Workers seeding oyster beds at Smith Cove. The Port of Seattle, along with Puget Sound Restoration Fund and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, are working on an innovative ‘Blue Carbon’ pilot program to establish habitat and a native oyster bed at the north end of Smith Cove
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Ocean warming, but not acidification, accelerates seagrass decomposition under near-future climate scenarios
The majority of marine macrophyte production is not consumed by herbivores but instead is channeled into detrital pathways where it supports biodiversity and drives coastal productivity, nutrient cycling and blue carbon sequestration. While it is clear that detrital pathways will be affected by ocean climate change, the relative importance of
Quantifying sensitivity and adaptive capacity of shellfish in the Northern California Current Ecosystem to increasing prevalence of ocean acidification and hypoxia
The severity of carbonate chemistry changes from ocean acidification is predicted to increase greatly in the coming decades, with serious consequences for marine species- especially those reliant on calcium carbonate for structure and function (Fabry et al. 2008). The Northern California Current Ecosystem off the coast of US West Coast
Alterations to seabed raise fears for future
The ocean floor as we know it is dissolving rapidly as a result of human activity. Normally the deep sea bottom is a chalky white. It’s composed, to a large extent, of the mineral calcite (CaCO3) formed from the skeletons and shells of many planktonic organisms and corals. The seafloor
Current CaCO3 dissolution at the seafloor caused by anthropogenic CO2
Oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 leads to decreased pH, carbonate ion concentration, and saturation state with respect to CaCO3 minerals, causing increased dissolution of these minerals at the deep seafloor. This additional dissolution will figure prominently in the neutralization of man-made CO2. However, there has been no concerted assessment of