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GOOS webinar: Integrated and interdisciplinary observations of the ecological impacts of ocean acidification

Published 12 September 2018 Presentations , Projects Leave a Comment

Time: Thursday, September 13, 2018 17: 00 UCT

Presenter: Rusty Brainard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Description: Ocean acidification is predicted to significantly impact coral reefs and the associated ecosystem services they provide to human societies. To inform, validate, and improve experiments and predictive modelling efforts, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) SubCommission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP), and many countries of the western and central Pacific Ocean have established an integrated, interdisciplinary observing network to assess spatial patterns and monitor long-term trends of the ecological impacts of ocean acidification on coral reef ecosystems.

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OA-ICC bibliographic database updated

Published 6 September 2018 Projects , Science Leave a Comment

An updated version of the OA-ICC bibliographic database is available online.

The database currently contains more than 5000 references and includes citations, abstracts and assigned keywords. Updates are made every three months.

The database is available as a group on Mendeley. Subscribe online or, for a better user experience, download the Mendeley Desktop application and sync with the group Ocean Acidification (OA-ICC). Please see the “User instructions” for further details.

Environmental post-processing increases the adhesion strength of mussel byssus adhesive

Published 4 September 2018 Projects Leave a Comment
Tags: biological response, laboratory, mollusks, morphology

Marine mussels (Mytilus trossulus) attach to a wide variety of surfaces underwater using a protein adhesive that is cured by the surrounding seawater environment. In this study, the influence of environmental post-processing on adhesion strength was investigated by aging adhesive plaques in a range of seawater pH conditions. Plaques took 8–12 days to achieve full strength at pH 8, nearly doubling in adhesion strength (+94%) and increasing the work required to dislodge (+59%). Holding plaques in low pH conditions prevented strengthening, causing the material to tear more frequently under tension. The timescale of strengthening is consistent with the conversion of DOPA to DOPA-quinone, a pH dependent process that promotes cross-linking between adhesive proteins. The precise arrangement of DOPA containing proteins away from the adhesive-substratum interface emphasizes the role that structural organization can have on function, an insight that could lead to the design of better synthetic adhesives and metal-coordinating hydrogels.

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New edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights”, April – June 2018

Published 1 August 2018 Newsletters and reports , Projects Leave a Comment

The new edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights” summarizes the project’s main activities and achievements over the period April – June 2018. The content is structured around the three major areas of work of the OA-ICC: science, capacity building and communication. Links to the project’s main resources are also provided.

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NEW CRP: Applied radioecological tracers to assess coastal and marine ecosystem health (K41019)

Published 27 July 2018 Projects Leave a Comment

Coastal and marine ecosystems face various threats from climate change and anthropogenic activity, however radiotracers can be valuable tools to evaluate their health. (Photo: Roberta Hansman)Enter a caption

The IAEA is launching a new 4-year Coordinated Research Project (CRP) starting in early 2019 to develop new radioecological tracers (radiotracers) to assess the health of coastal and marine ecosystems.

Many of the challenges threatening the sustainability of coastal and marine ecosystems are caused or exacerbated by anthropogenic (i.e. human-caused) activities and a changing climate. Issues such as deoxygenation, marine plastics, ocean acidification, increased duration and intensity of toxic harmful algal blooms (HABs) and fluxes of nuclear and non-nuclear pollutants are all impacting coastal and marine resources, thereby posing various environmental and economic risks. Evaluating the health of coastal and marine ecosystems, and how they may respond to external disturbances, can provide useful information for Member States in the sustainable management of their marine environments.

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Version 6 of the Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) now available

Published 20 July 2018 Projects , Science Leave a Comment

More than than 100 contributing scientists worldwide have contributed to Version 6 of the Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT). SOCAT (www.socat.info) is a synthesis activity by international marine carbon scientists with annual public releases. SOCAT version 6 has 23.4 million quality-controlled in situ surface ocean fCO2 (fugacity of carbon dioxide) measurements from 1957 to 2017 for the global oceans and coastal seas, as well as additional calibrated sensor fCO2 measurements.

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NEW CRP: Evaluating the impacts of ocean acidification on seafood – a global approach (K41018)

Published 15 June 2018 Projects Leave a Comment

The IAEA is launching a new 4-year Coordinated Research Project (CRP) starting in 2019 to advance understanding on the effects of ocean acidification on seafood around the world and to explore adaptation strategies for aquaculture and seafood industries.

Intensive fossil-fuel burning and deforestation over the last two centuries has increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by 50 % above pre-industrial values. The global ocean currently absorbs roughly one third of this anthropogenic carbon dioxide, and its carbonate chemistry is fundamentally altered in the process. By doing so, the ocean undergoes a decrease in pH, referred to as ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification has been recognized as a major threat to marine ecosystems. Concern about the impacts of ocean acidification on socioeconomically important seafood is increasing world-wide, and ocean acidification is now an integral part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, recent studies have demonstrated that ocean acidification may also impact the quality of seafood, and there is a growing body of literature documenting the biological response of seafood to ocean acidification. Long-term studies are essential to track the effects of ocean acidification, but there are few of these studies. Furthermore, data on economically and socially important seafood in developing countries are still largely lacking.

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