BACKGROUND Oxygen concentrations in both the open ocean and coastal waters have been declining since at least the middle of the 20th century. This oxygen loss, or deoxygenation, is one of the most important changes occurring in an ocean increasingly modified by human activities that have raised temperatures, CO2 levels, and nutrient ...
Appendicularians are free-swimming tunicates that are common in most oceans, coastal waters, and estuaries. They build delicate, gelatinous houses that they use to filter food from the water. This study found that appendicularian abundance increased with ocean acidification, warmer temperatures, and higher nutrient levels. This suggests that appendicularians will play ...
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.
This article provides an overview of how rivers, which tend to be acidic compared to the ocean, affect shellfish, with a focus on the Gulf of Maine.
The copepod Calanus finmarchicus had reduced growth, development, and fecundity when exposed to ocean acidification conditions. However, offspring in the next generation did not have delayed development, suggesting that the species may have an ability to adapt to ocean acidification. The results also suggest that in a more acidified ocean ...
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 ...
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 ...
Two species of brown kelp responded differently to being grown for 55 days under ocean acidification conditions. One grew more, and the other grew less. There were negative indirect effects on black turban snails that fed on the kelp. (Laboratory study)
Exposure of Atlantic herring larvae to ocean acidification conditions resulted in stunted growth and development, poorer condition, and severe tissue damage in many organs. The degree of damage increased at higher levels of ocean acidification. (Laboratory study)
