TA, total alkalinity; DIC, dissolved inorganic carbon; pCO2, carbon dioxide concentration; HCO3 −, bicarbonate concentration; CO32 −, carbonate concentration; POC, particulate organic carbon content per cell; PP, primary production per cell; PIC, particulate inorganic carbon content per cell; CR,
calcification rate per cell; Chl a, chlorophyll a content per cell.
All coastal engineering communities support intense metabolic processes, including high primary production, respiration and
calcification rates, thereby affecting CO2, CO3 −, and alkalinity concentrations and surface water pH. However, many metabolically intense coastal habitats are experiencing global declines in their abundance at
rates in excess of 1 %
per year (Duarte et al. 2008; Ermgassen et al. 2013).