Posted on EPOCA blog 31 May 2011 A natural experiment in tropical waters off Papua New Guinea suggests that with increasing CO2 emissions and ocean acidification some marine organisms will benefit, but many more will lose out. Climate scientist, Dr Janice Lough of the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences in Townsville
Month: May 2011
Physiological and ecological responses of crustaceans to ocean acidification
Posted on EPOCA blog 31 May 2011 The sensitivity of marine crustaceans to ocean acidification is poorly understood, but can be assessed by combining data from physiological and ecological studies. The species most at risk are exclusively marine and have limited physiological capacities to adjust to environmental change. They are
Losers and winners in coral reefs acclimatized to elevated carbon dioxide concentrations
From EPOCA blog posted 30 May 2011 Experiments have shown that ocean acidification due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations has deleterious effects on the performance of many marine organisms. However, few empirical or modelling studies have addressed the long-term consequences of ocean acidification for marine ecosystems. Here we show
Resistance among wild invertebrate populations to recurrent estuarine acidification
Acid sulfate soils (ASS), which occur on floodplains worldwide, pose a significant threat to estuarine ecosystems. In laboratory and field experiments, naïve calcifying organisms that are exposed for even short periods (1-2 mo) to runoff from ASS suffer 80 % mortality and slowed growth. Based on these observations we expected
CO2 seeps in PNG give insights to the future of coral reefs in a world of increasing greenhouse gas emissions
From EPOCA blog posted 30 May 2011 Natural carbon dioxide (CO2) seeps in Papua New Guinea have given scientists rare insights into what tropical coral reefs could look like if human-induced atmospheric CO2 concentrations continue to rise unabated. At present rates of increase, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)