Three direct effects of increasing ocean acidification on marine plankton have been recognized: enhanced phytoplankton growth rate, changing elemental composition of primary produced organic matter, and reduced biogenic calcification.
The amount of available phosphorus appeared to regulate how much inorganic carbon was used by a red alga grown at different levels of ocean acidification conditions. Growth reflected a balance between carbon and nutrient metabolism. (Laboratory study)
More than 98% of the carbon of the atmosphere-ocean system is stored in the oceans as dissolved inorganic carbon. This textbook describes equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties and stable isotope fractionation among the elements of the carbonate system.
Four species of copepods differed in their survival, egg production, and egg hatching success when exposed to ocean acidification conditions for 8 days. (Laboratory study)
Eelgrass was able to photosynthesize better under ocean acidification conditions because of increased availability of carbon dioxide. The results suggest that ocean acidification may enhance seagrass survival.
Spider crabs were not able to fully buffer their internal pH when exposed to ocean acidification conditions for 12 days. Behavior of the crabs was not impaired by ocean acidification conditions or acute heat stress when they happened separately, but it was when both occurred at the same time. (Laboratory ...
Higher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced growth of a green seaweed (Ulva lactuca). (Laboratory study)
Ocean acidification (OA) research seeks to understand how marine ecosystems and global elemental cycles will respond to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry in combination with other environmental perturbations such as warming, eutrophication, and deoxygenation. This paper discusses the effectiveness and limitations of current research approaches used to address this goal. ...
This study estimated vertical and lateral diffusion coefficients for the Scotian Shelf region using a numerical 2-D approach. It also estimates cross-shelf transport of carbon and nutrients and provides a potential mechanism for CO2 outgassing on the shelf.
Small phytoplankton (pico-, nano- and microphytoplankton) play an important role in uptake of carbon dioxide on the Scotian Shelf.
