Corals collected in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, exhibited a complex set of responses when exposed to ocean acidification conditions, different nutrient levels, and two different temperatures. For example, female corals were more sensitive than males to elevated CO2 levels. Considering gender and spawning may be important when considering how populations of ...

Based on experiments with corals collected in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, this paper presents a conceptual model of how changes in nutrients and ocean acidification may interact to produce the range of effects that have been observed in different coral studies. (Laboratory study)

In green sea urchins from the Baltic Sea, the spines appear to be vulnerable to ocean acidification, which might reduce the urchins' protection against predators. Intestinal epithelia may play a role in mediating acid-base balance in the urchin. (Laboratory study)

Experiments with blue mussels from the Baltic Sea revealed a molecular basis of observed changes in physiology in response to ocean acidification. (Laboratory study)

When quahogs and eastern oysters were exposed to a combination of warmer temperatures and ocean acidification for 15 weeks, shell hardness decreased in both species. By itself, ocean acidification had a small effect on the physiology and metabolism of both species, but it improved survival in oysters. (Laboratory study)

When exposed to ocean acidification conditions (pH 7.7) for 80 days, coralline algae survived by increasing their calcification rates. However, those algae for which the pH had been dropped rapidly, rather than slowly and gradually, exhibited weaknesses in their calcite skeletons. (Laboratory study)

Under extreme ocean acidification conditions (pH 6.8), the egg production rates of copepods decreased significantly. For two species of sea urchins, fertilization rate of eggs decreased with increasing ocean acidification conditions. Furthermore, the size of urchin larvae decreased and deformities increased. These effects on marine life could lead to changes ...

Muscle length and claw strength of green crabs decreased after the crabs had been in ocean acidification conditions (pH 7.7) for 5 months. Periwinkles tended to have weaker shells in response to acidification. Predation by green crabs on periwinkles did not appear to change under ocean acidification conditions. (Laboratory study) ...

Two species of phytoplankton (coccolithophores) had higher rates of deformities when pH of seawater in the laboratory was different from present-day ocean pH. Examination of geological samples of coccolithophores did not reveal higher levels of deformities, suggesting that coccolithophores have adapted to changes in ocean pH over geological time. ...

Bryozoan colonies were grown at a site in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy) where natural emissions of carbon dioxide associated with volcanic activity lower seawater pH to 7.76, simulating levels of ocean acidification predicted for the end of the 21st century. The colonies showed impaired growth and had fewer defensive polymorphs. ...