a news stream provided by the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Center (OA-ICC)
Date: 1 December 2021
Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN) is hosting a free in-person workshop on December 1 at University of South Florida College of Marine Science. The workshop will address the intersection of ocean acidification social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities in the Southeast. Email socan@secoora.org if you are interested in attending.
Continue reading ‘SOCAN workshop’Wild salmon and shellfish among species most vulnerable to falling pH levels of seas
Dr Dick Feely, senior scientist with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A global expert on ocean acidification has urged Ireland to become involved in monitoring its potential impact on the State’s multimillion-euro seafood sector.
Atlantic wild salmon and shellfish are among the marine species most vulnerable to falling pH levels, according to Dr Dick Feely, senior scientist with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Known as the “other CO2 problem”, acidification due to increasing carbon emissions is now acknowledged as one of a trio of threats to the health of the world’s oceans, along with global warming and deoxygenation.
“Warming Up, Turning Sour, Losing Breath” is how Dr Feely subtitled his recent address on the issue at NUI Galway.
Continue reading ‘US expert urges Ireland to participate in monitoring ocean acidification’The United States Department of Energy (DOE)’s Ocean Margins Program (OMP) cruise EN279 in March 1996 provides an important baseline for assessing long-term changes in the carbon cycle and biogeochemistry in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) as climate and anthropogenic changes have been substantial in this region over the past two decades. The distributions of O2, nutrients, and marine inorganic carbon system parameters are influenced by coastal currents, temperature gradients, and biological production and respiration. On the cross-shelf direction, pH decreases seaward, but carbonate saturation state (ΩArag) does not exhibit a clear trend. In contrast, ΩArag increases from north to south, while pH has no clear spatial patterns in the along-shelf direction. In order to distinguish between the effects of physical mixing of various water masses and those of biological activities on the marine inorganic carbon system, we use the potential temperature-salinity diagram to identify water masses, and differences between observations and theoretical mixing concentrations to measure the non-conservative (primarily biological) effects. Our analysis clearly shows the degree to which ocean margin pH and ΩArag are regulated by biological activities in addition to water mass mixing, gas exchange, and temperature. The correlations among anomalies in dissolved inorganic carbon, phosphate, nitrate, and apparent oxygen utilization agree with known biological stoichiometry. Biological uptake is substantial in nearshore waters and in shelf-slope mixing areas. This work provides valuable baseline information to assess the more recent changes in the marine inorganic carbon system and the status of coastal ocean acidification.
Continue reading ‘The Mid-Atlantic Bight dissolved inorganic carbon system observed in the March 1996 DOE Ocean Margins Program (OMP) – a baseline study’There is a need to understand the responses of marine molluscs in this era of rapid climate change. Transgenerational plasticity that results in resilient offspring provides a mechanism for rapid acclimation of marine organisms to climate change. This study tested the hypothesis that adult parental exposure to elevated pCO2 and warming will have transgenerational benefits for offspring in the oysters Saccostrea glomerata and Crassostrea gigas. Adult S. glomerata and C. gigas were exposed to orthogonal treatments of ambient and elevated pCO2, and ambient and elevated temperature for 8 weeks. Gametes were collected and fertilized, larvae were then reared for 9 days under ambient and elevated pCO2. Egg lipidome and larval morphology and lipidome were measured. Parental exposure to warming and elevated pCO2 led to limited beneficial transgenerational responses for eggs and larvae of S. glomerata and C. gigas. Overall, larvae of S. glomerata were more sensitive than C. gigas, and both species had some capacity for transgenerational plasticity. This study supports the idea that transgenerational plasticity acts as an acclimatory mechanism for marine organisms to cope with the stress of climate change, but there are limitations, and it may not be a panacea or act equally in different species.
Continue reading ‘Adult exposure to ocean acidification and warming leads to limited beneficial responses for oyster larvae’The effects of ocean acidification on marine organisms are of increasing concern. Exopalaemon carinicauda is an important economic shrimp. However, little is known about the transcriptome data for shrimp in response to seawater acidification stress. In this study, the transcriptome of E. carinicauda in response to seawater acidification stress was recorded using the Illumina RNA-sequencing. A total of 59 990 unigenes from high-quality transcripts were generated. Of all annotated unigenes, 18 386 and 17 681 unigenes had significant matches with sequences in the NR, and GO databases, respectively. A total of 183 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) could be screened, of which 119 DEGs were up-regulated and 64 DEGs were down-regulated. KEGG enrichment analysis showed these DEGs were primarily enriched in the pathways of lysosome, carbohydrate digestion and absorption, apoptosis, and alpha-linolenic acid metabolism. These results indicate that seawater acidification stress leads to the activation of apoptosis and the activity of the energy metabolism system in order to resist the external environmental stress and ensure the continuity of the normal life metabolism, and thus the energy supply of the organism. These data will be helpful to further study the molecular mechanisms of shrimp resistance to seawater acidification stress.
Continue reading ‘Transcriptome analysis of Exopalaemon carinicauda (Holthuis, 1950) (Caridea, Palaemonidae) in response to CO2-driven acidification’In a new paper published in Frontiers in Marine Science, scientists call for increased consideration of ocean acidification to help inform future fish stock management in the Arctic Ocean, as well as publishing a roadmap for monitoring commercial fish stocks in this vulnerable and vital region.
The paper, led by scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory working with partners from the University of Exeter, Norwegian Institute of Water Research and the East China Normal University, outlines how ocean acidification must be considered with other potential stressors to accurately predict fish stocks in the Arctic, and therefore inform future fish stock management strategies.
The Arctic Ocean is particularly susceptible to ocean acidification and already experiences low pH levels not projected to occur on a global scale until 2100 so a better understanding of the impact of increasing acidity in this region is urgently required.
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In addition, warming amplifies the Arctic’s susceptibility to ocean acidification with continued loss of multi-year ice, increasing the surface area of the ocean available for CO2 gas exchange and adding to the many pressures already facing the area.
Also highlighted in the study is the remote and often hostile nature of the Arctic Ocean. Collecting in situ data can be costly and challenging. This results in most datasets having a high seasonal bias toward the summer, in addition to little data being collected near multi-year sea ice. Sampling data is often fed into ecosystem models, which are used to project possible changes in stocks and ecosystem function so biased data can lead to inaccurate model outputs.
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There are many aspects of global change that remain hidden from our view. They have little effect on our daily lives, and most people ignore them: out of sight, out of mind. If this is true of global change impacts on land, then it is doubly true of the impacts on the world’s oceans. Although 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean waters, most of us know very little about the oceans. It is perhaps even more difficult to generate public interest in oceanic environmental impacts that are completely invisible. One exception to this is the enormous piles of plastic debris that drift across the world’s oceans and wash up on shores around the world. This problem can be photographed, and films can be made about it, showing marine mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds drowning because of it. But changes in ocean temperature and chemistry are invisible to the naked eye. They are happening, slowly but surely, as the planet’s atmosphere warms, and as atmospheric CO2 levels rise. This chapter concerns one of these invisible impacts: the rising acidity of the world’s ocean waters.
Continue reading ‘Chapter 5 – impacts of ocean acidification on Arctic marine ecosystems’Human-driven global change is challenging the scientific community to understand how marine species might adapt to predicted environmental conditions in the near-future.
The effects of the uptake of anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 by oceans affects propagate across the biological hierarchy, from changes in the building blocks of life at nano-scales to organism, physiology and behaviour through ecosystem processes and their properties.
To survive in a reduced pH environment, marine organisms have to adjust their physiology which, at the molecular level, is achieved by modifying the expression of genes. The study of such changes in gene expression can aid in revealing the adaptive mechanisms of life under predicted future ocean acidification conditions (e.g. hypoxia, ocean warming, and ocean acidification).
Making use of natural laboratories
There are a few places on this planet where volcanic activity has CO2 bubbling from the seafloor creating conditions that are similar to those predicted to occur across the oceans in the near-future. Such natural laboratories can then help us to understand what will happen to marine organisms in the future under an ocean acidification scenario. Therefore, researchers from Research Division for Ecology & Biodiversity of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Swire Institute of Marine Science, jointly with researchers from the University of Adelaide, travelled to a remote volcanic island of New Zealand called White Island. They collected samples from CO2 seeps and nearby locations, and analysed molecular data from a fish species (the Common triplefin) with ecological evidence of being successfully adapted to acidified environments at CO2 volcanic vents. The findings were published in a peer-reviewed open access journal Evolutionary Applications.
On World Ocean Day 2021, we explored how nations around the world step up and build a sustainable ocean economy in the face of cumulative ocean change. This broadly attended event co-hosted by The Ocean Foundation, the OA Alliance, and IAEA Ocean Acidification International Coordinating Center brought to you Ambassador Peter Thomson, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, Dr. Peter Swarzenski from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) OA International Coordination Centre, and speakers from around the globe from the Pacific Coast of North America, through New Zealand, to Lebanon and Argentina.
In 2021, it is imperative that governments and civil society continue to advance the suite of science and policy actions that will be needed to support food security and sovereignty, increase the resilience of marine ecosystems, and build a sustainable ocean economy in the face of future change.
This is reflected in the UN Sustainable Development Goal Agenda and target SDG 14.3, to “Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification.” As the science, research, and observed impacts of ocean acidification continue to grow, there is a continued need for increased knowledge exchange and expertise on the substance and process for developing local, regional, and national responses in the face of cumulative ocean change.
Continue reading ‘Implementing UN SDG 14.4: minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification (text & video)’
Le Dr Sylvie Tambutté (Directeur de Recherche de l’équipe Physiologie et biochimie du CSM) lors de son allocution à la conférence sur ‘Le cycle du carbone dans l’océan’ au Collège de France le 18 juin 2021.
Le Dr Sylvie Tambutté, responsable de l’équipe de Physiologie corallienne a été invitée à donner une conférence au Collège de France le 18 Juin dernier. Le colloque était organisé par le Professeur Edouard Bard, titulaire de la Chaire “Évolution du climat et de l’océan” du Collège de France. La thématique portait sur « Le cycle du carbone dans l’océan » et huit orateurs ont présenté des séminaires sur des sujets incluant la perspective paléoclimatique, les flux de carbone, la modélisation biogéochimique ou encore le changement climatique et ses impacts sur l’océan.
C’est sur un aspect biologique que le Dr Tambutté est intervenu en exposant les impacts de l’acidification sur les organismes benthiques calcifiants. Après avoir introduit les bases du sujet, elle a pu aborder les résultats récents des recherches de son équipe montrant comment l’acidification impacte le processus de calcification chez les coraux de l’organisme jusqu’aux cellules et aux gènes.
Pour plus d’informations, veuillez contacter :
Documents
Continue reading ‘Le CSM invité au Collège de France à donner une conférence (in French)’Highlights
Abstract
Understanding of biological responses of marine fauna to seawater acidification due to potential CO2 leakage from sub-seabed storage sites has improved recently, providing support to CCS environmental risk assessment. Physiological responses of benthic organisms to ambient hypercapnia have been previously investigated but rarely at the cellular level, particularly in areas of less common geochemical and ecological conditions such as brackish water and/or reduced oxygen levels. In this study, CO2-related responses of oxygen-dependent, antioxidant and detoxification systems as well as markers of neurotoxicity and acid-base balance in the Baltic clam Limecola balthica from the Baltic Sea were quantified in 50-day experiments. Experimental conditions included CO2 addition producing pH levels of 7.7, 7.0 and 6.3, respectively and hydrostatic pressure 900 kPa, simulating realistic seawater acidities following a CO2 seepage accident at the potential CO2-storage site in the Baltic. Reduced pH interfered with most biomarkers studied, and modifications to lactate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase indicate that aerobiosis was a dominant energy production pathway. Hypercapnic stress was most evident in bivalves exposed to moderately acidic seawater environment (pH 7.0), showing a decrease of glutathione peroxidase activity, activation of catalase and suppression of glutathione S-transferase activity likely in response to enhanced free radical production. The clams subjected to pH 7.0 also demonstrated acetylcholinesterase activation that might be linked to prolonged impact of contaminants released from sediment. The most acidified conditions (pH 6.3) stimulated glutathione and malondialdehyde concentration in the bivalve tissue suggesting potential cell damage. Temporal variations of most biomarkers imply that after a 10-to-15-day initial phase of an acute disturbance, the metabolic and antioxidant defence systems recovered their capacities.
Continue reading ‘Cellular level response of the bivalve Limecola balthica to seawater acidification due to potential CO2 leakage from a sub-seabed storage site in the southern Baltic Sea: TiTank experiment at representative hydrostatic pressure’The Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) supports a $29.2-million fishery on the northeastern coast of the United States. Increasing global carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has resulted in a decrease in ocean pH, known as ocean acidification (OA), in Atlantic surfclam habitat. The effects of OA on larval Atlantic surfclam were investigated for 28 d by using 3 different levels of partial pressure of CO2 (ρCO2): low (344 μatm), medium (821 μatm), and high (1243 μatm). Samples were taken to examine growth, shell height, time to metamorphosis, survival, and lipid concentration. Larvae exposed to a medium ρCO2 level had a hormetic response with significantly greater shell height and growth rates and a higher percentage that metamorphosed by day 28 than larvae exposed to the high- and low-level treatments. No significant difference in survival was observed between treatments. Although no significant difference was found in lipid concentration, Atlantic surfclam did have a similar hormetic response for concentrations of phospholipids, sterols, and triacylglycerols and for the ratio of sterols to phospholipids, indicating that larvae may have a homeoviscous adaptation to OA at medium ρCO2 levels. Our results indicate that larval Atlantic surfclam have some tolerance to slightly elevated ρCO2 concentrations but that, at high ρCO2 levels, they may be susceptible to OA.
Continue reading ‘Effects of ocean acidification on larval Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) from Long Island Sound in Connecticut’The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is classified as a focal ecosystem component of the Arctic, defined as a biological element that is considered central to the functioning of an ecosystem, is of major importance to Arctic residents and/or is likely to be a good proxy for short- and long-term changes in the environment. The Arctic is undergoing large-scale environmental changes due to rapid global warming, including a marked reduction of sea ice in several areas inhabited by walruses. This chapter reviews how walruses already have been affected by global warming, or likely will be in the future. Specifically, we review the effects on walruses of projected changes in sea ice cover, marine productivity, ocean acidification, predation, pathogens and ultraviolet radiation, whereas changes in human activity patterns are discussed elsewhere in this volume. We find that, while the Pacific walrus seems to experience negative effects of warming and decrease in sea ice, the Atlantic walruses may be less affected; also in comparison to other ice-associated pinnipeds. Hence, we concur with previous assessments that the walrus is likely to survive into the future; at least in areas where human disturbance is minimal, and suitable terrestrial haul-outs are close enough to their feeding grounds.
Continue reading ‘Chapter 13 – the future of Atlantic walrus in a rapidly warming Arctic’Highlights
Abstract
Ocean acidification (OA) can alter the behaviour and physiology of marine fauna and impair their ability to interact with other species, including those in symbiotic and predatory relationships. Phyllosoma larvae of lobsters are symbionts to many invertebrates and often ride and feed on jellyfish, however OA may threaten interactions between phyllosomas and jellyfish. Here, we tested whether OA predicted for surface mid-shelf waters of Great Barrier Reef, Australia, under ∆ pH = −0.1 (pH ~7.9) and ∆pH = −0.3 (pH ~7.7) relative to the present pH (~8.0) (P) impaired the survival, moulting, respiration, and metabolite profiles of phyllosoma larvae of the slipper lobster Thenus australiensis, and the ability of phyllosomas to detect chemical cues of fresh jellyfish tissue. We discovered that OA was detrimental to survival of phyllosomas with only 20% survival under ∆pH = −0.3 compared to 49.2 and 45.3% in the P and ∆pH = −0.1 treatments, respectively. The numbers of phyllosomas that moulted in the P and ∆pH = −0.1 treatments were 40% and 34% higher, respectively, than those in the ∆pH = −0.3 treatment. Respiration rates varied between pH treatments, but were not consistent through time. Respiration rates in the ∆pH = −0.3 and ∆pH = −0.1 treatments were initially 40% and 22% higher, respectively, than in the P treatment on Day 2 and then rates varied to become 26% lower (∆pH = −0.3) and 17% (∆pH = −0.1) higher towards the end of the experiment. Larvae were attracted to jellyfish tissue in treatments P and ∆pH = −0.1 but avoided jellyfish at ∆pH = −0.3. Moreover, OA conditions under ∆pH = −0.1 and ∆pH = −0.3 levels reduced the relative abundances of 22 of the 34 metabolites detected in phyllosomas via Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Our study demonstrates that the physiology and ability to detect jellyfish tissue by phyllosomas of the lobster T. australiensis may be impaired under ∆pH = −0.3 relative to the present conditions, with potential negative consequences for adult populations of this commercially important species.
Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification impairs the physiology of symbiotic phyllosoma larvae of the lobster Thenus australiensis and their ability to detect cues from jellyfish’Highlights
Abstract
Based on large-scale surveys conducted during all four seasons from 2009-2011, we investigated the carbonate systems on the northern South China Sea (NSCS) shelf featuring much higher variations in both seasonality and spatiality on its inner-shelf (< 40 m) as compared to the areas on the mid-outer shelf (> 40 m). The most notable forcing on the mid-outer shelf include the intrusion of Kuroshio water leading to high surface salinity and high total alkalinity (TA) in winter, the impact of which is however limited to the northeastern part of the NSCS. The Pearl River Plume (PRP), a prominent feature in summer also has profound impact on the carbonate system on the mid-outer shelf. On the inner-shelf, the carbonate system was much more dynamic, featuring complex modulations by coastal upwelling associated with relatively high dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and TA in summer, and the China Coastal Current (CCC) of high DIC in winter, spring and fall. In addition, the influences of coastal plume water from local rivers were identifiable on the inner-shelf in both winter and spring.
Such distinction between inner-shelf and mid-outer shelf in the dynamics of DIC, the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and saturation state index of aragonite (Ωarag) is also obvious. On the mid-outer shelf, the salinity normalized DIC (nDIC) fluctuated seasonally between 1974±9 and 2001±9 µmol kg-1. The decline of nDIC from winter to spring and spring to summer mainly results from CO2 outgassing, while the increase in nDIC from summer to fall and from fall to winter is due to entrainment of the carbon-enriched subsurface water. The pCO2 increases from a minimum of 344±9 μatm in winter to a maximum of 387±14 μatm in spring, which is in phase with temperature changes and the fluctuations of nDIC. The Ωarag ranged 3.28-3.68 with the highest value in summer but lowest value in winter, which is consistent with the seasonal cycles of the nDIC. Nearshore on the inner-shelf influenced by the CCC water in winter and the mid-outer shelf influenced by the PRP in summer, the spatial dynamics of sea surface pCO2 and Ωarag are modulated by both temperature and the water mass mixing between CCC, PRP, and shelf waters. Here, the high biological uptake sustained by nutrients in the CCC and PRP drawdown the pCO2 and augmented the Ωarag, while the CO2 sequestration enhanced the sea surface pCO2 but drawdown the Ωarag.
Continue reading ‘Seasonal dynamics of the carbonate system under complex circulation schemes on a large continental shelf: the northern South China Sea’Abstract
Our understanding of eutrophication-induced acidification in estuaries and coastal oceans is complicated by the seasonally and spatially changing interactions between physical and biochemical drivers. By combining the conservative mixing method and a physical-biogeochemical model, we present the seasonal and spatial dynamical analysis of eutrophication-induced acidification in the Pearl River Estuary in the northern South China Sea. In summer, the widespread eutrophication-induced acidification is regulated by two distinct physical drivers, which are the strengthened stratification in the hypoxia zone and the high turbidity in the Lingdingyang Bay. In the hypoxia zone, eutrophication-induced acidification is controlled by the combined effect of benthic remineralization and stratification, while it is dominantly regulated by local biochemical processes (nitrification and respiration) of the whole water column in other regions of the estuary. In winter with the enhanced vertical mixing, the eutrophication-induced acidification is still active in the Lingdingyang Bay, and its strength has largely decreased compared with summer condition. While for the hypoxia zone, the eutrophication-induced acidification peaks in summer and disappears in winter.
Plain Language Summary
Eutrophication in estuaries has accelerated the ocean acidification, which induced a negative impact on marine ecosystem. In the estuary, physical and biochemical processes lead to difficulties in understanding and evaluating the impact of eutrophication-induced acidification. High-resolution and coupled oceanographic models can reproduce the biogeochemical cycles in the marine system and present an integrated framework to understand ocean acidification. We revealed two distinct types of eutrophication-induced acidification in the estuary by using an oceanographic model. The model results show that these two types of eutrophication-induced acidification are regulated by different physical processes that are water stratification and turbidity, which result in their unique seasonal evolution patterns.
Continue reading ‘Seasonal and spatial controls on the eutrophication-induced acidification in the Pearl River Estuary’Dr. Ana Franco is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia with Professor Phil Tortell in the MEOPAR project OxyNet: A network to examine ocean deoxygenation trends and impacts. She is also an expert in ocean acidification, having worked on the topic since her undergraduate degree. Dr. Franco shares with us her expertise, research, and past experiences that led her to become an expert in ocean acidification and oceanography.
Dr. Ana Franco
What is your background?
At the end of my bachelor studies in oceanography, almost by chance, I had the opportunity to participate as an undergrad in an ocean acidification (OA) cruise in the Pacific coast of Canada-US-Mexico. I had never participated in a cruise or had heard about OA before (this was 2007). I’m not even sure that I understood English very well at the time, but there I go to spend 30+ days immersed in ocean acidification science of the highest quality. Intimidating! The science from that cruise was a turning point for OA research (Feely et al., 2008), but the main result, from my own personal perspective, is that I haven’t stopped researching ocean acidification since then.
In the years following the cruise I went on to work with inorganic carbon data from the tropical Pacific off Mexico for my bachelor and master’s thesis at the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, in Ensenada, Mexico. During that time, I collected and analysed dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity samples from one of the most intense oxygen minimum and carbon maximum zones. The objective was to establish a baseline for future ocean acidification research and sea-air carbon fluxes in this particularly undersampled region.
Continue reading ‘Scientist spotlight: Dr. Ana Franco, postdoctoral fellow, UBC’Job Details
Earth Sciences, South Parks Road, Oxford Grade 7: £32,817 – £36,914 p.a
Calcifying phytoplankton, such as coccolithophores, are a fundamental component of the marine carbon cycle. Yet, we have little understanding how changing climate affects calcification and how it is going to evolve under the environmental pressure imposed by global warming and ocean acidification. Currently there is little mechanistic understanding of how energy and carbon flow between photosynthesis and calcification in coccolithophores, and how this dynamic coupling is affected by resource limitation and environmental stress. Our knowledge gap on the environmental sensitivity of the coupling between photosynthesis and calcification means that we still do not know whether coccolithophore calcification increases or decreases in response to ocean acidification, despite 20 years of research.
This project will take advantage of advances in cutting-edge evolutionary genomic and biogeochemical techniques that document and mechanistically interrogate the sensitivity of coccolithophore calcification rates to the environment. The project will focus on ubiquitous and highly abundant coccolithophore species, Emiliania huxleyi , that is a de-facto model system for calcifying phytoplankton. Sufficient globally distributed isolates of this species are now available in culture so that it is possible to gain an integrative insight of the evolutionary genetics, physiology and biochemistry control the calcite production, as well as its change over micro- and macro-evolutionary timescales.
The successful candidate will be responsible for identification of candidate genes responsible for distinct photosynthetic and calcification adaptations to the environment. These genes will be used in evolutionary genetic and functional analyses to understand how different environments select for increased or decreased calcification and how calcification has evolved over time. The work will involve detailing the diversity of resource allocation strategies within different Emiliania huxleyi strains by performing biochemical and metabolomic analyses on strains grown under a range of environmental stresses. The postholder will work at outlining the interface between genetic expression, and the generation of organic molecules that both fuel and shape the calcite. They will be required to develop, test and refine working hypotheses, and analyse data from a range of sources. They will be expected to manage their own academic research and administrative activities, to contribute ideas for this research project and others, and to represent the group and the project at external meetings/seminars.
Continue reading ‘Postdoctoral research assistant in evolutionary genetics and biochemistry of calcifying Ph (vacancy ID :150798)’Job Details
Earth Sciences, South Parks Road, Oxford Grade 7: £32,817 – £36,914 p.a
Calcifying phytoplankton, such as coccolithophores, are a fundamental component of the marine carbon cycle. Yet, we have little understanding how changing climate affects calcification and how it is going to evolve under the environmental pressure imposed by global warming and ocean acidification. Currently there is little mechanistic understanding of how energy and carbon flow between photosynthesis and calcification in coccolithophores, and how this dynamic coupling is affected by resource limitation and environmental stress. Our knowledge gap on the environmental sensitivity of the coupling between photosynthesis and calcification means that we still do not know whether coccolithophore calcification increases or decreases in response to ocean acidification, despite 20 years of research.
PUCCA (Photosynthetic Underpinnings of Coccolithophore Calcification) will take advantage of advances in cutting-edge techniques that document and mechanistically interrogate the sensitivity of coccolithophore calcification rates to the environment. A new physiological model of carbon isotopic fractionation in coccolithophores allows the reconstruction of species-specific calcification rates from the sedimentary record. Additionally, methods have advanced that can extract and characterise biochemical molecules from fossils over a hundred million years old which will allow the interrogation of controlling environmental parameters.
The successful candidate will be responsible for identifying which environmental parameter(s) drive the highest coccolithophore calcification rates during the Cenozoic, and across the modern ocean. As approaches, they will use ocean sediments as a recorder of coccolithophore stable isotope vital effects, extracted polysaccharides and other organic molecules, as a measure of the physiological sensitivity of calcification to different environmental regimes. They will also document how the sensitivity of calcification rates to environmental parameters is influenced by cellular resource allocation strategies using culture experiments of a range of strains of Emiliania huxleyi subjected to environmental limitation. These experiments will provide the foundation for calibrating organic molecules for the environmental impact on their structure and composition.
Continue reading ‘Postdoctoral research assistant in biogeochemistry of calcifying nannoplankton (vacancy ID : 150797)’Date: 29 June 2021
Time: 10:00 am
A conversation about the International Partnership on MPAs, Biodiversity, and Climate Change, an alliance between the Nations of Chile, Costa Rica, France, United Kingdom, and the United States to dramatically scale up ocean and climate action during this decisive decade.
As the Earth’s temperature rises, climate change and ocean acidification are affecting species, ecosystems, and people around the world. Greenhouse gas reduction targets are critical to protecting the ocean. In addition, nature-based solutions marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely recognized as an effective, nature-based solution for climate change mitigation and conserving biodiversity. Global collaboration is key to achieving climate benefits provided by MPAs.
What is the role of MPAs and MPA networks as nature-based solutions for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience? How are countries from the northern and southern hemispheres working together to solve one of the world’s most pressing issues?
Join the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, in partnership with the Wilson Center, Mission Blue, and the Chilean Embassy in the United States, on Tuesday, June 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. EDT, for a public discussion on the importance of the ocean in climate change and biodiversity negotiations. This event will also mark the launch of the International Partnership on MPAs, Biodiversity, and Climate Change, an alliance between ministries and marine protected area agencies from Chile, Costa Rica, France, United Kingdom, and the United States to dramatically scale up ocean and climate action during this decisive decade. Learn more at: www.mpabioclimate.org.
Continue reading ‘Ocean and climate ambition from COP25 to COP26 and beyond – International partnership on MPAs, biodiversity, and climate change (text & video)’
