Recent mass coral bleaching event on Great Barrier Reef, caused by ocean acidification. OSU. CC BY 2.0
Our oceans are becoming acidic at an unprecedented rate, and research into the effects of global warming on oceans indicate that this process is happening faster today than at any time in the past 300 million years.
In This Article:
What Is Ocean Acidification?
What Is The Cause of Ocean Acidification?
How Acidic Is The Ocean Today?
The Chemistry Behind Ocean Acidity
The Ocean’s Ability to Absorb CO2 is Likely to Diminish
The new edition of the “OA-ICC Highlights”, our newsletter, summarizes the project’s main activities and achievements over the period January-April 2021. This newsletter highlights a virtual OA conference with OA-Africa Network to celebrate the Day of Ocean Acidification Action, OA-ICC assesses global capacity building efforts and joined GOA-ON for the planning for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development program (2021-2030), a dedicate session on Monaco Ocean Week and the welcoming of a new staff. Previous editions can be viewed here.
Ocean warming has caused catastrophic losses of corals on reefs worldwide and is intensifying faster than the adaptive rate of most coral populations that remain. Human interventions, such as propagation of heat-resistant corals, may help maintain reef function and delay further devastation of these valuable ecosystems as society confronts the climate crisis. However, exposing adult corals to a complex suite of new environmental conditions could lead to tradeoffs that alter their heat stress responses, and empirical data are needed to test the utility of this approach. Here, we show that corals transplanted to novel reef conditions did not exhibit changes in their heat stress response or negative fitness tradeoffs, supporting the inclusion of this approach in our management arsenal.
Abstract
Urgent action is needed to prevent the demise of coral reefs as the climate crisis leads to an increasingly warmer and more acidic ocean. Propagating climate change–resistant corals to restore degraded reefs is one promising strategy; however, empirical evidence is needed to determine whether stress resistance is affected by transplantation beyond a coral’s native reef. Here, we assessed the performance of bleaching-resistant individuals of two coral species following reciprocal transplantation between reefs with distinct pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, sedimentation, and flow dynamics to determine whether heat stress response is altered following coral exposure to novel physicochemical conditions in situ. Critically, transplantation had no influence on coral heat stress responses, indicating that this trait was relatively fixed. In contrast, growth was highly plastic, and native performance was not predictive of performance in the novel environment. Coral metabolic rates and overall fitness were higher at the reef with higher flow, salinity, sedimentation, and diel fluctuations of pH and dissolved oxygen, and did not differ between native and cross-transplanted corals, indicating acclimatization via plasticity within just 3 mo. Conversely, cross-transplants at the second reef had higher fitness than native corals, thus increasing the fitness potential of the recipient population. This experiment was conducted during a nonbleaching year, so the potential benefits to recipient population fitness are likely enhanced during bleaching years. In summary, this study demonstrates that outplanting bleaching-resistant corals is a promising tool for elevating the resistance of coral populations to ocean warming.
Globally, kelp forests are threatened by multiple stressors, including increasing grazing by sea urchins. With coastal upwelling predicted to increase in intensity and duration in the future, understanding whether kelp forest and urchin barren urchins are differentially affected by upwelling-related stressors will give insight into how future conditions may affect the transition between kelp forests and barrens. We assessed how current and future-predicted changes in the duration and magnitude of upwelling-associated stressors (low pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature) affected the performance of purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) sourced from rapidly-declining bull kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana) forests and nearby barrens and maintained on habitat-specific diets. Kelp forest urchins were of superior condition to barrens urchins, with ~ 6–9 times more gonad per body mass. Grazing and condition in kelp forest urchins were more negatively affected by distant-future and extreme upwelling conditions, whereas grazing and survival in urchins from barrens were sensitive to both current-day and all future-predicted upwelling, and to increases in acidity, hypoxia, and temperature regardless of upwelling. We conclude that urchin barren urchins are more susceptible to increases in the magnitude and duration of upwelling-related stressors than kelp forest urchins. These findings have important implications for urchin population dynamics and their interaction with kelp.
The effects of ocean acidification (OA) on extra-cellular acid–base parameters are reported in the European abalone H. tuberculata, a commercially and ecologically important gastropod.
Adult abalone were exposed for 15 days to three different pH levels (7.9, 7.7, 7.4) representing current and predicted near-future conditions.
Abalones are able to buffer a moderate acidification of seawater (−0.2 pH units).
Haemolymph pH was significantly decreased after 5 days of exposure to pH 7.4 (−0.5 pH units) indicating that abalone do not compensate for higher decreases of in seawater pH.
OA would impact both the ecology and aquaculture of H. tuberculata in the near future.
Abstract
Ocean acidification (OA) and the associated changes in seawater carbonate chemistry pose a threat to calcifying organisms. This is particularly serious for shelled molluscs, in which shell growth and microstructure has been shown to be highly sensitive to OA. To improve our understanding of the responses of abalone to OA, this study investigated the effects of CO2-induced ocean acidification on extra-cellular acid–base parameters in the European abalone Haliotis tuberculata. Three-year-old adult abalone were exposed for 15 days to three different pH levels (7.9, 7.7, 7.4) representing current and predicted near-future conditions. Hæmolymph pH and total alkalinity were measured at different time points during exposure and used to calculate the carbonate parameters of the extracellular fluid. Total protein content was also measured to determine whether seawater acidification influences the composition and buffer capacity of hæmolymph. Extracellular pH was maintained at seawater pH 7.7 indicating that abalones are able to buffer moderate acidification (−0.2 pH units). This was not due to an accumulation of HCO3− ions but rather to a high hæmolymph protein concentration. By contrast, hæmolymph pH was significantly decreased after 5 days of exposure to pH 7.4, indicating that abalone do not compensate for higher decreases in seawater pH. Total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon were also significantly decreased after 15 days of low pH exposure. It is concluded that changes in the acid–base balance of the hæmolymph might be involved in deleterious effects recorded in adult H. tuberculata facing severe OA stress. This would impact both the ecology and aquaculture of this commercially important species.
As global change continues to progress, there is a growing interest in assessing any local levers that could be used to manage the social and ecological impacts of rising CO2 concentrations. While habitat conservation and restoration have been widely recognized for their role in carbon storage and sequestration at a global scale, the potential for managers to use vegetated habitats to mitigate CO2 concentrations at local scales in marine ecosystems facing the accelerating threat of ocean acidification (OA) has only recently garnered attention. Early studies have shown that submerged aquatic vegetation, such as seagrass beds, can locally draw down CO2 and raise seawater pH in the water column through photosynthesis, but empirical studies of local OA mitigation are still quite limited. Here, we leverage the extensive body of literature on seagrass community metabolism to highlight key considerations for local OA management through seagrass conservation or restoration. In particular, we synthesize the results from 62 studies reporting in situ rates of seagrass gross primary productivity, respiration, and/or net community productivity to highlight spatial and temporal variability in carbon fluxes. We illustrate that daytime net community production is positive overall, and similar across seasons and geographies. Full-day net community production rates, which illustrate the potential cumulative effect of seagrass beds on seawater biogeochemistry integrated over day and night, were also positive overall, but were higher in summer months in both tropical and temperate ecosystems. Although our analyses suggest seagrass meadows are generally autotrophic, the modeled effects on seawater pH are relatively small in magnitude. In addition, we illustrate that periods when full-day net community production is highest could be associated with lower nighttime pH and increased diurnal variability in seawater pCO2/pH. Finally, we highlight important areas for future research to inform the next steps for assessing the utility of this approach for management.
Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are driving rapid changes in ocean conditions. Shallow-water coral reefs are experiencing the brunt of these changes, including intensifying marine heatwaves (MHWs) and rapid ocean acidification (OA). Consequently, coral reefs are in broad-scale decline, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people. Ensuring survival of coral reefs in the 21st century will thus require a new management approach that incorporates robust understanding of reef-scale climate change, the mechanisms by which these changes impact corals, and their potential for adaptation. In this thesis, I extract information from within coral skeletons to 1) Quantify the climate changes occurring on coral reefs and the effects on coral growth, 2) Identify differences in the sensitivity of coral reefs to these changes, and 3) Evaluate the adaptation potential of the keystone reef-building coral, Porites. First, I develop a mechanistic Porites growth model and reveal the physicochemical link between OA and skeletal formation. Ishow that the thickening (densification) of coralskeletal framework is most vulnerable to OA and that, under 21st century climate model projections, OA will reduce Porites skeletal density globally, with greatest impact in the Coral Triangle. Second, I develop an improved metric of thermal stress, and use a skeletal bleaching proxy to quantify coral responses to intensifying heatwaves in the central equatorial Pacific (CEP) since 1982. My work reveals a long history of bleaching in the CEP, and reef-specific differences in thermal tolerance linked to past heatwave exposure implying that, over time, reef communities have adapted to tolerate their unique thermal regimes. Third, I refine the Sr-U paleo-thermometer to enable monthly-resolved sea surface temperatures (SST) generation using laser ablation ICPMS. I show that laser Sr-U accurately captures CEP SST, including the frequency and amplitude of MHWs. Finally, I apply laser Sr-U to reconstruct the past 100 years of SST at Jarvis Island in the CEP, and evaluate my proxy record of bleaching severity in this context. I determine that Porites coral populations on Jarvis Island have not yet adapted to the pace of anthropogenic climate change.
The California Current System is thought to be particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification, yet pH remains chronically undersampled along this coast, limiting our ability to assess the impacts of ocean acidification. To address this observational gap, we integrated the Deep-Sea-DuraFET, a solid-state pH sensor, onto a Spray underwater glider. Over the course of a year starting in April 2019, we conducted seven missions in central California that spanned 161 glider days and >1600 dives to a maximum depth of 1000 m. The sensor accuracy was estimated to be ± 0.01 based on comparisons to discrete samples taken alongside the glider (n = 105), and the precision was ±0.0016. CO2 partial pressure, dissolved inorganic carbon, and aragonite saturation state could be estimated from the pH data with uncertainty better than ± 2.5%, ± 8 μmol kg−1, and ± 2%, respectively. The sensor was stable to ±0.01 for the first 9 months but exhibited a drift of 0.015 during the last mission. The drift was correctable using a piecewise linear regression based on a reference pH field at 450 m estimated from published global empirical algorithms. These algorithms require accurate O2 as inputs; thus, protocols for a simple predeployment air calibration that achieved accuracy of better than 1% were implemented. The glider observations revealed upwelling of undersaturated waters with respect to aragonite to within 5 m below the surface near Monterey Bay. These observations highlight the importance of persistent observations through autonomous platforms in highly dynamic coastal environments.
Quantifying the strength of non-trophic interactions exerted by foundation species is critical to understanding how natural communities respond to environmental stress. In the case of ocean acidification (OA), submerged marine macrophytes, such as seagrasses, may create local areas of elevated pH due to their capacity to sequester dissolved inorganic carbon through photosynthesis. However, although seagrasses may increase seawater pH during the day, they can also decrease pH at night due to respiration. Therefore, it remains unclear how consequences of such diel fluctuations may unfold for organisms vulnerable to OA. We established mesocosms containing different levels of seagrass biomass (Zostera marina) to create a gradient of carbonate chemistry conditions and explored consequences for growth of juvenile and adult oysters (Crassostrea gigas), a non-native species widely used in aquaculture that can co-occur, and is often grown, in proximity to seagrass beds. In particular, we investigated whether increased diel fluctuations in pH due to seagrass metabolism affected oyster growth. Seagrasses increased daytime pH up to 0.4 units but had little effect on nighttime pH (reductions less than 0.02 units). Thus, both the average pH and the amplitude of diel pH fluctuations increased with greater seagrass biomass. The highest seagrass biomass increased oyster shell growth rate (mm day−1) up to 40%. Oyster somatic tissue weight and oyster condition index exhibited a different pattern, peaking at intermediate levels of seagrass biomass. This work demonstrates the ability of seagrasses to facilitate oyster calcification and illustrates how non-trophic metabolic interactions can modulate effects of environmental change.
Increased coccolith calcification degree at high pCO2 and low surface water pH.
Enhanced glacial E. huxleyi biological pump as a buffer to the excess of pCO2atm.
Enhanced deglacial E. huxleyi counterpump as a major source of high pCO2sw.
Abstract
The modern Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) Ocean is a high nutrient low chlorophyll (HNLC) upwelling region and a large oceanic source of carbon to the atmosphere. During the last deglaciation, the EEP played a major role in the outgassing of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the upwelling surface water system of CO2-enriched deep-water masses originating from the Southern Ocean. The EEP upwelling system is also fertilizing the surface waters and enhancing the biological pump. Here we present data on the mass and calcification dynamics of the coccolithophore species Emiliania huxleyi spanning the last 30 ky at Site ODP 1238 (1°52.310′S, 82°46.934′W; 2203 m) in the EEP. Our results show an increased coccolith calcification degree during times of high pCO2 and low surface water pH conditions; this unexpected result is tentatively explained as related to changes in homeostasis equilibrium at the site of calcification and between the cell and the seawater environment. We estimated the E. huxleyi particulate inorganic to organic carbon ratio (PIC:POC) in order to detect changes in the carbonate counter-pump to carbon pump activity, which can act as either a positive or negative feedback to atmospheric CO2 modulating air-sea gas exchange. Our study indicates an enhanced coccolithophore biological pump during the last glacial that could have buffered, at least partially, the excess of pCO2atm via absorption into the ocean. Finally, during the last deglaciation, the enhanced carbonate counter pump was a major source of high pCO2sw in the EEP surface ocean.
Seawater acidification reduced the hatching, survival and growth of Artemia franciscana.
Acidified seawater inhibited the biochemical constituents in A. franciscana.
Franciscana showed oxidative and metabolic stress under acidified seawater.
Abstract
Ocean acidification is becoming a potential threat to marine animals. The present study investigated the effect of seawater acidification on Artemia franciscana. A. franciscana cysts were allowed to hatch at different pH levels of pH 8.2 (control), 7.8, and 6.8. After 48 h incubation, the hatching percentage was significantly reduced in acidified seawater compared to that in control. Further, the hatched Artemianauplii from each pH treatment were transferred to freshly acidified seawater for chronic study for 15 days. At the end of the experiment, survival, growth, and biochemical constituents were significantly decreased in Artemia at pH 7.8 and 6.8 compared to that in control, which indicates the adverse effects of acidified seawater on Artemia. The antioxidants, lipid peroxidation, and metabolic enzymes were significantly elevated in A. franciscana exposed to acidified seawater compared to that in control, which shows oxidative and metabolic stress on A. franciscana under acidified environment.
Rhodolith beds built by free-living coralline algae are important ecosystems for marine biodiversity and carbonate production. Yet, our mechanistic understanding regarding rhodolith physiology and its drivers is still limited. Using three rhodolith species with different branching morphologies, we investigated the role of morphology in species’ physiology and the implications for their susceptibility to ocean acidification (OA). For this, we determined the effects of thallus topography on diffusive boundary layer (DBL) thickness, the associated microscale oxygen and pH dynamics and their relationship with species’ metabolic and light and dark calcification rates, as well as species’ responses to short-term OA exposure. Our results show that rhodolith branching creates low-flow microenvironments that exhibit increasing DBL thickness with increasing branch length. This, together with species’ metabolic rates, determined the light-dependent pH dynamics at the algal surface, which in turn dictated species’ calcification rates. While these differences did not translate in species-specific responses to short-term OA exposure, the differences in the magnitude of diurnal pH fluctuations (~ 0.1–1.2 pH units) between species suggest potential differences in phenotypic plasticity to OA that may result in different susceptibilities to long-term OA exposure, supporting the general view that species’ ecomechanical characteristics must be considered for predicting OA responses.
Whereas low levels of thermal stress, irradiance, and dietary restriction can have beneficial effects for many taxa, stress acclimation remains understudied in marine invertebrates, despite being threatened by climate change stressors such as ocean acidification. To test for life-stage and stress-intensity dependence in eliciting enhanced tolerance under subsequent stress encounters, we initially conditioned pediveliger Pacific geoduck (Panopea generosa) larvae to (i) ambient and moderately elevated pCO2 (920 µatm and 2800 µatm, respectively) for 110 days, (ii) secondarily applied a 7-day exposure to ambient, moderate, and severely elevated pCO2 (750 µatm, 2800 µatm, and 4900 µatm, respectively), followed by 7 days in ambient conditions, and (iii) implemented a 7-day third exposure to ambient (970 µatm) and moderate pCO2 (3000 µatm). Initial conditioning to moderate pCO2 stress followed by second and third exposure to severe and moderate pCO2 stress increased respiration rate, organic biomass, and shell size suggesting a stress-intensity-dependent effect on energetics. Additionally, stress-acclimated clams had lower antioxidant capacity compared to clams under ambient conditions, supporting the hypothesis that stress over postlarval-to-juvenile development affects oxidative status later in life. Time series and stress intensity-specific approaches can reveal life-stages and magnitudes of exposure, respectively, that may elicit beneficial phenotypic variation.
Seagrass beds consume carbon dioxide and thereby reduce local seawater acidification. PHOTO: NOAA PHOTO LIBRARY/FLICKR/CC BY
Gradual acidification of the world’s oceans is driven by the uptake of carbon dioxide. This feature of contemporary climate change has potential consequences for marine life and the functioning of marine ecosystems. Ricart et al. show that acidification can be locally slowed or ameliorated by seagrass meadows, where uptake of carbon dioxide by the plants exceeds that produced by respiration. Along 1000 kilometers of Californian coastal waters and measured over 6 years, pH was elevated in most of the seagrass sites examined compared with adjacent sites. These findings add to the potentially beneficial suite of effects of the presence of seagrasses and macroalgae in coastal waters and indicate possible routes for the management of acidification in these systems.
Kachemak Bay appears to be a refuge from ocean acidity levels that prevent shellfish and marine creatures from growing skeletons and shells.
That’s based on first results of a study started in 2017 that placed an array of sensors nearshore.
Researchers found that Kachemak Bay also is one of the most variable places on earth in terms of hourly acidic changes. That’s likely due to its vast tidal range, says researcher Cale Miller.
“I think it’s the second largest in the world being about eight meters, or 24 feet in total, in June and December. The other thing that’s important is just the oceanography of the Bay itself. Because you get a lot of influx from the Gulf of Alaska and Cook Inlet and the Homer Spit bisects the Bay into two distinct regions that have different oceanographic patterns. There’s probably evidence that the different organisms, especially the photosynthesizing organisms, are different between the inner and outer portions of the Bay. And those are what you would call that foundational, or the lower trophic level or food chain items, for a lot of other organisms that they live on.”
This study investigated the combined effects of seawater acidification and hypoxia on the antioxidant response in gonads of the thick shell mussel Mytilus coruscus. Mussels were collected along the Shengsi Island, East China Sea, where oxygen and pH fluctuations frequently occur in summer. Mussels were exposed to three pH (8.1, 7.7, and 7.3) and two dissolved oxygen (DO) levels (6 and 2 mg L−1) for 21 days followed by a 10-day recovery period (pH 8.1 and DO 6 mg L-1). Gonad surface area (GSA) and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione (GSH), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in gonad were measured at days 21 and 31. Complex and enzyme-specific responses were observed after the 21-day exposure period. Overall, PCA analysis revealed a stronger effect of pH than DO. Integrated biomarker response (IBR) analysis demonstrated that low pH and DO decreased mussel’s antioxidant system and increased oxidative damage with potential consequences for gonad development. Mussels exposed to low pH and DO were only partly able to recover a normal enzymatic activity after 10-day recovery period. This suggests that mussels exposed to short-term pH and DO fluctuations event in the field may suffer lasting negative impacts.
When you think of carbon dioxide emissions, what comes to mind? For most people, that is probably something along the lines of fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, and global warming. But for me, I think about ocean acidification. Often referred to as “the other carbon dioxide problem”, ocean acidification, or OA for short, is a lesser-known by-product of excess carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Between 25 – 30 % of the carbon dioxide produced since the Industrial Revolution has been absorbed by our oceans. This buffering capacity of the ocean has actually helped reduce some impacts of global warming and greenhouse gases, but, as we’ve discovered in the last decade or two, it has come at a great cost to our oceans.
When carbon dioxide (CO2) enters the ocean, it reacts with seawater to form excess hydrogen (H+) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3–). Increases in hydrogen ions are what makes liquids more acidic and reduces their pH, hence the term “ocean acidification”. But the main consequence of increases in hydrogen ions in seawater is that hydrogen ions bond readily with the carbonate ions (CO32-). Carbonate is naturally occurring in seawater, and it is a crucial building block for organisms that build calcium carbonate hard parts, like clams, oysters, lobsters, corals, and even the tiny plankton that serve as the base of the ocean’s food chain. The less carbonate ions available in seawater, the harder it is for organisms to make their hard parts. In the past 15 years or so, there has been considerable research demonstrating the negative effects of OA on calcifying organisms. These calcified structures can take more energy for organisms to form, grow smaller, slower, and/or weaker, or even start to dissolve! Increased seawater acidity can also affect organism survival, particularly in early life stages. On the west coast of the U.S., there have already been several seasonal mass die-offs events of oyster crops that have caused significant and repeated financial losses to the aquaculture industry, most likely attributed to OA.
This activity makes part of the ESA Ocean Science Cluster and contributes to the joint EC-ESA Earth System Science Initiative launched in February 2020 by the European Space Agency and the European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) to jointly advance Earth System Science and its response to the global challenges that society is facing in the onset of this century.
In particular, this activity is a contribution to the EC-ESA Flagship Action on Ocean Health aimed at developing advanced ocean observations and products and enhancing the scientific understanding of the ocean’s role in the Earth and climate system and its responses to management actions to contribute to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health and improve conditions for sustainable development of the Ocean.
With this ITT ESA plans to launch up to three separate and independent contracts which will be run in parallel and address the following Themes:
