DIC] : [H+] ratio, which is the driver of G.
Jokiel P. L., 2013. Coral reef calcification: carbonate, bicarbonate and proton flux under conditions of increasing ocean acidification. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280:1764. Article.
