A new study in the journal Nature Climate Change warns that ocean acidification could drive a cascading loss of biodiversity in some marine habitats.
The study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and colleagues in the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan and China, combines dozens of existing studies to paint a more nuanced picture of the impact of ocean acidification.
In contrast to research focused on the impact of ocean acidification on individual species, this study predicts how acidification will affect the living habitats, such as corals, seagrasses, and kelp forests, that form the homes of other ocean species.
UBC zoologist Jennifer Sunday, who led the study, notes that species diversity in calcium carbonate-based habitats like coral reefs and mussel beds were projected to decline with increased ocean acidification. Species that use calcium carbonate to build their shells and skeletons, like mussels and corals, are expected to be particularly vulnerable to acidification.
“The more complex responses are those of seagrass beds that are vital to many fisheries species. These showed the potential to increase the number of species they can support, but the real-world evidence so far shows that they’re not reaching this potential,” Sunday said. “This highlights a need to focus not only on individual species, but on how the supportive habitat that sets nature’s stage responds and interacts to climate change.”
The researchers combined data and observations from 10 field studies that measured the impact of underwater volcanic vents, which release carbon dioxide and mimic the conditions of future ocean acidification, on the density of habitat-forming species. They combined that data with 15 studies looking at how changes in habitat typically impact local species to make their predictions.
A link to the published study is online at
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate3161.html
