For three ecologically important estuarine fish species—inland silverside, Atlantic silverside, and sheepshead minnow—the early life stages were more sensitive to low oxygen than they were to low pH. The combination of low oxygen and low pH had the biggest effect. The results suggest that ocean acidification and hypoxia may reduce ...

For juvenile hard-shell clams, ocean acidification alone or in combination with low salinity reduced the hardness and fracture toughness of their shells. This may reduce protection against predators. Salinity should be taken into account when predicting the effects of ocean acidification on estuarine bivalves. (Laboratory study)

Shark feeding could be affected by changes in seawater chemistry projected for the end of this century. When smooth dogfish were placed for five days in ocean acidification conditions, their odor tracking behavior was impaired, and they attacked less. (Laboratory study)

Ocean acidification increased the rate at which sponges bored into scallop shells. At pH 7.8, sponges bored twice the number of papillar holes and removed two times more shell weight than at pH 8.1. Greater erosion caused by the lower pH weakened the scallop shells. A warmer water temperature had ...

Common sunstar larvae and juveniles in ocean acidification conditions grew faster without apparent effects on survival or body structure. Unlike the larvae of some other sea star species that feed on plankton, larval common sunstars rely on nutrition provided in their egg. This difference in life history may enable some ...

A species of copepod (Tisbe battagliai) had decreased reproduction and growth when exposed to ocean acidification conditions. Over time, these changes could result in smaller brood sizes, smaller females, and perhaps later maturing females, which could destabilize the food web. (Laboratory study)

Studies in Italy and in the Chesapeake Bay, USA, found that seagrasses lost phenolics, which protect against grazing and disease, when living in high CO2/low pH conditions. The findings suggest that seagrassses may be vulnerable to higher grazing rates under ocean acidification.

Our present understanding of ocean acidification (OA) impacts on marine organisms caused by rapidly rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is almost entirely limited to single species responses. OA consequences for food web interactions are, however, still unknown. Indirect OA effects can be expected for consumers by changing the nutritional ...

The effect of ocean acidification on the fatty acid composition of a natural plankton community in the Arctic was studied in a large-scale mesocosm experiment, carried out in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway) at 79° N. Nine mesocosms of ~50 m3 each were exposed to 8 different pCO2 levels (from natural background conditions to ~1420 ...

Oceanic uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) is altering the seawater chemistry of the world’s oceans with consequences for marine biota. Elevated partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) is causing the calcium carbonate saturation horizon to shoal in many regions, particularly in high latitudes and regions that intersect with pronounced hypoxic ...