Ocean acidification can mess with a fish’s mind

In more acidic waters clown fish wander too far from safety, sea snails fail to avoid prey

Monterey, Calif.—Mental problems at sea? Fish and mollusks could begin to have them—thanks to rising CO2 levels. Some of the resulting behaviors are odd, some compromising, and they reveal just how fundamentally carbon emissions are affecting our increasingly fragile Earth.

As humans emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, more of the gas is absorbed by the oceans, gradually making the water more acidic. Numerous studies in recent years have documented how lower pH (higher acidity) can make it harder for shellfish and tiny organisms to form shells or internal skeletons and to reproduce. The acidity often forces the organisms to expend extra energy to counteract ill effects on their metabolisms as well. But now scientists are finding that lower pH can also mess with ocean animals‘ minds.

Postdoc in phytoplankton and ocean acidification

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, USA
Application deadline: 15 Oct 2012

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences invites applications for a three-year Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the area of phytoplankton physiology and ocean acidification. The work is associated with a recently-funded NSF project on the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on coccolithophores and their associated grazers, as well as impacts of OA on the oceanic alkalinity and biological carbon pumps.

Ocean acidification: a Q&A with NOAA scientist Shallin Busch

Scientists have been studying the effects of carbon dioxide on climate for decades. More recently, however, an additional carbon dioxide problem has come to light. The oceans have absorbed about a third of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide alters ocean chemistry, making seawater more acidic. The term researchers use for this phenomenon is ‘Ocean Acidification’ and it threatens not only the ecological health of the oceans, but also the economic well-being of the people and industries that depend on a healthy and productive marine environment.

Dr. Shallin Busch co-leads a team of scientists at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center studying ocean acidification, and she is in Washington, DC, this week to brief Congress on its ecological and economic impacts. She stopped in to NOAA headquarters while in town, and we had a chance to ask Dr. Busch a few questions.

Natural labs help scientists study ocean acidification

Scientists are using “natural laboratories” — seafloor vents that release millions of streams of small bubbles of carbon dioxide – to study how ocean acidification may affect the future of coral reefs and other marine ecosystems as global carbon dioxide emissions rise.
These techniques and others were discussed Tuesday during the second press briefing at the Third International Symposium on The Ocean in a High-CO2 World in Monterey, Calif.

When Dr. Katharina Fabricius of the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Australia discovered the carbon dioxide vents in Papua New Guinea “ocean acidification wasn’t an issue.” Her recent work at the sites would show that “seagrasses do amazingly well, but coral reefs cannot survive when conditions get too corrosive.”

International conference focuses on challenges of ocean chemistry changes

Over 500 scientists from 37 countries have descended on Monterey, Calif., Sept. 24-27, to present the latest science related to ocean acidification, the result of the oceans absorbing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“This is a rapidly growing area of research. The first international conference on ocean acidification in 2004 attracted 125 participants. In 2008 it was 227. This year we have 547 participants,” said Professor Ulf Riebesell, conference chair, a marine scientist at IMF GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel in Germany.

Ocean acidification: a growing concern

An international group of scientists, including researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, are working to improve communication about ocean acidification to help the public better understand the pressing global issue.

Ocean acidification shows negligible impacts on high-latitude bacterial community structure in coastal pelagic mesocosms

The impact of ocean acidification and carbonation on microbial community structure was assessed during a large-scale in situ costal pelagic mesocosm study, included as part of the EPOCA 2010 Arctic campaign. The mesocosm experiment included ambient conditions (fjord) and nine mesocosms, with pCO₂ range from ~145 to ~1420 μatm. Samples collected at nine time points (t-1, t1, t5, t7, t12, t14, t22, t26 to t28) in seven treatments (ambient fjord (~145), 2×~185, ~270, ~685, ~820, ~1050 μatm) were analysed for “free-living” and “particle associated” microbial community composition using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. This high-throughput sequencing analysis produced ~20 000 000 16S rRNA V4 reads, which comprised 7000 OTUs. The main variables structuring these communities were, sample origin (fjord or mesocosms) and the filter size fraction (free-living or particle associated). The community was significantly different between the fjord and both the control and elevated ₂ mesocosms (which were not significant different) after nutrients were added to the mesocosms; suggesting that the addition of nutrients is the primary driver of the change in mesocosm community structure. The relative importance of each structuring variable depended greatly on the time at which the community was sampled in relation to the phytoplankton bloom. The size fraction was the second most important factor for community structure; separating free-living from particle-associated bacteria. When free-living and particle-associated bacteria were analysed separately at different time points, the only taxon pCO₂ was found to significantly affect were the Gammaproteobacteria after nutrient addition. Finally, pCO₂ treatment was found to be significantly correlated (non-linear) with 15 rare taxa, most of which increased in abundance with higher CO₂.

Ocean acidification – the knowledge base 2012

A new policy guide from the international Ocean Acidification Reference User Group was released in Monterey, California, on the closing day of the Third Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World. The new guide is available in 5 languages: English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

Ocean acidification: finding new answers through National Science Foundation research grants

Projects address concerns for acidifying marine ecosystems

With increasing levels of carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere and moving into marine systems, the world’s oceans are becoming more acidic.

The oceans may be acidifying faster today than at anytime in the past 300 million years, scientists have found.

To address the concern for acidifying marine ecosystems, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded new grants totaling $12 million in its Ocean Acidification program.

The program is part of NSF’s Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) investment.

The awards, the second round in this program, are supported by NSF’s Directorates for Geosciences and Biological Sciences, and Office of Polar Programs.

Rotten algae dump acid in ocean

Something’s rotten in the ocean. And as it rots, the ocean acidifies making life tough for shellfish, coral, and other creatures.

Carbon dioxide released from decaying algal blooms combines with the ever increasing concentration absorbed from the atmosphere to give marine communities a double dose of ocean acidification, according to a new study published in Environmental Science and Technology. Areas, like the mouth of the Mississippi River, where nutrient rich water feeds gigantic masses of algae may experience up to 12 times the amount of acidification that they would from atmospheric carbon dioxide alone. The strength of the effect of rotting algae is more intense in areas with low salinity and temperature.