New Publications

[Publication] “Detecting the unexpected: A research framework for ocean acidification”

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Pfister et al. Detecting the Unexpected ES & T
During a meeting of Principal Investigators of Ocean Acidification Research projects – a number of diverse minds came together and discussed for 3 days the state of the art and the future of Ocean Acidification Research. The result is a principled framework of directions based on three key observations and lessons learned from previous similar research challenges. (1) the response of individuals does not necessarily predict the response of ecosystems, (2) the structure and function of ecosystems may respond differently to OA, and (3) much of our current research thrust is still going towards understanding individual species responses to the predicted changes in ocean carbon chemistry, whereas much needed attention to interactions between organism and ecosystems and ecosystem and ocean chemistry is still wanting.
Pfister, C., Esbaugh, A., Frieder, C., Baumann, H., Bockmon, E., White, M., Carter, B., Benway, H., Blanchette, C. Carrington, E., McClintock, J., McCorkle, D., McGillis, W., Mooney, T., Zivieri, P. (2014). Detecting the unexpected: A research framework for ocean acidification. Environmental Science & Technology 48: 9982-9994

[Publication] “Offspring sensitivity to ocean acidification changes seasonally in a coastal marine fish”

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MEPS Feature Cover
Novel experiments on wild Atlantic silversides Menidia menidia suggest that parents are capable of pre-conditioning their offspring to the naturally occurring, seasonal acidification in their spawning habitat (shape depicts the annual pattern of pH mean, minimum and maximum.)
How vulnerable are marine organisms to unfolding ocean acidification? Apart from being species- and habitat-specific, the answer may even differ between times of the year. Other than open ocean species, most coastal organisms naturally experience large seasonal pH fluctuations, to which they have adapted. Murray and co-workers monitored pH conditions in the spawning habitat of a common coastal marine fish, while sampling wild spawning adults repeatedly over the season and conducting standardized CO2 exposure experiments on their offspring. This demonstrated that offspring CO2 sensitivity is not constant, but decreases seasonally with the increasing acidification in their habitat. These findings imply that realistic assessments of species CO2 sensitivities should account for the pH/CO2 variability in the parental environment.
Murray, C.M., Malvezzi, A., Gobler, C.J., and Baumann, H.(2014) Offspring sensitivity to ocean acidification changes seasonally in a coastal marine fish. Marine Ecology Progress Series 504: 1-11 (Open Access)