PURPOSE OF ACTIVITY
This guided, inquiry-based, hands-on lesson uses data from a local monitoring station in Tampa Bay, Florida, to guide students toward understanding how coastal acidification may impact the reproductive success of the Florida stone crab, an important regional fishery. The objectives of the lesson are for students to: (1) determine how pH varies between different habitats, (2) determine how pH can affect the reproductive success of an important commercial fishery, the Florida stone crab, and (3) evaluate whether exposure to variable seawater pH results in greater reproductive success in stone crabs relative to individuals that are not exposed to pH variability.
AUDIENCE
This lesson is designed for undergraduates in introductory-level biology, marine biology, environmental chemistry, and oceanography courses. The activities introduce students to ocean acidification relationships associated with diel fluctuations in pH in benthic habitats like seagrass and sand. The lesson also correlates reductions in seawater pH to the reproductive success of a commercially important species, the Florida stone crab.
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Gravinese P. M., Smith A. L., Stewart S. M. & Paradis J., in press. Do pH-variable habitats provide refuge for stone crabs from coastal acidification?. Oceanography. Article.
