Ocean Acidification in the Coastal Zone from an Organism's Perspective: Multiple System Parameters, Frequency Domains, and Habitats

Waldbusser, George G.; Salisbury, Joseph E.

doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-121211-172238

Cited by 320 publications

(296 citation statements)

References 164 publications

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“…In addition, seasonality is often strong and single rivers and estuaries may experience highly variable conditions in space and time (Hellings et al, 2001;de Fátima et al, 2013;Waldbusser and Salisbury, 2014;Hunt et al, 2014;Voss et al, 2014;Ianson et al, 2016;Xue et al, 2017). Carbonate and silicate weathering are major sources of river DIC and TA in most rivers (Meybeck, 1987;Amiotte Suchet et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sensitivity of estuarine aragonite saturation state and pH to the carbonate chemistry of a freshet-dominated river

2018

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Abstract. Ocean acidification threatens to reduce pH and aragonite saturation state ( A ) in estuaries, potentially damaging their ecosystems. However, the impact of highly variable river total alkalinity (TA) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) on pH and A in these estuaries is unknown. We assess the sensitivity of estuarine surface pH and A to river TA and DIC using a coupled biogeochemical model of the Strait of Georgia on the Canadian Pacific coast and place the results in the context of global rivers. The productive Strait of Georgia estuary has a large, seasonally variable freshwater input from the glacially fed, undammed Fraser River. Analyzing TA observations from this river plume and pH from the river mouth, we find that the Fraser is moderately alkaline (TA 500-1000 µmol kg −1 ) but relatively DICrich. Model results show that estuarine pH and A are sensitive to freshwater DIC and TA, but do not vary in synchrony except at high DIC : TA. The asynchrony occurs because increased freshwater TA is associated with increased DIC, which contributes to an increased estuarine DIC : TA and reduces pH, while the resulting higher carbonate ion concentration causes an increase in estuarine A . When freshwater DIC : TA increases (beyond ∼ 1.1), the shifting chemistry causes a paucity of the carbonate ion that overwhelms the simple dilution/enhancement effect. At this high DIC : TA ratio, estuarine sensitivity to river chemistry increases overall. Furthermore, this increased sensitivity extends to reduced flow regimes that are expected in future. Modulating these negative impacts is the seasonal productivity in the estuary which draws down DIC and reduces the sensitivity of estuarine pH to increasing DIC during the summer season.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sensitivity of estuarine aragonite saturation state and pH to the carbonate chemistry of a freshet-dominated river

2018

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“…DeGrandpre et al 1995;Ohde and van Woesik 1999;Hales et al 2005;Wootton et al 2008;Hofmann et al 2011). In coastal areas there are a variety of processes that can influence the carbonate chemistry of a body of water over various timescales, most notably community production and respiration (see Waldbusser and Salisbury 2014, for a discussion). On short timescales (24 h) in shallow environments with dense beds of macroalgae or seagrasses, photosynthesis increases pH of the surrounding water while decreasing DIC (mainly through uptake of CO 2 and HCO 3 organisms decreases pH but increases DIC due to the release of CO 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability of the carbonate chemistry in a shallow, seagrass-dominated ecosystem: implications for ocean acidification experiments

Challener

Robbins

McClintock

2016

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Abstract. Open ocean observations have shown that increasing levels of anthropogenically derived atmospheric CO 2 are causing acidification of the world's oceans. Yet little is known about coastal acidification and studies are just beginning to characterise the carbonate chemistry of shallow, nearshore zones where many ecologically and economically important organisms occur. We characterised the carbonate chemistry of seawater within an area dominated by seagrass beds (Saint Joseph Bay, Florida) to determine the extent of variation in pH and pCO 2 over monthly and daily timescales. Distinct diel and seasonal fluctuations were observed at daily and monthly timescales respectively, indicating the influence of photosynthetic and respiratory processes on the local carbonate chemistry. Over the course of a year, the range in monthly values of pH (7.36-8.28), aragonite saturation state (0.65-5.63), and calculated pCO 2 (195-2537 matm) were significant. When sampled on a daily basis the range in pH (7.70-8.06), aragonite saturation state (1.86-3.85), and calculated pCO 2 (379-1019 matm) also exhibited significant range and indicated variation between timescales. The results of this study have significant implications for the design of ocean acidification experiments where nearshore species are utilised and indicate that coastal species are experiencing far greater fluctuations in carbonate chemistry than previously thought.

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“…However, most marine species studied largely inhabit highly variable coastal environments, such as coral reefs, intertidal, sandy or rocky shores, upwelling zones, estuaries or fjords, salt marshes and so on, where pH/p CO2 levels vary far more dramatically over different temporal and spatial scales than in open ocean environments 12 . Such variability results from a number of natural and anthropogenic coastal processes such as river discharges, upwelling, ice melting, eutrophication, pollution and so on [13][14][15] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Species-specific responses to ocean acidification should account for local adaptation and adaptive plasticity

et al. 2017

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Global stressors, such as ocean acidification, constitute a rapidly emerging and significant problem for marine organisms, ecosystem functioning and services. The coastal ecosystems of the Humboldt Current System (HCS) off Chile harbour a broad physical-chemical latitudinal and temporal gradient with considerable patchiness in local oceanographic conditions. This heterogeneity may, in turn, modulate the specific tolerances of organisms to climate stress in species with populations distributed along this environmental gradient. Negative response ratios are observed in species models (mussels, gastropods and planktonic copepods) exposed to changes in the partial pressure of CO 2 (p CO2 ) far from the average and extreme p CO2 levels experienced in their native habitats. This variability in response between populations reveals the potential role of local adaptation and/or adaptive phenotypic plasticity in increasing resilience of species to environmental change. The growing use of standard ocean acidification scenarios and treatment levels in experimental protocols brings with it a danger that inter-population differences are confounded by the varying environmental conditions naturally experienced by different populations. Here, we propose the use of a simple index taking into account the natural p CO2 variability, for a better interpretation of the potential consequences of ocean acidification on species inhabiting variable coastal ecosystems. Using scenarios that take into account the natural variability will allow understanding of the limits to plasticity across organismal traits, populations and species.

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Ocean Acidification in the Coastal Zone from an Organism's Perspective: Multiple System Parameters, Frequency Domains, and Habitats

Cited by 320 publications

References 164 publications

The sensitivity of estuarine aragonite saturation state and pH to the carbonate chemistry of a freshet-dominated river

The sensitivity of estuarine aragonite saturation state and pH to the carbonate chemistry of a freshet-dominated river

Variability of the carbonate chemistry in a shallow, seagrass-dominated ecosystem: implications for ocean acidification experiments

Species-specific responses to ocean acidification should account for local adaptation and adaptive plasticity

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