Kristina K. Beck

• PhD
• Postdoctoral researcher at University of Edinburgh

The relationship between energy reserves of cold-water corals (CWCs) and their physiological performance remains largely unknown. In addition, it is poorly understood how the energy allocation to different metabolic processes might change with projected decreasing food supply to the deep sea in the future. This study explores the temporal and spati...

Benthic suspension feeders like corals and sponges are important bioengineers in many marine habitats, from the shallow tropics to the depth of polar oceans. While they are generally considered opportunistic, little is known about their actual in situ diet. To tackle this limitation, fatty acid trophic markers (FATMs) have been employed to gain ins...

Cold-water corals (CWCs) are considered vulnerable to environmental changes. However, previous studies have focused on adult CWCs and mainly investigated the short-term effects of single stressors. So far, the effects of environmental changes on different CWC life stages are unknown, both for single and multiple stressors and over long time periods...

Rational: Boron isotopes are a powerful tool for pH reconstruction in marine carbonates and as a tracer for fluid-mineral interaction in geochemistry. Micro-analytical approaches based on laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) often suffer from effects induced by the sample matrix. In this study,...

RATIONALE Boron isotopes are a powerful tool for pH reconstruction in marine carbonates and as tracer for fluid-mineral interaction in geochemistry. Micro-analytical approaches based on laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) often suffer from effects induced by the sample matrix. In this study, we...

The stratified Chilean Comau Fjord sustains a dense population of the cold-water coral (CWC) Desmophyllum dianthus in aragonite supersaturated shallow and aragonite undersaturated deep water. This provides a rare opportunity to evaluate CWC fitness trade-offs in response to physico-chemical drivers and their variability. Here, we combined year-long...

Cold-water corals (CWC) face an uncertain future under climate change. They seem to grow successfully under low pH conditions but physiological mechanisms and the role of energy efficiency in sustaining metabolic rates are largely unknown. The solitary, pseudo-colonial CWC Desmophyllum dianthus thrives in Comau Fjord (Northern Patagonia, Chile) des...

In the naturally acidified Comau Fjord (Chile), high densities of the cosmopolitan cold-water coral (CWC) Desmophyllum dianthus are found at or below aragonite saturation (Ωar ≤ 1). However, it is not known so far if seasonal changes in Ωar lead to seasonal differences in calcification rates and the corals’ ability to up-regulate the pH in the calc...

Cold-water corals (CWC) have long been considered particularly sensitive to ocean acidification (OA). However, a number of laboratory studies indicate that exposure to acidic waters does not affect CWC growth but in situ OA studies on CWC are scarce. In the naturally acidified Comau Fjord (Chile), high densities of the cosmopolitan CWC Desmophyllum...

Cold-water corals (CWC) were long thought to be particularly sensitive to ocean acidification (OA). However, previous laboratory studies indicate no negative effect of low aragonite saturation (Ωar) on growth rates of CWC while the few in situ studies show the same result. The CWC Desmophyllum dianthus is ubiquitous in Comau Fjord (southern Chile),...

Cold-water corals mainly thrive in waters with low aragonite saturation (Ωar). As several laboratory studies showed, long-term exposure to acidified conditions does not seem to negatively affect their growth rates but in situ studies on the response of cold-water corals to low Ωar are still scarce. The Comau Fjord in Chilean Patagonia is naturally...

Cold-water corals (CWC) are thought to be especially vulnerable to ocean acidification. However, in situ studies on the response of CWC to low aragonite saturation (Ωar) are still scarce. The Comau Fjord in northern Patagonia (Chile) is naturally stratified with vertical and horizontal pH gradients and high abundances of the cosmopolitan CWC Desmop...

Large amplitude internal waves (LAIW, or solitons) are known to change environmental factors affecting coral growth. Previous studies have been shown that LAIW have their greatest impact at greater depth. Therefore, we compared the impact of LAIW and monsoon on coral growth and skeletal density between sites exposed to and sheltered from LAIW and a...

The Similan Islands, a chain of islands in the Andaman Sea, are subject to large amplitude internal waves (LAIW, or solitons) and the southwest monsoon. The ocean facing west side of this archipelago near the Thai continental shelf break is exposed to LAIW and monsoon, whereas the eastern side is sheltered from both. LAIW mainly influence greater d...