Biodiversity fights the acidification of the oceans

In the oceans richest in biodiversity, the species establish a mutual aid network and thus become more resistant to the negative effects of acidification due to the abundance of carbon dioxide (CO2). This is indicated by the Italian research published in the Scientific Reports magazine and led by the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station of Naples in collaboration with the Marche Polytechnic University.

"They were very important results because they tell us that 'union is strength'. It is a bit as if a large number of species created a sort of cooperation and mutual aid network, capable of fighting a common enemy: climate change and acidification of the oceans, "Anton Dohrn President of the Zoological Station, Roberto Danovaro, told ANSA.

The discovery is based on an experiment that has set up aquariums containing different marine species, such as red coral, sponges, coral algae, organized in different biodiversity levels and in which the acidification conditions expected for 2100 have been reconstructed. that the negative impacts of acidification can be reduced almost completely for some sponges and coral algae, while for the red coral only half, demonstrating once again that this species is one of the most threatened by climate change.

High biodiversity values, explains Eugenio Rastelli of the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station, "reduce the risk of loss of species and of fundamental functions for the ecosystem. At the same time, they guarantee greater availability of food resources and promote beneficial interactions with the microbial flora, to counteract any damage from infections and pathogenic germs ". The result, according to Rastelli, "also indicates a possible way to counteract the harmful effects of ocean acidification", such as the adoption of conservation strategies or restoration of biodiversity.