Skeletal porosity of a cold-water coral increases with decreasing aragonite saturation state along a depth gradient in the Mediterranean Sea (opens in new tab)

Cold-water corals (CWCs) are key ecosystem engineers that create complex three-dimensional habitats much like tropical reefs, but in deep, cold seas. However, like other reef-building systems, they are increasingly threatened by climate change and ocean acidification. CWC communities in the Mediterranean Sea may be especially vulnerable because these waters absorb more atmospheric CO2 than the global ocean, making it a mesocosm that mirrors broader global trends affecting marine life. Since c...