Ocean acidification has gained increasing recognition across national and international policy frameworks, such as national ocean action plans, the 2030 Agenda and the UNFCCC. To fully address and minimize its effects, scientists, governments, and end-users will benefit from co-designing science, monitoring, research, and syntheses that support informed choices about national mitigation, adaptation, and preparedness strategies. An overwhelming body of evidence documents ocean acidification, with potential significant impacts on marine species and ecosystems. The increase of atmospheric CO 2 due to fossil fuel burning is the main driver of ocean acidification in the open ocean. In the coastal zone, the variability in p CO 2 and pH is also driven by biological, near-shore and land-based processes, such as river run-off, stratification, and tides. The complexity of bridging chemical and biological changes associated with ocean acidification is often under-estimated. Today, projections rely mainly on proxy variables like pH, carbonate saturation states, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and salinity, and simplistic thresholds to speculate about the status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecosystem response to ocean acidification can be only assessed when considering factors such as adaptation to local chemical variability, evolutionary processes, ecological interactions, and the modulating role of other environmental drivers or stressors. Therefore, global, regional, and local impacts on biology and ecology, whether gradual or stepwise, are not fully resolved. Experimental work often over-simplifies these processes, for instance by focusing on single species and stressors, short-term responses, and static conditions that do not incorporate natural variability. Ocean observing and data are often focused on one or a handful of physical and biogeochemical parameters, but generally do not include biology and ecosystem. On the other hand, results from experimental work and from in situ observing efforts are not always well integrated into synthesis and modeling efforts. As a consequence, although data are being generated about ocean acidification changes and separately about some ecological changes, we are not able to evaluate whether a local resource or ecosystem service is changing due to ocean acidification. The UN Decade program “Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability” (OARS) aims to provide a road map to fill these gaps. In line with the vision of OARS, this session aims at providing a platform for the ocean acidification community together with those who have a shared interest of protecting and conserving biodiversity in the face of global changes. It will promote actions to address the need for broader, more diverse, inclusive, and interdisciplinary collaboration and co-design of science and action. There is a need for purposeful efforts to facilitate inclusion of all interested researchers in monitoring and ocean acidification research networks. We will encourage submission of poster and presentation focusing on, for instance, co-design approach, new experimental designs encompassing the chemical and biological complexity (e.g. natural variability, ecology, evolution, multiple stressors), syntheses and meta-analyses, and unification of chemical and biological observations.
Lead Organizer: Sam Dupont, University of Gothenburg (sam.dupont@bioenv.gu.se)
Co-organizers:
Iris Hendriks, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) (iris@imedea.uib-csic.es)
Jan Newton, University of Washington (janewton@uw.edu)
Presentations
03:00 PM
“OCEAN ACIDIFICATION RESEARCH FOR SUSTAINABILITY” (OARS): A DECADAL VISION FOR OCEAN ACIDIFICATION RESEARCH TO SUSTAINABLY MANAGE OUR OCEANS (4953)
Primary Presenter: Steve Widdicombe, Plymouth Marine Laboratory (swi@pml.ac.uk)
The Ocean takes up 30% of the CO2 emitted by humans every year, changing seawater carbonate chemistry. Known as ocean acidification (OA), this is being seen at a growing number of sites globally and evidence for rapid acidification, particularly in coastal seas, now exists. OA will have significant impacts on the health and performance of many marine organisms, the structure and function of marine ecosystems and the provision of marine goods and services. To mitigate for, and adapt to, OA impacts, society requires robust and reliable evidence and predictions from the ocean science community. Providing this in a timely and accessible manner requires greater coordination, collaboration and priority setting across the whole ocean community, including scientists, decision makers, ocean users and the public. To meet this challenge, Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS), is an endorsed programme of the UN Decade of Ocean Science and builds on the foundation work of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON). Through the delivery of seven outcomes, OARS will identify and encourage actions that generate the high-quality OA knowledge and data required and help deliver that evidence to inform decision making and underpin behavioural change in individuals, local communities and countries. At an intergovernmental level, OARS will contribute to achieving SDG target 14.3 and the Global Biodiversity Framework Target 8. In this talk the seven OARS outcomes will be introduced and mechanisms for contributing to the delivery of the OARS vision will be provided.
03:15 PM
PACIFIC ISLANDS OCEAN ACIDIFICATION CENTRE: BUILDING MONITORING CAPACITY FROM LOCAL TO REGIONAL SCALES (7026)
Primary Presenter: Kim Currie, NIWA (kim.currie@niwa.co.nz)
Addressing the impacts of ocean acidification (OA) in Pacific Islands and Territories requires increased understanding of local OA conditions, identification of effective and sustainable adaptation and mitigation approaches, and the development of strategies to address the changes to the ecosystems, communities, livelihoods and economies. To assist in these efforts, the Pacific Islands Ocean Acidification Centre (PIOAC) was created in 2021 through combined international and local efforts to support OA capacity development throughout the Pacific. PIOAC is working with Pacific partners to find local solutions to address the impacts of OA through (a) training to increase regional expertise in ocean acidification monitoring, (b) advice on the application of monitoring to support adaptation and mitigation approaches, (c) access to international networks that support monitoring, action, and policy efforts, and (d) assistance with ocean acidification data management and accessibility. This presentation details how the PIOAC could serve as a model for building local capacity for OA research through public-private partnerships for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
03:30 PM
pH levels and ocean acidification in the central-southern Black Sea (7282)
Primary Presenter: Valeria Ibello, METU-IMS (valeria.ibello@ims.metu.edu.tr)
Ocean acidification in the Black Sea has been reported to progress at a faster rate than the Global Ocean. Thanks to the high level of alkalinity, low temperature, and high productivity, the Black Sea has a great potential to absorb and store atmospheric CO2 in the long term. However, the past studies carried out in the area are not homogeneous, and very little is known about the central-southern basin, which highly differs in terms of circulation and productivity from the northern part. In this study, we aimed to characterize the pH levels in the central and southern Black Sea, assess the spatial variability between the coast and offshore waters, and estimate the ocean acidification rates of the last decades. Samples were collected during a winter trans-Black Sea cruise in December 2022 (from the Bosphorus to Georgia) both at the surface, with a continuous underway system (SeaFET V2 Ocean pH sensor) and along the water columns, with discrete samples, later measured with the spectrophotometric method. Surface levels of the pH (8.40-8.50) presented a limited variability between the coastal and offshore waters when compared with other adjacent seas (Marmara and Mediterranean). On the other hand, the highest variability was observed along the water column where the pH varied between 7.78 and 8.50 due to the anoxic layer located below the euphotic layer. A comprehensive analysis of the historical pH data compared with measured pH levels seems to confirm the increasing trend of ocean acidification also in the central southern part of the Black Sea.
03:45 PM
The Value of Integrating Social and Ecological Science for Regional Vulnerability Assessments of Ocean Acidification (6202)
Primary Presenter: Janet Newton, University of Washington (janewton@uw.edu)
We describe The Olympic Coast as a Sentinel: Integrated Social-Ecological Regional Vulnerability Assessment to Ocean Acidification project, a place-based collaborative effort to understand, anticipate, and prepare for ocean changes affecting natural and human systems. This transdisciplinary study’s success is due to how oceanographic, ecological, and social scientists along with tribal community partners co-designed, co-produced, and actively collaborated on the project. Participants were driven by their priorities, needs, and capacities, and brought together multiple streams of knowledge to address intersecting issues in a coupled social-ecological context. Our overarching goal was to provide an assessment of coupled social-ecological vulnerability to effects from OA based on new social science and a synthesis of existing data and model projections relevant to the Olympic Coast, its biological resources, and its inhabitants, developed in an actionable interdisciplinary approach that is 1) transferrable to other locations and 2) strengthens capacities for vulnerable place-based communities to adapt. To meet this overarching goal, we outlined eight objectives to guide our project activities and outcomes. Here we share our approach for broader application. We developed areas of strong integration, including drawing from Indigenous knowledge to inform social science understanding, and drawing on these two systems of knowledge for guiding the selection of species of focus in the biological risk assessment, with feedback to the community for preparation and adaptation actions.
04:00 PM
SHORT TERM IMPROVEMENT IN COASTAL ACIDIFICATION AND EUTROPHICATION ALONG A CORAL REEF AT KAHEKILI BEACH PARK IN MAUI, HAWAI’I (5922)
Primary Presenter: Samantha McClain, Texas A&M University (samanthajane12298@tamu.edu)
Coral reefs face a host of local and global anthropogenic threats that compromise the economic and environmental services reefs provide. Global ocean warming and acidification interact with local coastal acidification and eutrophication on the coral reef at Kahekili Beach Park on the west coast of Maui, Hawai’i. The nearby Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility (LWRF) injects millions of gallons daily of treated wastewater into Maui’s groundwater system. This wastewater-groundwater mixture enters the ocean as submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) that is characterized as low pH, high-nutrient, and low salinity. Since the 1980s, negative effects of the polluted SGD have been recorded along the Kahekili coral reef where SGD seeps are located, including increased algal cover, harmful algal blooms, decreased grazer populations, decreased coral coverage, and increased bioerosion. In addition, the low pH of SGD has been shown to enhance acidification and lead to net dissolution of calcium carbonate. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a mandatory visitor quarantine in Hawai’i resulted in a severe reduction in tourism, decreasing the state’s population by about half. The volume of wastewater injected by LWRF also decreased by roughly half and we observed a significant decrease in nitrate concentration and acidification (i.e., increased pH) at and near the Kahekili SGD seeps. We will discuss both the long-term impacts of anthropogenic disturbances and the potential impacts that short-term improvements in water quality had on Kahekili reef seawater and ecosystem health.
04:15 PM
BIOPHYSICAL CONTROLS ON CARBONATE CYCLING IN A NORTHERN TEMPERATE ESTUARY WITH A LARGE OYSTER AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY (6796)
Primary Presenter: Kate Liberti, University of Maine (kate.liberti@maine.edu)
Many estuaries that fringe the Gulf of Maine are highly productive areas for shellfish aquaculture while also subject to low aragonite saturation state (Ω Ar) from both Gulf of Maine waters and freshwater. Due to the influence of these outside physical conditions and biological processes that occur within the estuary, Ω Ar can be highly variable. To better understand how Ω Ar changes from daily to seasonal time scales within estuaries, we described high frequency changes in aragonite saturation state in the largest oyster growing region in northern New England, the Damariscotta River estuary, Maine, during the shellfish growing season in 2018 using hourly buoy data and discrete samples. Ω Ar ranged from 1 to 2.5 between late May and early October with daily ranges frequently exceeding 0.5. Ω Ar was predominantly controlled by temperature and salinity at the seasonal scale, but driven more by net ecosystem metabolism on daily - bi-weekly time scales. The most prominent feature of this system was the importance of spring-neap tidal cycles, with spring tides increasing turbidity, nitrate, and respiration, and then subsequently primary production. In late summer, peak high oyster filtration led to anomalously low turbidity, chlorophyll, and total alkalinity; however the system was net autotrophic during this period and Ω Ar increased by 0.6 on average during this time. Here, we attempt to disentangle the strong interconnection between estuary morphology, tides, net ecosystem metabolism, and Ω Ar in an important oyster growing area.
SS066A Ocean Acidification 2.0 – From Chemistry to Society
Description
Time: 3:00 PM
Date: 7/6/2023
Room: Sala Menorca A