Abstract. Ocean acidification, chemical changes to the carbonate system of seawater, is emerging as a key environmental challenge accompanying global warming and other humaninduced perturbations. Considerable research seeks to define the scope and character of potential outcomes from this phenomenon, but a crucial impediment persists. Ecological theory, despite its power and utility, has been only peripherally applied to the problem. Here we sketch in broad strokes several areas where fundamental principles of ecology have the capacity to generate insight into ocean acidification's consequences. We focus on conceptual models that, when considered in the context of acidification, yield explicit predictions regarding a spectrum of population-and community-level effects, from narrowing of species ranges and shifts in patterns of demographic connectivity, to modified consumer-resource relationships, to ascendance of weedy taxa and loss of species diversity. Although our coverage represents only a small fraction of the breadth of possible insights achievable from the application of theory, our hope is that this initial foray will spur expanded efforts to blend experiments with theoretical approaches. The result promises to be a deeper and more nuanced understanding of ocean acidification and the ecological changes it portends.
Seagrasses form important habitats around shallow marine CO 2 seeps, providing opportunities to assess trace element (TE) accumulation along gradients in seawater pH.Here we assessed Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn levels in sediment and seagrasses at six CO 2 seeps and reference sites off Italy and Greece. Some seep sediments had much higher concentrations of TEs, the extreme example being Cd at 43-fold above reference levels.Sediment Quality Guideline (SQG) scores indicated that three seeps had sediment TEs levels likely to have "Adverse impacts" on marine biota; namely Vulcano (for Hg), Ischia (for Cu) and Paleochori (for Cd and Ni). SQG indicated seep sediments of Italian seeps were adversely affected by Cu and Hg, whereas Greek CO 2 seeps were affected by Cd and Ni. An increase in sediment TEs levels positively corelated with higher levels of TEs in seagrass roots of Posidonia oceanica (Zn and Ni) and Cymodocea nodosa (Zn). Differences in the bioavailability and possible toxicity of TEs helps explain why seagrasses were abundant at some CO 2 seeps but not others.
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