Microbial Bioerosion in Marine Carbonate Systems
Summary
Microbial bioerosion in marine carbonate systems is the biologically mediated breakdown of calcareous substrates driven by a diverse assemblage of endolithic microorganisms, including phototrophic cyanobacteria and algae as well as heterotrophic bacteria and fungi. These organisms penetrate carbonate frameworks, creating microborings that weaken skeletal structures, accelerate sediment generation and influence reef resilience. The rate and community composition of bioeroders vary with environmental factors such as light availability, water depth, nutrient levels and carbonate saturation state. Phototrophic microendoliths dominate in the euphotic zone, whereas organotrophic borers prevail in deeper, aphotic habitats. Seasonal shifts in temperature and irradiance further modulate bioerosion intensity, with implications for carbonate budget dynamics under climate change. Globally, microbial bioerosion contributes significantly to net carbonate loss in tropical reefs, cold-water rhodolith beds and deep-sea environments. Recent methodological advances in high-resolution imaging and molecular sequencing have refined our ability to identify bioerosion traces and assess their ecological drivers. Understanding these processes is essential for predicting the future of carbonate ecosystems and their role in long-term carbon sequestration and sedimentary record formation.
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Microbial Bioerosion in Marine Carbonate Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in microbial bioerosion in marine carbonate systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Bioerosion: The biological dissolution and mechanical degradation of calcareous substrates by organisms.
Endolith: An organism that inhabits rock or mineral substrates, often creating microborings.
Euendolith: A true endolith that actively bores into the substrate rather than inhabiting pre-existing cracks.
Microboring: Minute borings in carbonate substrates produced by microbial endoliths.
Ichnodiversity: The diversity of trace fossils or bioerosion traces within a substrate.
Aphotic zone: The oceanic depth range where light levels are too low for photosynthesis.
Carbonate saturation state: A measure of seawater’s propensity to precipitate or dissolve calcium carbonate.
References
- Ichnotaxonomy of microboring traces in marine aphotic depths. Geologia Croatica (2024).
- Bioerosion ichnodiversity in barnacles from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Polar Biology (2021).
- ‘Ten Years After’—a long‐term settlement and bioerosion experiment in an Arctic rhodolith bed (Mosselbukta, Svalbard). Geobiology (2021).
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