Increasing atmospheric CO2 can decrease the seawater pH and carbonate ions, which may adversely affect the larval survival of calcareous animals. In this study, we simulated future atmospheric CO2 concentrations (800, 1500, 2000 and 3000 $μ$atm) and examined the effects of ocean acidification on the embryonic and larval stage of an infaunal clam Paphia undulate. Significant decrease of hatching of P.
Skeletal growth records in annually banded massive coral skeletons are an under-exploited archive of coral responses to environmental changes. Average linear extension and calcification rates in Indo-Pacific Porites are linearly related to average water temperatures through 23 to 30¯C. Assessing long-term trends in Porites extension and density requires caution as there is evidence of an age effect whereby in earlier growth years corals will tend to extend less and form a higher density skeleton than in later years. This does not appear to affect calcification rates.
Echinoid sea urchins with distributions along the continental shelf and slope of the eastern Pacific often dominate the megafauna community. This occurs despite their exposure to naturally low dissolved oxygen (DO) waters (\textless60 $μ$mol kg−1) associated with the Oxygen Limited Zone and low-pH waters undersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate ($Ømega$CaCO3 \textless 1).
In order to help predict the effects of anthropogenic stressors on shallow water carbonate environments, it is important to focus research on regions containing natural oceanographic gradients, particularly with respect to interactions between oceanography and ecologically sensitive carbonate producers. The Galápagos Archipelago, an island chain in the eastern equatorial Pacific, spans a natural nutrient, pH, and temperature gradient due to the interaction of several major ocean currents.
Summary Synergies among stressors drive unanticipated changes to alternative states, yet little has been done to assess whether alleviating one or more contributing stressors may disrupt these interactions. It would be particularly useful to understand whether the synergistic effects of global and local stressors could be alleviated, leading to slower change or faster recovery, if conditions under the control of local management alone were managed (i.e. nutrient pollution). We utilized field-based mesocosms to manipulate CO2 (i.e.
An expedition to the Kavachi submarine volcano (Solomon Islands) in January 2015 was serendipitously timed with a rare lull in volcanic activity that permitted access to the inside of Kavachi's active crater and its flanks. The isolated location of Kavachi and its explosive behavior normally restrict scientific access to the volcano's summit, limiting previous observational efforts to surface imagery and peripheral water-column data.
Large and productive fisheries occur in regions experiencing or projected to experience ocean acidification. Anchoveta (Engraulis ringens) constitute the world's largest single-species fishery and live in one of the ocean's highest pCO2 regions. We investigated the relationship of the distribution and abundance of Anchoveta eggs and larvae to natural gradients in pCO2 in the Peruvian upwelling system. Eggs and larvae, zooplankton, and data on temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a and pCO2 were collected during a cruise off Peru in 2013.
Variation in rates of herbivory may be driven by direct effects of the abiotic environment on grazers, as well as indirect effects mediated by their food. Disentangling these direct and indirect effects is of fundamental importance for ecological forecasts of changing climate on species interactions and their influence on biogenic habitat. Whilst elevated atmospheric CO2 may have direct effects on grazers with calcareous structures via ‘ocean acidification', it may also have indirect effects via changes caused to their food.
There is increasing concern about the effects of ocean acidification on marine biogeochemical and ecological processes and the organisms that drive them, including marine bacteria. Here, we examine the effects of elevated CO2 on the bacterioplankton community during a mesocosm experiment using an artificial phytoplankton community in subtropical, eutrophic coastal waters of Xiamen, southern China.
Rising anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere is accompanied by an increase in oceanic CO2 and a concomitant decline in seawater pH (ref. 1). This phenomenon, known as ocean acidification (OA), has been experimentally shown to impact the biology and ecology of numerous animals and plants, most notably those that precipitate calcium carbonate skeletons, such as reef-building corals. Volcanically acidified water at Maug, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is equivalent to near-future predictions for what coral reef ecosystems will experience worldwide due to OA.
The pteropod Limacina helicina frequently experiences seasonal exposure to corrosive conditions ($Ømega$ar \textless 1) along the US West Coast and is recognized as one of the species most susceptible to ocean acidification (OA). Yet, little is known about their capacity to acclimatize to such conditions. We collected pteropods in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) that differed in the severity of exposure to $Ømega$ar conditions in the natural environment.
The ecological effects of ocean acidification (OA) from rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) on benthic marine communities are largely unknown. We investigated in situ the consequences of long-term exposure to high CO2 on coral-reef-associated macroinvertebrate communities around three shallow volcanic CO2 seeps in Papua New Guinea. The densities of many groups and the number of taxa (classes and phyla) of macroinvertebrates were significantly reduced at elevated CO2 (425–1100 µatm) compared with control sites.
We tested the sensitivity of the vertical distributions and shell dissolution patterns of thecosome pteropods to spatial gradients associated with an eddy-associated front in the southern California Current System. The aragonite saturation horizon ($Ømega$arag = 1.0) shoaled from \textgreater200 to \textless75 m depth across the front. The vertical distribution of thecosome pteropods tracked these changes, with all 5 species showing reduced occurrence at depths below 100 m where waters were less saturated with respect to aragonite.
Increasing CO2 in seawater (i.e. ocean acidification) may have various and potentially adverse effects on phytoplankton dynamics and hence the organic carbon dynamics. We conducted a CO2 manipulation experiment in the Sea of Okhotsk in summer 2006 to investigate the response of the organic carbon dynamics.
Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations are causing ocean acidification by reducing seawater pH and carbonate saturation levels. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that many larval and juvenile marine invertebrates are vulnerable to these changes in surface ocean chemistry, but challenges remain in predicting effects at community and ecosystem levels. We investigated the effect of ocean acidification on invertebrate recruitment at two coral reef CO2 seeps in Papua New Guinea.
Context Regime shifts are well known for driving penetrating ecological change, yet we do not recognise the consequences of these shifts much beyond species diversity and productivity. Sound represents a multidimensional space that carries decision-making information needed for some dispersing species to locate resources and evaluate their quantity and quality. Objectives Here we assessed the effect of regime shifts on marine soundscapes, which we propose has the potential function of strengthening the positive or negative feedbacks that mediate ecosystem shifts.
The California Undercurrent transports Pacific Equatorial Water (PEW) into the Southern California Bight from the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. PEW is characterized by higher temperatures and salinities, with lower pH, representing a source of potentially corrosive (aragonite, inline image) water to the region. We use ichthyoplankton assemblages near the cores of the California Current and the California Undercurrent to determine whether PEW influenced fish diversity.