The simple definition of biomineralization is when organisms produce minerals that are crucial to hardening and strengthening tissues. Coral calcification is the process of corals building reefs via the production of calcium carbonate in the skeleton. These two processes are vital not only for coral health but also to the entire reef ecosystem. Coral reefs are home to thousands of species of marine life and depend on the reefs for shelter and feeding. 

Through biomineralization, inorganic materials are put into biological systems essential for forming structures of organisms. Corals need biomineralization to form a strong skeleton that is made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). This process, also interchanging referred to as calcification helps single coral polyps to turn into entire coral reefs. During calcification, bicarbonate ions are converted to carbonate ions so that calcification can occur at a much faster rate in order to build coral reefs. 

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Ocean Acidification Effects of Biomineralization and Calcification

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Marine calcifiers’ environments are heavily affected by ocean acidification. Factors caused by ocean acidification create a stressed environment through the undersaturation of nutrients and acidified seawater. The acidification of the ocean has altered patterns of biomineralization by a decrease in marine productivity (calcification, growth rate, feeding efficiency, and reproductive output). These calcifiers have intracellular and extracellular body fluids where pH is regulated and because of the change in carbonate chemistry, these mechanisms have become overwhelmed. The shells and skeletons of marine calcifiers start to dissolve as pH lowers. The absorption of carbon dioxide in seawater increases hydrogen ions and lowers the number of carbonate ions. Carbonate ions are crucial to the building of skeletons and shells to marine organisms like corals, mussels, and oysters. Ocean acidification continues to threaten marine life where calcifiers are now living in ocean conditions like acidified and nutrient-deprived waters that stress their physiological and biological processes that could eventually lead to their dying populations.