@article {490,
	title = {Upper thermal thresholds of shallow vs. deep populations of the precious Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum (L.): Assessing the potential effects of warming in the NW Mediterranean},
	journal = {Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology},
	volume = {357},
	year = {2008},
	abstract = {<p>Recent mortality outbreaks in marine ecosystems have been linked to  elevated seawater temperatures associated with global climate change.  Acquisition of thermotolerance data is essential, not only to determine  the role of temperature in mortality outbreaks, but also to predict  consequences of global warming. In the NW Mediterranean region, elevated  seawater temperatures during the summer periods of 1999 and 2003 caused  mass mortality of the Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubum (L.  1758). Experiments testing the upper thermal limits of this species were  carried out in aquaria using samples collected from populations from 11  to 40 m depth in the Marseilles region (NW Mediterranean, France).  Samples were subjected to temperature treatments between 18 and 30 \&deg;C  with an exposure time of 5 and 25 days. Three biological response  variables were used to evaluate effects of the treatments: coenenchyme  necrosis, polyp activity and calcification rates (45Ca incorporation in  calcareous skeleton). The results showed that exposure to 24 \&deg;C for 24  days caused a beginning of mortality only for the deep population, and  to 25 \&deg;C for between 9 and 14 days caused mass mortality of both sample  groups. The response variable results indicate that samples from the  shallow population had greater thermotolerance of elevated seawater  temperatures than the deep samples. The shallow samples showed greater  polyp activity and higher calcification rate with a delayed necrosis  response than the deep samples. These initial thermotolerance results  combined with both hydrographic models and seawater temperature  monitoring are the first step towards developing predictive tools for  anticipating future effects of climate change in the red coral  populations.</p>},
	keywords = {calcification rate, climate, climate change, Corallium rubrum, ecosystem, France, global warming, laboratory experiment, Marseille, Marseilles, mass mortality, Mediterranean sea, monitoring, mortality, n{\'e}crose, north-western Mediterranean, predictive tool, red coral, temperature, thermotolerance, warming, water temperature},
	author = {O. Torrents and E. Tambutt{\'e} and N. Caminiti and J. Garrabou}
}
