Posted on EPOCA: 11 Jul 2011 Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human industrial activities are causing a progressive alteration of seawater chemistry, termed ocean acidification, which has decreased seawater pH and carbonate ion concentration markedly since the Industrial Revolution. Many marine organisms, like molluscs and corals, build hard
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Winners and losers in ocean acidification
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
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