The increase in anthropogenic CO2 production since the industrial revolution has led to an increase in dissolved carbon in the ocean. Higher concentrations of dissolved carbon decrease oceanic pH, in a process called ocean acidification, which results in less CaCO3 in the form of aragonite available to calcifying organisms. Acidification, coupled with ocean warming, will cause an unknown number of changes to the marine environment. Newly developing organisms can be particularly vulnerable to these chemical and temperature changes, as availability of aragonite affects formation of crucial structures needed for control of direction and movement in the water column. Studying marine habitat parameters such as the physical and geochemical range of habitable areas helps us understand how areas of high biodiversity are supported from an earth systems perspective. From this physical data, an index of habitability can be created for a particular species based on their preferred habitat parameters. This study considered a habitability index for the longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) by creating suitability models in Arc GIS Pro. The index of habitability for the squid under current conditions was spatially compared to the potential indexes (in the form of suitability surfaces) under future climate change scenarios to assess whether the longfin squid had a variable amount of suitable habitat in the future. Understanding how ocean acidification and warming, among other aspects of climate change, affects habitable zones will help us understand how climate change will affect the biodiversity of our oceans, and which areas are the most vulnerable
Coker R., 2024. Habitability Index: estimating systematic habitability for the longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) under climate change using estimated future ocean environmental parameters. MSc Thesis, College of Charleston, 151 p. Thesis (restricted access)
