Ocean Acidification: Environmental Issue and Its Impact on Marine Life

2014 ◽  
pp. 127-139
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Cichowska ◽  
Alicja Kosakowska
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Environmental Issue ◽  
Marine Life

Ocean acidification as a multiple driver: how interactions between changing seawater carbonate parameters affect marine life

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catriona L. Hurd ◽  
John Beardall ◽  
Steeve Comeau ◽  
Christopher E. Cornwall ◽  
Jonathan N Havenhand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Carbonate System ◽  
Saturation State ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
Key Terms

‘Multiple drivers’ (also termed ‘multiple stressors’) is the term used to describe the cumulative effects of multiple environmental factors on organisms or ecosystems. Here, we consider ocean acidification as a multiple driver because many inorganic carbon parameters are changing simultaneously, including total dissolved inorganic carbon, CO2, HCO3–, CO32–, H+ and CaCO3 saturation state. With the rapid expansion of ocean acidification research has come a greater understanding of the complexity and intricacies of how these simultaneous changes to the seawater carbonate system are affecting marine life. We start by clarifying key terms used by chemists and biologists to describe the changing seawater inorganic carbon system. Then, using key groups of non-calcifying (fish, seaweeds, diatoms) and calcifying (coralline algae, coccolithophores, corals, molluscs) organisms, we consider how various physiological processes are affected by different components of the carbonate system.

scholarly journals How Does the Sexual Reproduction of Marine Life Respond to Ocean Acidification?

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Mark Olischläger ◽  
Christian Wild
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Gamete Release ◽  
Water Motion ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
Calm Water ◽  
Aging Populations ◽  
Coral Spawning

Recent research indicates that synchronicity of sexual reproduction in coral spawning events is breaking down, leading to aging populations and decreased recruitment success. In this perspective, we develop a hypothesis that this phenomenon could be caused by ongoing ocean acidification (OA). We hypothesize, that the underlying physiological machinery could be the carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM). The endosymbiotic zooxanthellae of corals could use this mechanism to sense calm water motion states in a comparable way to that known from macroalgae. In macroalgae, it is well-established that dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) acts as the trigger for signaling low water motion. Hence, evolutionarily developed signals of low water motion, suited for gamete-release, may be misleading in the future, potentially favoring opportunistic species in a broad range of marine organisms.

scholarly journals An extreme decline effect in ocean acidification fish ecology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Clements ◽  
Josefin Sundin ◽  
Timothy D. Clark ◽  
Fredrik Jutfelt
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Fish Ecology ◽  
Fish Behaviour ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
The Past

Ocean acidification – deceasing oceanic pH resulting from the uptake of excess atmospheric CO2 – is expected to affect marine life in the future. Among the possible consequences, a series of studies on coral reef fishes suggested that the direct effects of acidification on fish behaviour will be the most catastrophic. Recent studies documenting a lack of effect of experimental ocean acidification on fish behaviour, however, call this dire prediction into question. Here, we critically assess the past decade of ocean acidification research regarding direct effects on fish behaviour. Using a meta-analysis, we provide quantitative evidence that the research to date on this topic is strongly characterized by a phenomenon known as the “decline effect”, where large effects have all but disappeared over a decade. The decline effect in this field cannot be explained biologically, but is strongly associated with well-known biases to which the process of science is generally prone. We contend that ocean acidification does not have as much of a direct impact on fish behaviour as previously thought, and we advocate for improved approaches to minimize the potential for a decline effect in future avenues of research.

scholarly journals Ocean Acidification - How will ongoing ocean acidification affect marine life? [Present]

PAGES news ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Gattuso
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Marine Life

Crabby’s Reef - Using games to bring people closer to the issue of ocean acidification

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina C. Roggatz ◽  
Christopher J. Skinner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Impact

<p>Ocean acidification is often referred to as climate change’s hidden evil twin. As the world’s oceans partly absorb the carbon dioxide that humans are pumping into the planet’s atmosphere, the oceans’ pH decreases, making the water more acidic. This comes with a range of negative consequences, one of them being the recently uncovered impairment of the sense of smell of marine animals like fishes and crabs.</p><p>Awareness of ocean acidification, including its impacts on marine life, however, is low amongst the public. It is something that is viewed as remote to peoples’ lives, happening a long distance away and not for a long time into the future. It is important we take action now as a society to curb climate change and reduce the potential impacts of ocean acidification. Raising awareness and helping to make an emotional connection to the issue is a first step on this journey.</p><p>In <em>Crabby’s Reef</em> we use the power of gaming to enable players to experience the impact of this invisible and abstract process of ocean acidification. Inspired by classic arcade games, it puts players into the metaphorical shoes of Crabby, the crab. They navigate daily life on the ocean floor, guiding Crabby through the maze-like reef, seeking food and avoiding predatory octopuses who would make Crabby dinner. With each new level, you are transported to a more acidic future, your senses dampened by blurring the screen, reflecting Crabby’s loss of ability to smell the food.</p><p>With life getting harder, we ask how long can you survive?</p><p>Play the game here - <em>https://seriousgeo.games/activities/crabbysreef/</em></p>

scholarly journals Developing Ocean Acidification “Champions” in Congress

Eos ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy Showstack
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Environmental Issue

Ocean acidification “provides a case study of a way that we can drive forward bipartisan action on an environmental issue,” says an Ocean Conservancy scientist.

scholarly journals The hoax of ocean acidification

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Clifford Ollier
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
Living Things ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Ocean Carbon

Abstract A widespread alarm is sweeping the world at present about the ill effects of man-made increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) production. One aspect is that it may cause the ocean to become acid, and dissolve the carbonate skeletons of many living things including shellfish and corals. However, the oceans are not acid, never have been in geological history, and cannot become acid in the future. Changes in atmospheric CO2 cannot produce an acid ocean. Marine life depends on CO2, and some plants and animals fix it as limestone. Over geological time enormous amounts of CO2 have been sequestered by living things, and today there is far more CO2 in limestones than in the atmosphere or ocean. Carbon dioxide in seawater does not dissolve coral reefs, but is essential to their survival.

scholarly journals Ocean Acidification Does Not Affect Fish Ectoparasite Survival

Oceans ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
José Ricardo Paula ◽  
Eve Otjacques ◽  
Courtney Hildebrandt ◽  
Alexandra S. Grutter ◽  
Rui Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Cooperative Interactions ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Host Parasite Interactions ◽  
Rcp 8.5 ◽  
Host Blood ◽  
Host Parasite ◽  
Ectoparasite Load

The juveniles of gnathiid isopods are one of the most common fish ectoparasites in marine habitats and cause deleterious effects on fish by feeding on host blood and lymph. Reef fishes tend to engage in cooperative interactions with cleaning organisms to reduce their ectoparasite load. Ocean acidification (OA) pose multiple threats to marine life. Recently, OA was found to disrupt cleaner fish behaviour in mutualistic cleaning interactions. However, the potential effects of ocean acidification on this common ectoparasite remains unknown. Here, we test if exposure to an acidification scenario predicted by IPCC to the end of the century (RCP 8.5 – 980 μatm pCO2) affects gnathiid survival. Our results show that ocean acidification did not have any effects on gnathiid survival rate during all three juvenile life stages. Thus, we advocate that the need for cleaning interactions will persist in potentially acidified coral reefs. Nevertheless, to better understand gnathiid resilience to ocean acidification, future studies are needed to evaluate ocean acidification impacts on gnathiid reproduction and physiology as well as host-parasite interactions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document