This study investigated changes in mineralization in 18 species of marine calcifiers, which were reared for 60 days in different levels of ocean acidification conditions. The results suggest that shell/skeletal mineralogy within some—but not all—marine calcifiers will change as carbon dioxide levels continue rising as a result of fossil fuel ...

Bryozoan colonies were able to survive short-term exposure to high levels of ocean acidification at normal temperatures. However, its ability to calcify at higher temperatures was compromised.

Common periwinkles consumed less food when living under ocean acidification conditions for five weeks, after having been exposed to those conditions for two weeks prior to the experiment. Their food—a biofilm of diatoms, cyanobacteria, and various microbes—increased during that period. However, another group of periwinkles consumed more food than the ...

Growth rate and biomass of a seaweed (the red alga Chrondrus crispus) increased only when ocean acidification was accompanied by warmer temperatures. Photosynthesis was reduced under ocean acidification conditions. (Laboratory study)

King scallops in Norway clapped their shells (an escape response) with less force after being exposed to ocean acidification conditions for at least 30 days. The number of claps was unchanged, however. Ocean acidification also narrows the thermal tolerance range of scallops, resulting in elevated vulnerability to temperature extremes. These ...

Spider crab larvae that developed under ocean acidification conditions had higher metabolic rates. However, the larvae seem to be able to compensate for higher metabolic costs as their development time and survival was not affected. (Laboratory study)

Ocean acidification levels predicted for 2100 (seawater pH 7.8) did not significantly affect growth, arm regeneration, biochemical composition, or righting behavior of a sea star. (Laboratory study)

Ocean acidification conditions suppressed the metabolism of an Antarctic pteropod by approximately 20 percent in some instances. However, the effect on metabolism depended on abundance of phytoplankton in the region and the pteropods' baseline level of metabolism. Pteropod populations may be compromised by climate change, both directly by acidification-related suppression ...

Ocean acidification conditions reduced the amount of dissolved iron taken up by diatoms and coccolithophores. Iron is a limiting nutrient in large oceanic regions, and the ongoing acidification of seawater is likely to increase the iron stress of phytoplankton populations in some areas of the ocean. (Laboratory study)

Adult green sea urchins exposed to ocean acidification conditons for 56 days ate less food and had 67 percent less growth of their sex glands (gonads). (Laboratory study)