Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sponge Reefs of the British Columbia, Canada Coast: Impacts of Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Climate Change, Ocean Acidification and Sponges

Abstract

Sponge reefs living in deeper shelf waters on the western margin of North America are somewhat insulated from surface water effects of localized ocean warming but are susceptible to increasing hypoxia associated with ocean stratification and increasing upwelling. The largest reef complexes are projected to experience increasing upwelling and low-oxygen events in the future as part of the observed and projected changes in ocean ventilation accompanying increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Inshore and shallow reefs are subjected to surface water warming in fiords. Surface water productivity is anticipated to change slightly likely having limited negative impact on the sponge reefs which are adapted to relatively low-nutrient situations. It is unknown the extent to which glass sponges might be resilient to lower oxygen conditions. While filtration is an energetically costly method of feeding, glass sponges appear to be adapted to reduce their energetic needs by using ambient flow to assist filtration. Populations that experience extreme hypoxia in some fiords may be extirpated by extreme anoxic events. Ocean acidification will not have as large an effect on the siliceous skeleton sponges as it will on corals and other carbonate-dependent organisms though it is possible changing pH will affect tissue functioning and homeostasis by compromising membrane pumps. Hexactinellid sponges and sponge reefs have been resilient to changing climate and ocean environments in the geologic past.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barclay DJ, Wiles GC, Calkin PE (2009) Holocene glacier fluctuations in Alaska. Quat Sci Rev 28:2034–2048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrie JV, Conway KW (2002) Sea level and glacial sedimentation on the Pacific margin of Canada. In: Dowdeswell J, O’Cofaigh C (eds) Glacier-influenced sedimentation on high-latitude continental margins, vol 203. Geol Soc Spec Pub, pp 181–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrie JV, Conway KW (2013) Paleogeographic reconstruction of Hecate Strait, British Columbia: changing sea levels and sedimentary processes reshape a glaciated shelf. In: Li MZ, Sherwood CR, Hill PR (eds) Sediments, morphology and sedimentary processes on continental shelves, vol 44. Int Ass Sed Spec Pub, pp 29–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer PG, Peltzer ET (2009) Limits to marine life. Science 324:347–348. doi:10.1126/science.1170756

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Capelle DW, Tortell PD (2016) Factors controlling methane and nitrous-oxide variability in the southern British Columbia coast upwelling system. Mar Chem 179:56–67

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conway KW, Barrie JV, Austin WC, Luternauer JL (1991) Holocene sponge bioherms on the western Canadian continental shelf. Cont Shelf Res 11:771–790

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conway KW, Barrie JV, Krautter M (2004) Modern siliceous sponge reefs in a turbid silicclastic setting: Fraser River delta, British Columbia, Canada. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie 6:335–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway KW, Barrie JV, Krautter M (2005) Geomorphology of unique reefs on the western Canadian shelf: sponge reefs mapped by multibeam bathymetry. Geo Mar Lett 25:205–213

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford WR, Pena MA (2013) Declining oxygen on the British Columbia continental shelf. Atmosphere Ocean 51:1–15. doi:10.1080/07055900.2012.753028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danise D, Twichwett RJ, Little CTS (2015) Environmental controls on Jurassic marine ecosystems during global warming. Geology 43(3):263–266. doi:10.1130/G36390.1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feeley RA, Alin SR, Newton J, Sabine CL (2010) The combined effects of ocean acidification, mixing and respiration on pH and carbonate saturation in an urbanized estuary. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 88:442–449. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2010.05.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flynn KJ, Blackford JC, Baird ME, Raven JA, Clark DR, Beardall J, Brownlee C, Fabian H, Wheeler GL (2012) Changes in pH at the exterior surface of plankton with ocean acidification. Nat Clim Change 2:510–513

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gehling JG, Rigby KJ (1996) Long expected sponges from the Neoproterozoic Ediacara fauna of South Australia. J Paleo 70(2):185–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grantham BA, Chan F, Nielsen KJ, Fox DS, Barth JA, Huyer A, Lubchenco J, Menge BA (2004) Upwelling-driven nearshore hypoxia signals ecosystem and oceanographic changes in the northeast Pacific. Nature 429:749–754

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray JS, Wu RS, Or YY (2002) Effects of hypoxia and organic enrichment on the coastal marine environment. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 238:249–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington R, Barrie JV (2004) Interaction between local tectonics and glacial unlading on the Pacific margin of Canada. Quat Int 120:65–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogg MM, Tendal OS, Conway KW, Pomponi SA, van Soest RWM, Gutt J, Krautter M, Roberts JM (2010) Deepsea sponge grounds: reservoirs of biodiversity. UNEP-WCMC Biodiversity Series No. 32, 1-84. UNEP-WCMC

    Google Scholar 

  • Johannessen SC, Masson D, Macdonald RW (2014) Oxygen in the deep Strait of Georgia, 1951–2009: the roles of mixing, deep-water renewal, and remineralization of organic carbon. Limnol Oceanogr 59:211–222. doi:10.4319/lo.2014.59.1.0211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Josenhans HW, Barrie JV (1989) Submersible observations on the Labrador shelf, Hudson Strait and Baffin shelf. In: Piper DJW (ed) Submersible observations off the east coast of Canada, Geological Survey of Canada Paper 88–20, pp 41–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn A, Yahel G, Tunnicliffe V, Leys S (2013) Glass sponge reefs significantly impact water properties in a marginal sea, the Strait of Georgia. Soc Integr Comp Biol 53:E105

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn A, Yahel G, Chu J, Leys S (2015) Benthic grazing and carbon sequestration by deep-water glass sponge reefs. Limnol Oceanogr 60(1):78–88

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krautter M (1997) Aspekte zur Palaokologie postpalaozoischer Kieselschwamme. Profil 11:199–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Krautter M (2002) Fossil Hexactinellida: an overview. In: Hooper J, van Soest R (eds) Systema Porifera: a guide to the classification of sponges. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York, pp 1211–1223

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Krautter M, Conway KW, Barrie JV, Neuweiler M (2001) Discovery of a “living Dinosaur”: globally unique modern hexactinellid sponge reefs off British Columbia, Canada. Facies 44:265–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krautter M, Conway KW, Barrie JV (2006) Recent hexactinosidan sponge reefs (silicate mounds) off British Columbia, Canada: frame-building processes. J Paleo 80(1):38–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen CF, Motyka RJ, Arendt AA, Echelmeyer KA, Geissler PE (2007) Glacier changes in southeast Alaska and northwest British Columbia and contribution to sea level rise. J Geophys Res 112:F01007. doi:10.1029/2006JF000586

    Google Scholar 

  • Leinfelder RR, Krautter K, Laternser R, Nose M, Schmid DU, Schwiegert G, Werner W, Keupp H, Brugger H, Herrman R, Rehfeld-Kiefer U, Schroeder JH, Reinhold C, Koch R, Zeiss A, Schweizer V, Christmann H, Menges G, Luterbacher H (1994) The origin of Jurassic reefs: current research and results. Facies 31:1–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leinfelder RR, Schmid DU, Nose M, Werner W (2002) Jurassic reef patterns: the expression of a changing globe. SEPM Special Publication No. 72:465-520 ISBN 1-56576-081-6

    Google Scholar 

  • Leys SP, Meech RW (2006) Physiology of coordination in sponges. Can J Zool 84:288–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leys SP, Mackie GO, Meech RW (1999) Impulse conduction in a sponge. J Exp Biol 202:1139–1150

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leys SP, Wilson K, Holeton C, Reiswig HM, Austin WC, Tunnicliffe V (2004) Patterns of glass sponge (Porifera, Hexactinellida) distribution in coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 283:133–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leys SP, Yahel G, Reidenbach MA, Tunnicliffe V (2011) The sponge pump: the role of current induced flow in the design of the sponge body plan. PLoS One 6:e27787

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ludeman D, Farrar N, Riesgo A, Paps J, Leys S (2014) Evolutionary origins of sensation in metazoans: functional evidence for a new sensory organ in sponges. BMC Evol Biol 14

    Google Scholar 

  • Okey TA, Alidina HM, Lo V, Jessen S (2014) Effects of climate change on Canada’s Pacific marine ecosystems: a summary of scientific knowledge. Rev Fish Biol Fish 24:519–559. doi:10.1007/s11160-014-9342-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickard GL (1975) Annual and longer term variations of deepwater properties in the coastal waters of southern British Columbia. J Fish Res Board Can 32:1561–1587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riedel M, Spence GD, Chapman NR, Hyndman RD (2002) Seismic investigations of a vent field associated with gas hydrates, offshore Vancouver Island. J Geophys Res 107(B9):2200. doi:10.1029/2001JB000269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reiswig HM (2002) Class Hexactinellida Schmidt, 1870. In: Hooper JNA, van Soest RWM (eds) Systema Porifera: a guide to the classification of sponges. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York, pp 1201–1202

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rykaczewski RR, Dunne JP, Sydeman WJ, García-Reyes M, Black BA, Bograd SJ (2015) Poleward displacement of coastal upwelling-favorable winds in the ocean’s eastern boundary currents through the 21st century. Geophys Res Lett 42:6424–6431. doi:10.1002/2015GL064694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone RP, Conway KW, Csepp DJ, Barrie JV (2014) The boundary reefs: glass sponge (Porifera: Hexactinellida) reefs on the international border between Canada and the USA. U.S. Dep. of Commer. NOAA Tech Mem NMFS_AFSC-264. 31 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomson RE, Krassovski MV (2010) Poleward reach of the California Undercurrent extension. J Geophys Res 115:C09027. doi:10.1029/2010JC006280

    Google Scholar 

  • Wendt J, Wu X, Reinhardt JW (1989) Deep-water hexactinellid sponge mounds from the Upper Triassic of northern Sichuan (China). Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 76:17–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitney FA (2011) Nutrient variability in the mixed layer of the subarctic Pacific Ocean 1987–2010. J Oceanogr 67:481–492. doi:10.1007/s10872-011-0051-2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whitney FA, Robert M (2002) Structure of Haida eddies and their transport of nutrient from coastal margins into the NE Pacific Ocean. J Oceanogr 58:715–723

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whitney FA, Conway KW, Thomson RE, Barrie JV, Krautter M, Mungov G (2005a) Oceanographic habitat of sponge reefs on the Western Canadian Continental Shelf. Cont Shelf Res 25:211–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitney FA, Crawford WR, Harrison PJ (2005b) Physical processes that enhance nutrient transport and primary productivity in the coastal and open ocean of the subarctic NE Pacific. Deep Sea Res II 52:681–706

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whitney FA, Freeland HJ, Robert M (2007) Persistently declining oxygen levels in the interior waters of the eastern subarctic Pacific. Prog Oceanogr 75:179–199. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.08.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitney FA, Bograd SJ, Ono T (2013) Nutrient enrichment of the subarctic Pacific Ocean pycnocline. Geophys Res Lett 40. doi:10.1002/grl.50439

  • Yahel G, Whitney F, Reiswig HM, Eerkes-Medrano DI, Leys SP (2007) In situ feeding and metabolism of glass sponges (Hexactinellida, Porifera) studied in a deep temperate fjord with a remotely operated submersible. Limnol Oceanogr 52:428–440

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Division, Geological Survey of Canada, 9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney, BC, Canada, V8L 4B2

    K. W. Conway & J. V. Barrie

  2. Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney, BC, Canada, V8L 4B2

    F. Whitney

  3. Department of Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    S. P. Leys

  4. Brunnenrain 15, D73655, Pluederhausen, Germany

    M. Krautter

Authors
  1. K. W. Conway
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. Whitney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. P. Leys
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J. V. Barrie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. Krautter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. W. Conway .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico

    José Luis Carballo

  2. School of Biological Science, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    James J. Bell

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Conway, K.W., Whitney, F., Leys, S.P., Barrie, J.V., Krautter, M. (2017). Sponge Reefs of the British Columbia, Canada Coast: Impacts of Climate Change and Ocean Acidification. In: Carballo, J., Bell, J. (eds) Climate Change, Ocean Acidification and Sponges. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59008-0_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation