Ocean acidification

Several ocean acidification-related sessions are planned for the Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA, 11-16 February 2018.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification sessions at 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting’

Theme: “Environmental changes in the North Pacific and impacts on biological resources and ecosystem services”

Deadline for abstract submission: 1 June 2017!

Marine ecosystems around the North Pacific are changing. Over the past decade physical, chemical, and biological processes have been altered by climate change and anthropogenic impacts. In response, species’ ranges have shifted, disrupting ecosystem goods and services, including fisheries resources upon which communities around the North Pacific depend. Understanding, characterizing and forecasting ecosystem changes will ensure managers and policy makers have the information needed to maintain ecosystem biodiversity, structure and function, and ultimately sustainable utilization of ocean resources. Assessments that use observation-based indicators of ecosystem conditions coupled with numerical models capable of predicting future marine ecosystem conditions at short (seasonal to interannual), medium (decadal) and long-term (multi-decadal) scales can inform management and policy decisions.

Continue reading ‘PICES-2017 Annual Meeting, 21 September – 1 October 2017, Vladivostok, Russia’

Deadline for abstract submission: 22 July 2017!

Convenors: Ivan Nagelkerken, Philip Munday, Colin Brauner & Marc Metian

Description: We have entered an era of increasing uncertainty about the effect of human activities on the function and services of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Although research on climate change and acidification of ocean and more recently freshwater systems has rapidly accelerated, there has been a primary emphasis on single stressor, single habitat, single species, single life stage, and short-term experiments. This has led to an incomplete view of how multiple global stressors may truly affect fish populations and communities over the longer term. Moreover, due to different species sensitivities to global change stressors we have yet to identify the full potential of fish species for acclimation or adaptation. We are at a stage where we need to broaden the scope from simple experiments to more complex studies that allow us to better predict climate-driven changes in fish communities and diversity, and the ecosystem services they provide. In this session we particularly welcome contributions on global change biology that relate to: 1) multi-species interactions, 2) multi-stressor effects and their interactions, 3) potential for species acclimation or adaption, 4) drivers of species community change, 4) ecosystem-level effects (e.g. phase shifts, resilience, productivity). By acting as a venue for the presentation and discussion of such ‘next-generation studies’ this session will highlight the current state-of-the art, identify new approaches for community and ecosystem level studies, provide opportunities for synergistic thinking, and shed a critical light on desired future research agendas to more comprehensively predict the effect of global change on fish populations and communities.

Continue reading ‘Abstract submission open: “Climate Change and High CO2 Effects on Fishes: Moving from Individual to Community Level Effects”, 10th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, 2-6 October 2017, Tahiti, French Polynesia’

Deadline for abstract submission: 1 April 2017!

Convenors: Adrienne Sutton, Sam Dupont

Keynote: Jacob Silverman (IOLR, Israel)

Natural variability in key chemical and physical drivers influences marine life at a multitude of time and space scales. Our ability to project the response of ecosystems to a changing ocean is limited by uncertainties in both present and future variability in stressors such as temperature, oxygen, carbonate chemistry and trace metals as well as uncertainties in biological impacts. This session focuses on new insights into variability and change of these multiple drivers and how they impact marine ecosystem structure, function, and biodiversity directly through fitness of individual species or indirectly through ecological interactions. Studies utilizing this information to develop ecosystem vulnerability assessments or biological indices/thresholds will also be considered. Submissions utilizing observations, experiments, and models to investigate the ecological implications of changing ocean temperature and chemistry are all welcome.

Further information.

Rationale: The formation and transport of corrosive waters in the Arctic–does it matter? Ocean acidification is thought to increase most in the cold regions of the ocean including the Sub-Arctic and Arctic. What do the observations tell us? What are the impacts of OA on Sub-Arctic and Arctic species and what effect will this have on their ecosystems?

Co-chairs: Kumiko Azetsu-Scott (Canada), Kumiko.Azetsu-Scott(at)dfo-mpo.gc.ca; Melissa Chierici (Norway), melissa.chierici(at)imr.no.

Keynote Speakers: Peter Thor (Norway); Jessica Cross (USA); Agneta Fransson (Norway)

Further information.

Description: This half-day workshop will investigate the effects of climate change and OA in Subarctic and Arctic ecosystems by bring together international experts with experience in monitoring carbonate chemistry across spatial and temporal gradients at high latitudes, using natural analogues to assess the effects of predicted OA at different levels of biological organisation and the effects of elevated pCO2 and low carbonate saturation on high latitude species. The primary objectives of the workshop will be to:

1) Document the importance of using natural analogues to investigate the effects of climate change and OA in subarctic and arctic ecosystems, and how such frameworks may be developed in the future.

2) Identify suitable natural analogue sites for future research into climate change and OA in the Subarctic and Arctic waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Polar Oceans.

3) Form a strong cross disciplinary group of experienced researchers to support future applications for funding work on this topic.

The workshop will consist of some initial presentations and then discussions working towards a manuscript related to objective 1 above. In addition, a report on the results of the discussions on objectives 2 and 3 will be produced.

Convenors: Samuel Rastrick, IMR, Norway, samuel.rastrick(at)imr.no; Tina Kutti, IMR, Norway, tina.kutti(at)imr.no; Melissa Chierici, IMR, Norway, melissa.chierici(at)imr.no; Marco Milazzo, U. of Palermo, Italy, marco.milazzo(at)unipa.it; Jason Hall-Spencer, U. of Plymouth, UK, jason.hall-spencer(at)plymouth.ac.uk; Agneta Fransson, NPI, Norway, agneta.fransson(at)npolar.no

Further information.