Abstract Summary
Ocean acidification (OA) can lead to dissolution of coral skeletons as well as impacting general health and physiology. This can be detrimental to ongoing coral restoration efforts. Seagrass meadows, sometimes found adjacent to coral reefs, are mostly net autotrophic as a carbon sink and use excess bicarbonate for growth. This presents the possibility of locally mediating OA effects on corals downstream of seagrass meadows and may help determine new locations for coral restoration efforts. We performed land-based and in situ studies to understand if seagrass could improve coral physiological performance under ambient and OA conditions.
