Ocean acidification, caused by the ocean's absorption of excess atmospheric CO2, lowers seawater pH and poses significant threats to marine life beyond the well-known issue of coral bleaching.

It impacts a wide variety of species, including shell-forming animals, cephalopods such as cuttlefish and octopuses, fish, marine mammals, and plankton, with effects that span physiological, behavioral, and ecological dimensions and ultimately threaten marine biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

Shell-forming organisms—including clams, oysters, mussels, and crabs—are particularly vulnerable because acidification reduces carbonate ions necessary for forming and maintaining calcium carbonate shells and skeletons.

This leads to thinner, weaker shells that increase predation risk and reduce fitness.

Research on Pacific littleneck clams demonstrates that acidified conditions impair shell mineralization and disrupt gene expression.

Moreover, studies in regions like the Sundarbans estuary document declining oyster, clam, crab, and lobster populations and thinner shells since pH declines began in the 1980s.

However, promising mitigation methods include adding calcium carbonate shell hash to sediments, which buffers acidity, improves pore water chemistry, and supports clam shell growth under acidified conditions.

Kelp beds offer another natural mitigation by absorbing CO2, raising local pH, and promoting shellfish growth, as field experiments show enhanced oyster growth when near kelp beds .

Crustaceans, such as shrimp, encounter compounded risks from acidification and warming, particularly in their early stages.

These combined stressors significantly reduce egg hatching success, survival, and development, threatening populations crucial to both ecosystems and fisheries, especially in vulnerable regions like the Arabian Gulf .

Planktonic copepods, key zooplankton that form the base of marine food webs, are stressed by acidification and warming, as shown by increased larval respiration rates indicating higher metabolic demands.

While some copepod species exhibit limited self-repair and adaptive responses, the potential for long-term population declines could disrupt food availability for fish, seabirds, marine mammals, and cephalopods reliant on them as prey.

This underscores a critical pathway by which acidification effects cascade through ecosystems .

Cephalopods such as cuttlefish (your school mascot), octopuses, and squids are affected by ocean acidification in complex ways, but species-specific research has been limited.

The cuttlebone of cuttlefish, an internal calcium carbonate structure vital for buoyancy regulation, is sensitive to carbonate ion reductions caused by acidification.

Weakening of the cuttlebone could impair buoyancy and mobility, reducing the cuttlefish’s ability to hover, camouflage effectively, and escape predators.

Physiological studies also suggest acidification and other environmental stressors may induce metabolic, behavioral, and stress-related changes in cephalopods.

For example, recent research on Mediterranean common cuttlefish exposed to environmental stress demonstrates significant physiological impacts such as reduced growth and reproduction, increased aggression, and lower food intake, implying vulnerability to acidification as part of broader stress responses.

However, direct research isolating acidification effects on cuttlefish behavior, physiology, or development is still sparse, highlighting an urgent need for further species-specific studies to clarify these impacts .

A student-friendly fact aligning with your mascot is that cuttlefish depend heavily on their cuttlebone for precise buoyancy control, which helps them float effortlessly and blend into their surroundings.

Ocean acidification’s threat to cuttlebone strength could undermine these survival mechanisms, making the health of ocean chemistry crucial for your school's iconic marine symbol.

Fish exposed to long-term elevated CO2, such as those living near natural underwater CO2 vents, have shown molecular adaptations including changes in gene expression related to circadian rhythms and immune function, suggesting some capacity to adapt to acidification.

Despite this, they still face physiological and behavioral challenges like impaired sensory perception and reduced predator avoidance, which affect survival rates.

Similarly, juvenile Pacific abalone exhibit reduced growth and thinner, less mineralized shells under acidification and reduced alkalinity, though approaches integrating seaweed cultivation or alkalinity enhancements show potential to mitigate these effects .

Marine mammals do not build calcium carbonate structures and thus are less directly affected by ocean acidification; however, they suffer indirect impacts through reduced prey availability as acidification diminishes populations of fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods they feed upon.

Additionally, acidification alters seawater acoustic properties, which may disrupt marine mammal communication and echolocation crucial for navigation and feeding .

These impacts from acidification cascade through marine food webs: declines in lower trophic levels such as plankton and shellfish reduce food sources for higher consumers including fish, cephalopods, and marine mammals, thereby threatening ecosystem stability and biodiversity.

Cephalopods function both as predators of smaller crustaceans and plankton and as prey for larger species, placing them centrally in these cascading effects.

Historical data provide sobering context for these risks.

The Late Permian Mass Extinction (~252 million years ago), Earth’s deadliest marine extinction, was driven by volcanic activity causing global warming, ocean acidification, and oxygen depletion.

This event led to massive extinction of shelled cephalopods (ancestors of modern nautilus), corals, and other calcifying organisms, profoundly reshaping marine ecosystems for millions of years.

Sensitivity varied with factors such as habitat depth and shell mineralization.

This historical precedent offers insight into the potential long-term impacts of ongoing acidification .

There is room for hope: ocean acidification impacts can improve if CO2 emissions are reduced promptly.

Seawater pH and carbonate chemistry can begin to recover within decades following emission reductions, allowing shell-formers to rebuild stronger shells and partially restoring conditions for vulnerable species.

Behavioral impairments in fish and metabolic stress in plankton are also likely to lessen as seawater chemistry stabilizes.

However, full ecosystem recovery may take centuries, emphasizing an urgent need for immediate mitigation alongside conservation actions to preserve marine biodiversity .

In conclusion, ocean acidification poses multifaceted threats to marine life.

Shell-builders endure weaker shells and reduced survival; crustacean larvae face development challenges; plankton experience metabolic stress undermining food webs; cephalopods risk impaired buoyancy and altered behavior; fish show sensory and immune disruptions; and marine mammals suffer from reduced prey and communication challenges.

These interconnected effects jeopardize marine ecosystems.

Linking these issues to the health and survival of your cuttlefish mascot offers a compelling, relatable focus for your climate justice club’s Spirit Week campaign.

Raising awareness and advocating for CO2 emission reductions are vital steps toward protecting ocean health and its extraordinary range of marine life.

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Ocean acidification, caused by the ocean's absorption of excess atmospheric CO2, lowers seawater pH and poses significant threats to marine life beyond the well-known issue of coral bleaching.

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Content: Carbon Dioxide Makes Ocean Acidification Study Suggests Rapid Evolution Could Make Fish Easier to Deal With
March 03, 2022 17: 00
Eastern Network Television
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Some fish can evolve rapidly to cope with ocean acidification.
(courtesy of Shutterstock)
In addition to causing climate warming, global emissions of large amounts of carbon dioxide will also cause sea water to become acidic, and marine life may be affected.
The study found that volcanic infiltration of high CO2 partial pressure, that is, high concentrations of CO2 dissolved in water, changes in the genetic transcription of fish, predict the response of wild fish to the continuous acidification of the marine environment.
The results show that some fish with faster rates of evolution may be more flexible in coping with ocean acidification, maintaining population size and diversity. One species of fish may be able to acidify the marine environment with its rapid evolution of gene molecular transcription regulation, but the population size and diversity of fish with slower rates of evolution are difficult to maintain in acidified environments.
As carbon dioxide emissions from human activities increase year by year, and the CO2 absorbed by the ocean continues to rise, causing the pH of seawater to decline and become acidic, scientists expect “ocean acidification ” on the surface of the world ’ s oceans, which may affect the physiology, growth and survival of some fish, and change some key behaviors that affect survival chances.
A team led by Celia SCHUNTER from the Faculty of Biosciences of the University of Hong Kong and the Swire Institute of Marine Science, along with foreign researchers, travelled to Papua New Guinea, the Pacific island nation, to extract the brains of six species of coral fish, including five species of finch and one species of celestial bream, from a carbon dioxide spill at the bottom of a volcano and about 500 m nearby coral reef. The organization conducts gene transcription group sequencing to understand the changes in fish gene transcription in the ocean acidification environment.
The results show that high CO2 partial pressure can cause transcription changes in genes related to circadian clock and immune function in several species, demonstrating that fish function is important in coping with acidifying environments, and that the core genes of circadian rhythms determine the 24-hour cycle of most species.
Immune-related regulation has been found in many species of fish in acidified environments, so regulation of the immune response may also be an important response to acidification, especially in nocturnal fish, which exhibit a greater proportion of immune regulation and are modulated in the opposite direction to diurnal fish.
In contrast to the fish body ’ s ability to regulate the pH value of the cells, the researchers found that the brain of the spinosus is used to maintain a large number of changes in potassium, sodium, chlorine and calcium ions that transmit signals in the carbon dioxide ooze. Corresponding changes are needed to cope with the acidification environment, but differences in the expression of related genes disappear when stress is reduced, and genes return to normal levels of expression.
Further research by the team found that this finch has evolved significantly faster than other fish over the past 15 million years, potentially giving it greater potential to adapt to environmental changes.
It is speculated that this species may have evolved molecular mechanisms to cope with future ocean acidification.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?

What is the main cause of ocean acidification?

water absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

It impacts a wide variety of species, including shell-forming animals, cephalopods such as cuttlefish and octopuses, fish, marine mammals, and plankton, with effects that span physiological, behavioral, and ecological dimensions and ultimately threaten marine biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

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Content:
International scientists warn of the serious impact of noise pollution on marine invertebrates

An international scientific study, led by the UPC's Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB), shows that noise from human operations at sea damages marine invertebrates and ocean ecosystems. Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, the work points out that noise pollution at sea can even cause death in some marine species.

In recent decades, scientists have studied the sensitivity to noise of marine mammals—especially cetaceans and pinnipeds—and fish because they are known to possess hearing organs. Recent studies have revealed that a wide variety of are also sensitive to sound, particularly via sensory organs whose function is to allow maintaining equilibrium in the water column and to sense gravity. Not only do represent the largest proportion of marine biomass and are indicators of ocean health, but many species also have important socio-economic values.

A team of scientists, made up of researchers from the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB) from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech (UPC) and other universities and research centers in Australia, Spain, the United States, France, Japan, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, have reviewed hundreds of studies on the impact of noise on marine invertebrates such as crabs, molluscs, squids, prawns and worms. They concluded that anthropogenic noise—noise from human operations—is harming these species in many ways, from cellular to ecosystem level.

"Many people are surprised to discover that invertebrates can even perceive sound, but sound is, in fact, essential to their survival," explains Marta Solé, UPC's LAB researcher linked to the Polytechnic School of Engineering of Vilanova i la Geltrú (EPSEVG). "Light does not travel easily underwater, but sound does, and invertebrates use sound for their vital activities (interspecific communication, predator detection, reproduction, etc.). Human operations, especially shipping, are changing the ocean soundscape very rapidly, and this study brings together the latest evidence on these impacts." Shipping is the main source of marine noise, but there are many others—drilling, dredging, sonar, etc.—and this affects the natural balance of the oceans.

Multiple impacts

Titled "Marine invertebrates and noise," the paper was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. It warns of the multiple impacts of on invertebrates, such as delayed hatching and development of eggs, and significantly increased larvae abnormality and in crustaceans, bivalves (mussels and oysters), gastropods (snails) and cephalopods (cuttlefish and squids).

Low-frequency sounds, such as those from underwater explosions, can cause injury and even death in blue crabs. Long-term exposure of these species to noise also affects their behavior. Ship noise limits shore crabs' ability to change color for camouflage, according to the team of researchers.

After sound exposure, Mediterranean common cuttlefish showed changes in the protein content, mainly structure- and stress-related proteins. The authors have also reviewed studies demonstrating physiological changes in some species, such as a significant reduction in the rate of growth and reproduction, an increase in the level of aggressiveness and the mortality rate, and a reduction in feed intake.

Recent studies have revealed that a wide range of invertebrates are sensitive to sounds, especially via statocysts—analogous to the vertebrate inner ear—whose original function is to allow maintaining equilibrium in the water column and to sense gravity.

How do invertebrates produce and detect sound?

Sound travels about five times faster in water (ca. 1,500 m/s) than in air (ca. 340 m/s) because the density of water is greater, and also attenuates less over the same distance. Invertebrates detect underwater sound through three types of sensory systems: ciliated receptors on the , statocysts and chordotonal organs, linked to the joints of antennae or legs in crustaceans.

They can also produce sounds: from "coughing" in scallops to stridulation, in which lobsters, crayfish, prawns and crabs rub together certain body parts—similar to bowing a violin—and make sounds that may scare off predators. The study presents all these forms of sound production and perception specific to invertebrates, and the techniques used for their analysis.

Effects of noise on ecosystems

By changing the behavior and health of predators and prey in complex food webs, noise can thus affect entire ecosystems. Invertebrates provide major ecosystem functions, such as water filtering, habitat creation, organic matter processing, carbon transfer through food webs and nutrient recycling. Therefore, researchers see it as urgent to continue research in this area to mitigate the impacts.

"Our study highlights that these animals exist in a rich underwater soundscape," explains Dr. Sophie Nedelec from the University of Exeter. "We need to learn more about the impacts of noise pollution on these animals and ecosystems. Given that noise can affect invertebrates from cellular to ecosystem level, we need to bring together interdisciplinary expertise to gain a holistic view of the problem. Considering the many anthropogenic pressures, including and fishing, we must do everything possible to limit underwater noise."

The study summarizes the current scientific knowledge on invertebrate bioacoustics ( production, reception, sensitivity) and on how marine invertebrates are affected by anthropogenic noises. It also identifies gaps in scientific knowledge on the tolerance of marine ecosystems, concluding that more research is needed.

More information: Marta Solé et al, Marine invertebrates and noise, Frontiers in Marine Science (2023). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1129057

Journal information: Frontiers in Marine Science

Provided by Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Citation: International scientists warn of the serious impact of noise pollution on marine invertebrates (2023, March 15) retrieved 15 March 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-03-international-scientists-impact-noise-pollution.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Shell-forming organisms—including clams, oysters, mussels, and crabs—are particularly vulnerable because acidification reduces carbonate ions necessary for forming and maintaining calcium carbonate shells and skeletons.

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Utilizing biogeochemical and genetic tools to understand and support clam populations in a changing ocean

Marine bivalves are at risk due to anthropogenic climate change. This poses a threat to commercial aquaculture, and the communities that depend on bivalves for food security. Ocean acidification, the lowering of seawater pH, is of particular concern for marine calcifiers, including bivalves. Ocean acidification occurs as carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere at a rate faster than natural geologic processes can buffer. It is energetically costly for marine calcifiers like clams, mussels, and oysters, to mineralize under acidic conditions, and low pH leads to the dissolution of calcium carbonate shells and skeletons. This problem warrants research on acidification adaptation strategies that will keep coastal populations healthy. Adding calcium carbonate shell hash to coastal sediments may mitigate negative effects of acidification on infaunal shellfish by altering the chemistry of pore fluids, thus providing a potential mitigation strategy for local populations, including species like the Pacific littleneck clam (Leukoma staminea).

Here, I present the first in-depth description of the shell mineralogy, microstructure, body size variability, and geochemical properties of modern L. staminea, a common eastern Pacific, shallow, infaunal bivalve. Additionally, I document the impact of ocean acidification on the shell growth and gene expression of L. staminea, and test whether adding shell hash to its infaunal environement can promote growth under acidified conditions. Juvenile clams were raised in four experimental conditions for 90 days: control seawater, acidified seawater, control seawater with shell hash, and acidified seawater with shell hash. Clam shell weight, soft tissue weight, and new shell growth were measured. The presence of shell hash increased the pH, alkalinity and aragonite saturation state of pore fluids across all treatments, and increased shell growth on average, although growth metrics were variable across and within treatments. Lastly, RNA-sequencing revealed the impacts of experimental acidification on juvenile clam gene expression. Clams grown in the presence of shell hash had gene expression profiles more similar to those grown in control (non-acidified) conditions. In all, this research suggests that adding shell hash to coastal sediments alters the chemistry of pore fluids and buffers against acidic conditions that deleteriously affects clam mineralization.

Kempf H., 2024. Utilizing biogeochemical and genetic tools to understand and support clam populations in a changing ocean. PhD Thesis, University of California, Davis. 33 p. Thesis (restricted access).

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How does coastal ocean acidification affect shellfish?

What do shellfish use to build their shells?

This leads to thinner, weaker shells that increase predation risk and reduce fitness.

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Rise In CO2 Levels In Air Is Wounding Sundarbans' Marine Life: Scientists

This has been analysed by a team of marine scientists working in the Sunderbans, who said ocean acidification is a part of global warming and climate change. The experts found the pH level of water dropping from around 8.3 in the early 1980s to approximately 7.9 in 2019.

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A continuous increase in the carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the air is harming the marine life of the Sunderbans estuary in West Bengal by turning it acidic. Animals, especially with shells such as oysters, clams, crabs, and lobsters, are prone to danger.

This has been analysed by a team of marine scientists working in the Sunderbans, who said ocean acidification is a part of global warming and climate change, Hindustan Times reported. The experts found the pH level of water dropping from around 8.3 in the early 1980s to approximately 7.9 in 2019.

Speaking to the media, Abhijit Mitra, former head of the marine science department (Calcutta University), informed that the western part of Sunderban, close to the urban area, had observed a massive drop in its pH level, while the central part is declining slowly.

Mitra said the decline affects the population of shelled organisms and their shell size as well, which has become thinner and smaller. Fishermen said that several fish and other animals have gotten smaller, and they hardly get big ones.

Their population has also fallen by 35-40 per cent in the western area.

"The size of Saccostrea cucullata, a species of edible oyster around Kakdwip and Namkhana fishing harbour, has dropped by over 40 per cent. In the central Sunderbans, the size of the species has dropped by around 20 percent," the media quoted him as saying.

Asst. Professor of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Punyasloke Bhadury, explained that water contains calcium and carbonate ions, which the shelled animals need to develop and corals to build the reef. But the acidity reduces these components in the water, affecting the shell size and slowing down the growth of reefs.

Experts said the decline in the pH level is alarming. Just as the slightest drop in the pH level of a human body (pH 7.35 to 7.45) can make them sick, the same takes a heavy toll on marine animals.

The scientists said the decline is not just in Sunderbans but other estuaries as well.

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How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

fish becomes easy prey for other predators

Research on Pacific littleneck clams demonstrates that acidified conditions impair shell mineralization and disrupt gene expression.

Moreover, studies in regions like the Sundarbans estuary document declining oyster, clam, crab, and lobster populations and thinner shells since pH declines began in the 1980s.

However, promising mitigation methods include adding calcium carbonate shell hash to sediments, which buffers acidity, improves pore water chemistry, and supports clam shell growth under acidified conditions.

What do shellfish use to build their shells?

Kelp beds offer another natural mitigation by absorbing CO2, raising local pH, and promoting shellfish growth, as field experiments show enhanced oyster growth when near kelp beds .

Title:

Content: Newswise — STONY BROOK, NY, May 25, 2022 – While kelp is known as a nutritious food item for sea creatures and humans alike, harvesting kelp may be a new way to help keep bivalves such as clams and oysters – a more common food source and marine industry staple – healthy and more abundant. A new study led by Christopher Gobler, PhD, and a team of scientists at the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) shows that the presence of kelp significantly reduces ocean acidification, a result of climate change.

Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, the study also demonstrated that the deployment of kelp on an oyster farm nullifies ocean acidification and therefore protects bivalves against acidification. The process may also have additional ecosystem and aquaculture benefits, including the sequestration and extraction of carbon and nitrogen, and protection against harmful algae blooms.

For shellfish, one of the most serious climate change-related threats is ocean acidification. Carbon dioxide or CO2 levels in Earth’s atmosphere continue to rise, infiltrating oceans where it causes chemical reactions that lower pH and cause ocean acidification. For the past two decades, one of the most robust conclusions of ocean climate change research has been that increasing levels of CO2 in surface waters threaten shellfish that rely on higher pH waters to grow and survive. This threat is particularly acute in coastal zones where additional sources of acidity can further reduce pH and slow shell formation in shellfish, especially bivalves. And while many wild populations of bivalves have collapsed, a burgeoning wave of aquaculture in the U.S. and around the World has caused the global production of seafood via aquaculture to grow and now exceed wild capture.

“Despite this wave of aquaculture, the intensification of ocean acidification now threatens bivalve aquaculture and has necessitated a solution,” explains Professor Gobler, the Endowed Chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation at SoMAS.  “We believe our work is foundational to a solution.”

In the study, titled “Kelp (Saccharina latissima) Mitigates Coastal Ocean Acidification and Increases the Growth of North Atlantic Bivalves in Lab Experiments and on an Oyster Farm,” Professor Gobler and colleagues conducted six experiments to assess the effects of elevated CO2 and presence of kelp (S. latissima) on the growth rates of three different species of bivalves: (Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica), blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), and hard clams / Northern quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria).

In each of the experiments, acidification was significantly reduced with the cultivation of kelp. They furthered the research with the ultimate test – a field experiment at the Great Gun oyster farm in Moriches Bay, New York.

They found that during a one-month deployment, oysters that were surrounded by kelp enjoyed higher pH water and grew significantly faster than individual shellfish located further away where the pH of the water was significantly lower.

Professor Gobler and colleagues emphasize that these findings have powerful implications for oyster farming in coastal zones.

“We have been witnessing coastal ocean acidification for years and have documented its ability to slow the growth, and even kill off, shellfish. We began growing kelp on oyster farms to simply expand aquaculture, regionally. After seeing its ability to rapidly take up CO2 and improve low pH conditions, we knew it had the potential to benefit shellfish experiencing acidification. And while showing that in the lab was exciting, being able to improve the growth of oysters on an oyster farm experiencing coastal acidification proves this approach can have very broad applications,” explains Professor Gobler.

Overall, the research clearly shows, according to the authors, that “the cultivation of kelp constitutes an environmentally friendly means of protecting shellfisheries against present and future ocean acidification and other coastal stressors.”

Building on the work, helping the oyster farms

“We’ve helped grow kelp on 10 oyster farms across New York since 2018 and more and more aquaculturists have been hoping to incorporate kelp into their farms,” says Mike Doall, Associate Director of Shellfish Restoration and Aquaculture at Stony Brook University. “In addition to providing crop diversification and additive revenue streams, the ability of kelp to fight ocean acidification gives these oyster farmers one more reason to add kelp as a second crop.”

The recent study builds on other research by the same SoMAS group, which published a study in Harmful Algae in 2021. That study demonstrated that kelp has the ability to deter the intensity of harmful algal blooms, another environmental threat to shellfish aquaculture.

Such scenarios with kelp appear to create a win-win scenario for oyster farmers like Paul McCormick, owner of the Great Gun oyster farm where the current study was performed.

“Kelp looks to be the perfect complement to oysters on my farm,” says McCormick. “It grows during winter and spring, when the oysters need less attention, and there is lots of interest in kelp from restaurants. If it is offering protection to my oysters against poor water quality, well that’s another good reason to add it to my farm.”

Citations:

Young, C. S., Sylvers, L. H., Tomasetti, S. J., Lundstrom, A., Schenone, C., Doall, M. H., & Gobler, C. J. (2022) Kelp (Saccharina latissima) mitigates ocean acidification and increases the growth of North Atlantic bivalves in lab experiments and on an oyster farm. Frontiers in Marine Science, Volume 9 | Article 881254

Sylvers, P. H., & Gobler, C. J. (2021). Mitigation of harmful algal blooms caused by Alexandrium catenella and reduction in saxitoxin accumulation in bivalves using cultivable seaweeds. Harmful Algae, 105, 102056.

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Crustaceans, such as shrimp, encounter compounded risks from acidification and warming, particularly in their early stages.

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In cooperation with the Foundation for the Advancement of Science and the Atomic Energy Agency
« Research » conducted a study on the impact of « acidification » on shrimp
The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), in cooperation with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), completed a study project to investigate the impact of ocean acidification and ocean surface warming on the growth and abundance of local shrimp.
In turn, the head of the project, researcher Lamia Muslim at the Center for Environmental and Life Sciences Research at the Institute, said that there are many animals that contain in their skeleton or shell calcium carbonate, and changes in the pH of water can negatively affect these organisms, especially in the early stages of their life. The sea and some phytoplankton species, but that does not mean that this is a positive thing because the increased growth of these organisms can disrupt the food chain, biodiversity and ecosystem mechanisms and construction.
She added that the presence of large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to the occurrence of global warming and the rise of the surface of the oceans by between one and three degrees Celsius, and the rise of the water level to an amount ranging from 0.18 to 0.79 meters, which in turn leads to acidification and warming of the surface of the oceans, and therefore to change the chemistry of the ocean and threaten marine ecosystems.
She pointed out that the shrimp mothers were collected from Kuwaiti territorial waters during the breeding season to obtain eggs and shrimp larvae in sufficient numbers to conduct experiments on all stages of shrimp age, as the study experiments were conducted in the laboratories of the Institute in a controlled system simulating the expected climate changes in the future.
The results of the study confirmed that the warming of the surface of the oceans could have a greater impact than ocean acidification on the early life stages of shrimp larvae, as shrimp larvae exposed to high temperatures showed accelerated growth rates to reach the sizes of older shrimp, but with lower survival rates, it is very likely that lower survival and growth rates under future climate scenarios may lead to the emergence of smaller shrimp larvae. These larvae will undergo multiple molting processes over their life cycle making them vulnerable; furthermore, the study results suggest additional effects of combined exposure to ocean surface warming and acidification on egg-hatching success, survival, and shrimp larval development.
Al-Musallam said: “The study is fully consistent across the entire life cycle of the M Nair shrimp, where high mortality of larvae at low pH and high water temperature indicates a possible collapse of this species of crustacean under conditions of increased ocean acidification and future warming of the ocean surface, which also leads to a significant reduction in shrimp stocks in the Arabian Gulf due to overfishing or reduced larval growth due to climate change. ”
For his part, dr.
Dr. Saifuddin Iqbaluddin, from the Center for Environmental and Life Sciences Research, said experts regularly measure water temperature and pH levels and look at how marine life might respond to these changes in the coming decades.
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At what stage of life are calcium carbonate-based organisms most vulnerable to changes in water pH?

These combined stressors significantly reduce egg hatching success, survival, and development, threatening populations crucial to both ecosystems and fisheries, especially in vulnerable regions like the Arabian Gulf .

At what stage of life are calcium carbonate-based organisms most vulnerable to changes in water pH?

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

Planktonic copepods, key zooplankton that form the base of marine food webs, are stressed by acidification and warming, as shown by increased larval respiration rates indicating higher metabolic demands.

Title:

Content: The Arctic region is currently undergoing rapid and significant changes, with acidification and warming occurring at alarming rates.
These shifts raise concerns about the resilience of marine communities in the face of such environmental shifts.
Marine zooplankton, especially copepods, play a crucial role in the Arctic food web.
However, differences in environmental conditions can disrupt zooplankton populations, leading to adverse consequences for the entire ecosystem.
Recent research has focused on understanding the extent to which copepods in early life are exposed to environmental stressors, as they represent a critical bottleneck in the copepods life cycle.
A study by Espinel Velasco et al.
(2023) Explore the responses of 4-day-old Kalanos Hyperborius Lenobli to acidification (pH 7.5 and 8.1) and warming (0 and 3 ° C), both individually and collectively.
The study revealed that the larvae 'breathing rates increased significantly when exposed to a combination of acidification and warming.
Surprisingly, exposure to these stressors individually did not produce the same effect.
Surprisingly, the researchers did not find any noticeable differences in fat content and fatty acid composition in the larvae across various experimental treatments.
Wax esters, which make up about 75% of the fat reserve, and high amounts of long-chain fatty acids 20: 1 and 22: 1, necessary for copepods to reproduce, have been detected in all treatments.
By highlighting the sensitivity of larvae to the combined effects of acidification and warming, this study aligns with a growing body of evidence from relevant research.
It highlights the potential impacts of global change on Arctic copepod populations and stresses the importance of understanding early life stage responses to environmental stressors.
Questions and Answers:
Q: What are zooplankton?
A: Zooplankton refers to small, often microscopic, organisms that drift into the ocean or other bodies of water and serve as one of the main sources of food for many marine species.
Q: What is the role of copepods in the Arctic food web?
A: Copepods, especially calanotic copepods such as Calanus Hyperboreus, are a critical component of the Arctic food web.
They serve as a vital link between primary producers (such as phytoplankton) and higher trophic levels, serving as a food source for various marine species.
Q: What is acidification?
A: Acidification refers to the process of increasing acidity (lowering pH) in seawater due to the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This occurs as a result of human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels.
Q: How does global warming affect marine ecosystems?
A: Ocean warming can have various impacts on marine ecosystems, including changes in species distribution, changing reproductive cycles, and potential disruptions to the delicate balance of food webs.
Source: Frontiers in Marine Science, DOI: 10.3389 / fmars.2023.1240673

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

While some copepod species exhibit limited self-repair and adaptive responses, the potential for long-term population declines could disrupt food availability for fish, seabirds, marine mammals, and cephalopods reliant on them as prey.

This underscores a critical pathway by which acidification effects cascade through ecosystems .

Title:

Content: Newswise — When carbon dioxide (CO2) enters the oceans, it can make the water more acidic, which is called ocean acidification. This can make it harder for some ocean creatures, like pteropods, to build and keep their shells. Pteropods are important for the ocean environment.

Pteropods are small sea creatures, including shelled sea butterflies. Not much is known about them because of their size, and they don't survive well in captivity. A team of marine scientists studied the life cycles, abundance, and seasonal changes of shelled sea butterflies in the north-east Scotia Sea, where climate change is happening quickly.

Dr Clara Manno, a researcher at the British Antarctic Survey and the corresponding author of the study published in Frontiers in Marine Science, said that the decrease in pteropod populations in the Antarctic Ocean could have significant consequences for the food web and carbon cycle. She also said that understanding the life cycle of this important organism could help to predict the impact of ocean acidification on the Antarctic ecosystem.

Population stability essential for species survival

To study the life cycle, abundance, and seasonal variability of shelled sea butterflies in the north-east Scotia Sea, a team of marine scientists collected sea butterflies in a sediment trap, a sampling device that was anchored at a depth of 400 meters. Since observing the entire life cycle of sea butterflies in a laboratory setting is impossible, the researchers had to gather information about their spawning, growth rate, and population structure. They were able to reconstruct the sea butterflies' life cycle for a year using the samples from the sediment trap.

The scientists found that the two most commonly collected species, Limacina rangii and Limacina retroversa, have different life cycles and therefore have different levels of vulnerability to changes in the ocean. During the winter months, L. rangii, which is a polar species, can be found as both adults and juveniles, while L. retroversa, a subpolar species, is only found as adults during the winter.

Sea butterflies that exist during the coldest season are more vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification. This is because ocean water is more acidic during this season than during other times of the year due to cooler temperatures that increase CO2 dissolution in the ocean. The researchers explained that the life stages of sea butterflies during this time are more exposed and vulnerable to the effects of ocean acidification.

L. rangii has a survival advantage over L. retroversa because both adults and juveniles coexist during winter, which reduces the risk of population instability if one cohort is vulnerable. In contrast, if one cohort is removed from L. retroversa, the entire population could be at risk.

Prolonged exposure is a survival challenge

The researchers pointed out that although the two species are affected differently, both are likely to suffer harm if they are exposed to unfavorable conditions for prolonged periods.

The scientists cautioned that the intensifying and prolonged events of ocean acidification overlap with the spring spawning period, posing a threat to the most vulnerable life stage, the larvae. This could endanger the future populations of sea butterflies.

The research team plans to further study the sea butterflies in the Scotia Sea to see how they would be affected by the increase in the intensity and duration of ocean acidification events. They will study multiyear sediment trap samples to identify potential changes in the life cycle that may occur due to environmental changes. Dr Jessie Gardner of the British Antarctic Survey, lead author of the study, said this will be the next step in their research.

Journal Link: Frontiers in Marine Science

What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?

Cephalopods such as cuttlefish (your school mascot), octopuses, and squids are affected by ocean acidification in complex ways, but species-specific research has been limited.

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

The cuttlebone of cuttlefish, an internal calcium carbonate structure vital for buoyancy regulation, is sensitive to carbonate ion reductions caused by acidification.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Weakening of the cuttlebone could impair buoyancy and mobility, reducing the cuttlefish’s ability to hover, camouflage effectively, and escape predators.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Physiological studies also suggest acidification and other environmental stressors may induce metabolic, behavioral, and stress-related changes in cephalopods.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

For example, recent research on Mediterranean common cuttlefish exposed to environmental stress demonstrates significant physiological impacts such as reduced growth and reproduction, increased aggression, and lower food intake, implying vulnerability to acidification as part of broader stress responses.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

How does coastal ocean acidification affect shellfish?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

However, direct research isolating acidification effects on cuttlefish behavior, physiology, or development is still sparse, highlighting an urgent need for further species-specific studies to clarify these impacts .

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

A student-friendly fact aligning with your mascot is that cuttlefish depend heavily on their cuttlebone for precise buoyancy control, which helps them float effortlessly and blend into their surroundings.

Ocean acidification’s threat to cuttlebone strength could undermine these survival mechanisms, making the health of ocean chemistry crucial for your school's iconic marine symbol.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Fish exposed to long-term elevated CO2, such as those living near natural underwater CO2 vents, have shown molecular adaptations including changes in gene expression related to circadian rhythms and immune function, suggesting some capacity to adapt to acidification.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

Despite this, they still face physiological and behavioral challenges like impaired sensory perception and reduced predator avoidance, which affect survival rates.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

fish becomes easy prey for other predators

Similarly, juvenile Pacific abalone exhibit reduced growth and thinner, less mineralized shells under acidification and reduced alkalinity, though approaches integrating seaweed cultivation or alkalinity enhancements show potential to mitigate these effects .

Title:

Content: There were 1,541 press releases posted in the last 24 hours and 466,409 in the last 365 days.

The effect of total alkalinity on growth performance and calcification in juvenile Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai

The effect of total alkalinity on growth performance and calcification in juvenile Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai

Published 5 October 2023 Science Leave a Comment
Tags: biological response, calcification, dissolution, laboratory, mollusks, morphology, North Pacific, physiology

A 45-day trial was conducted to study the effect of seawater total alkalinity (TA) level up- and downregulation on the growth performance and calcification of Haliotis discus hannai Ino, while seawater pH was maintained at pHNBS = 8.1. Although seawater was not acidified, the results showed that TA downregulation caused a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in the somatic tissue growth of juvenile abalone, while TA upregulation significantly increased growth performance (P < 0.05). Similar to the impacts of pH reduction, TA downregulation also induces a decline in CO2 buffering capacity, which may be the reason why somatic tissue growth was reduced, as lowered CO2 buffering capacity was reported to shift the acid-base balancing of abalone. Parts of the periostracum layer weremissing and exposed the inner shell layers of the individuals from the TA-downregulated group. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results showed calcium carbonate densely deposited onto the inner shell in the control and TA-upregulated groups, while sparsely deposited calcium carbonate was observed in the TA-downregulated group. The C: N ratio in the shell of individuals from the TA-downregulated group was significantly lower than that of the other two groups, indicating that less inorganic carbon was added to the shell. As a result, abalone grew lighter and thinner shells in TA-downregulated seawater. Although seawater was not acidified, TA downregulation also caused a reduction in the calcium carbonate saturation state (Ω), which induced the erosion of the surface shell and the interruption of calcium carbonate generation. In conclusion, although seawater pH remained at ambient levels, the lowered CO2 buffering capacity and Ω induced by seawater TA downregulation also showed a detrimental effect on the growth and calcification of Pacific abalone. The impact of ocean acidification on the growth of abalone should not be assessed using only seawater pH and/or pCO2 but rather taking into account all of carbonate chemistry, particularly the CO2 buffering capacity. Abalone cultivation is suggested to be carried out in seawater with a higher level of CO2 buffering capacity and Ω, which can be achieved through integrated culture with seaweed or increasing the seawater TA level.

Zhang M., Li J., Jiao M., Tang Y., Li A., Liu L., Liu L., Xue S. & Mao Y., 2023. The effect of total alkalinity on growth performance and calcification in juvenile Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai. Marine Environmental Research 192: 106209. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106209. Article (subscription required).

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At what stage of life are calcium carbonate-based organisms most vulnerable to changes in water pH?

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

How does coastal ocean acidification affect shellfish?

Marine mammals do not build calcium carbonate structures and thus are less directly affected by ocean acidification; however, they suffer indirect impacts through reduced prey availability as acidification diminishes populations of fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods they feed upon.

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Additionally, acidification alters seawater acoustic properties, which may disrupt marine mammal communication and echolocation crucial for navigation and feeding .

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

These impacts from acidification cascade through marine food webs: declines in lower trophic levels such as plankton and shellfish reduce food sources for higher consumers including fish, cephalopods, and marine mammals, thereby threatening ecosystem stability and biodiversity.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

How does coastal ocean acidification affect shellfish?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Cephalopods function both as predators of smaller crustaceans and plankton and as prey for larger species, placing them centrally in these cascading effects.

Historical data provide sobering context for these risks.

Title:

Content: The Sciences

The Late Permian Mass Extinction Explained

Burning coal caused the largest mass extinction in earth’s history — the Late Permian Mass Extinction, or the Great Dying.

By Gabe AllenJul 22, 2022 10:00 AM
(Credit: Catmando/Shutterstock)

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Mass extinctions are evolutionary turning points — brief moments on a geologic time scale that drastically change the course of life on earth. One moment in particular stands out. The Permian-Triassic extinction, aka the Great Dying, eradicated more than 90 percent of earth’s marine species and 75 percent of terrestrial species 252 million years ago. It was the deadliest mass extinction event in the history of our planet, and its legacy lives on in the flora and fauna of the modern world.

The climactic and geochemical triggers for the Great Dying are unsettlingly similar to the effects of anthropogenic climate change. Global warming, ocean acidification and ozone layer-depletion caused ecological collapse.

The organisms that did recover from the extinction, did so slowly. Equatorial regions, which had been scorched beyond recognition, did not regain their characteristic biodiversity for five million years. Global ecosystems lacked both diversity and stability for at least eight million years following the event.

Survivors of the extinction event, though few, eventually repopulated the earth. These organisms are the ancestors of every living thing today. To paleontologists, the End-Permian Mass Extinction is the temporal boundary between the ancient paleozoic fauna and the modern fauna — a theoretical border between our world and a barely-recognizable predecessor.

Finding Precision

As recent as the late 2000s, the research community was significantly divided over what caused the Permian extinction. Some suggested that volcanism was at fault, while others suggested a meteor impact, like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, caused the extinction.

Those that preferred the volcanic explanation, suspected the Siberian Traps, an expansive region of volcanic rock in present-day Siberia. The formation developed during an unrivaled period of volcanic rock on the ancient supercontinent Pangea.

“It’s the largest continental volcanic event and the largest mass extinction that we’re aware of on earth ever,” says Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton, a planetary scientist and professor at Arizona State University. “At the time, we didn’t know what caused either one or if they were definitively related to each other.”

In 2014, Chinese and American researchers made a breakthrough. The team extracted ancient volcanic ash from the Global Stratotype Section and Point for the early Triassic period, a site in Meishan, China that contains sediment that dates to the crisis unambiguously. By analyzing the uranium and lead isotopes contained in the ash, they put a relatively precise date on the extinction: 251.9 million years ago, give or take 70,000 years.

The next step was to date the Siberian Traps. Using the same method, the scientists analyzed samples from the site. “The bulk of this diffusive and explosive volcanism led up to the extinction,” says Elkins-Tanton, who was a part of the research team.

From these two dates, a timeline began to emerge. Intense volcanic activity on the ancient supercontinent of Pangea spewed magma through layers of basalt, coal and organic material. The combustion of these layers produced an immense amount of CO2 as well as other greenhouse gasses and chlorofluorocarbons.

Victims and Survivors

On land, both plants and animals perished in equatorial regions. At further latitudes, mosses and other lycopods began to dominate ecosystems that were once forested with conifers. Our ancestors, the tetrapods, died en masse. Survivors fled from the tropics towards the poles.

Like the mass extinctions before it, the End-Permian had an outsized impact on marine organisms. As CO2 from the atmosphere leached into the water, the ocean became more and more acidic. Simultaneously, high temperatures and cyanobacteria blooms consumed dissolved oxygen until there was little left.

Many organisms that had evolved to construct exoskeletons from minerals, found in ambient seawater, did not survive these changes in marine chemistry. The engineers of Permian reef ecosystems, rugose and tabulate corals, went completely extinct. Vast groups of externally-shelled cephalopods, ancestors of the nautilus, succumbed to the same fate. The End-Permian extinguished the last species of Trilobites as well, a group that had been on the decline since the Ordovician Mass Extinction.

Read more: The First Mass Extinction Event Explained: End-Ordovician

As with any mass-extinction, there were survivors of the Great Dying. Before the event, clam-like brachiopods were plentiful and diverse, but the extinction extinguished them in favor of their cousins, the bivalve mollusks. To this day, bivalves are widespread, while only a few orders of brachiopods remain.

Many researchers have speculated that the End-Permian may have catalyzed diversification among tetrapods. Though the extinction wiped many out permanently, the Early Triassic saw the creatures diversify and expand their ranges rapidly. This “radiation” eventually gave rise to archosaurs and later dinosaurs.

Drawing Parallels

The same factors that have driven anthropogenic global warming today drove global ecological collapse at the end of the Permian. An over-abundance of greenhouse gasses made the planet unlivable for most living organisms. Actually, the warming that initiated the End-Permian may have occurred at a much slower rate than anthropogenic global warming.

“It was the same climate change caused by the same greenhouse gasses as what we’re seeing today,” Elkins-Tanton says. “And it was almost the end of multicellular life on earth.”

However, climate scientists project that, if we can lower our emissions quickly enough, we can keep global warming to levels far below the ones that scorched the earth during the earth’s largest extinction event. It’s not too late to avoid total and complete ecological collapse.

“The rate of change might not have been as fast as today, but it changed the temperature so much that it’s really the worst-case scenario of what might happen,” David Bottjer says, paleoecologist and University of Southern California professor of earth sciences. “That’s why we should study it. To understand future scenarios for our climate.”

The future scenario, most-analogous to the End-Permian, would see humans continue to burn fossil fuels until few surviving organisms remained. It’s a scenario that may not represent the end of life on earth, but a fundamental change that would take millions of years to rebound from.

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The Late Permian Mass Extinction (~252 million years ago), Earth’s deadliest marine extinction, was driven by volcanic activity causing global warming, ocean acidification, and oxygen depletion.

What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?

This event led to massive extinction of shelled cephalopods (ancestors of modern nautilus), corals, and other calcifying organisms, profoundly reshaping marine ecosystems for millions of years.

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

Sensitivity varied with factors such as habitat depth and shell mineralization.

This historical precedent offers insight into the potential long-term impacts of ongoing acidification .

There is room for hope: ocean acidification impacts can improve if CO2 emissions are reduced promptly.

Title:

Content: There were 1,566 press releases posted in the last 24 hours and 464,440 in the last 365 days.

Seagrass meadows as ocean acidification refugia for sea urchin larvae

Higlights

  • Sea urchin larvae were grown at ambient or low pH in tanks with or without plants.
  • Plant photosynthesis increased pH and altered seawater chemistry at both pH levels.
  • Positive effects of plant metabolism on larval development and growth at low pH
  • Seagrass meadows as a tool against climate-driven loss of calcifying species

Abstract

Foundation species have been widely documented to provide suitable habitats for other species by ameliorating stressful environmental conditions. Nonetheless, their role in rescuing stress-sensitive species from adverse conditions due to climate change remains often unexplored. Here, we performed a mesocosm experiment to assess whether the seagrassPosidonia oceanica, through its photosynthetic activity, could mitigate the negative effects of ocean acidification on larval development and growth of the calcifying sea urchinParacentrotus lividus. Sea urchin larvae at early and late developmental stages that are generally associated to benthic habitats, were grown in aquaria with or without P. oceanica plants, under ambient or low pH conditions predicted by the end of the century under the worst climate scenario (RCP8.5). The percentage of abnormal larvae and their total body length under different experimental conditions were assessed on early- (i.e., pluteus; 72 h post-fertilization) and final-developmental stages (i.e., echinopluteus; 30 days post-fertilization), respectively. The presence of P. oceanica increased mean daily pH values of ∼0.1 and ∼0.15 units at ambient and low pH conditions, respectively, compared with tanks without plants. When grown at low pH in association with P. oceanica, plutei showed a ∼23 % reduction of malformations and echinoplutei a ∼34 % increase in total body length, respectively, compared with larvae developing in tanks without plants. Our results suggest that P. oceanica, by increasing pH and altering seawater carbonate chemistry through its metabolic activity, could buffer the negative effects of ocean acidification on calcifying organisms and could, thus, represent a tool against climate-driven loss of biodiversity.

Ravaglioli C., De Marchi L., Giannessi J., Pretti C. & Bulleri F., 2024. Seagrass meadows as ocean acidification refugia for sea urchin larvae. Science of the Total Environment 906: 167465. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167465. Article.

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Seawater pH and carbonate chemistry can begin to recover within decades following emission reductions, allowing shell-formers to rebuild stronger shells and partially restoring conditions for vulnerable species.

Behavioral impairments in fish and metabolic stress in plankton are also likely to lessen as seawater chemistry stabilizes.

However, full ecosystem recovery may take centuries, emphasizing an urgent need for immediate mitigation alongside conservation actions to preserve marine biodiversity .

In conclusion, ocean acidification poses multifaceted threats to marine life.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

How does coastal ocean acidification affect shellfish?

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

What factors lead to damage of coral reefs?

Shell-builders endure weaker shells and reduced survival; crustacean larvae face development challenges; plankton experience metabolic stress undermining food webs; cephalopods risk impaired buoyancy and altered behavior; fish show sensory and immune disruptions; and marine mammals suffer from reduced prey and communication challenges.

How do scientists expect ocean acidification to impact specific fish species?

it will affect their physiology and growth

How does elevated water acidity affect fish ability to survive?

Which marine organism is vulnerable to increased levels of ocean acidification?

These interconnected effects jeopardize marine ecosystems.

Linking these issues to the health and survival of your cuttlefish mascot offers a compelling, relatable focus for your climate justice club’s Spirit Week campaign.

Raising awareness and advocating for CO2 emission reductions are vital steps toward protecting ocean health and its extraordinary range of marine life.

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