Exploring local adaptation and the ocean acidification seascape – studies in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem

Abstract

The California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), a temperate marine region dominated by episodic upwelling, is predicted to experience rapid environmental change in the future due to ocean acidification. Aragonite saturation state within the California Current System is predicted to decrease in the future, with near-permanent undersaturation conditions expected by the year 2050. Thus, the CCLME is a critical region to study due to the rapid rate of environmental change that resident organisms will experience and because of the economic and societal value of this coastal region. Recent efforts by a research consortium – the Ocean Margin Ecosystems Group for Acidification Studies (OMEGAS) – has begun to characterize a portion of the CCLME; both describing the mosaic of pH in coastal waters and examining the responses of key calcification-dependent benthic marine organisms to natural variation in pH and to changes in carbonate chemistry that are expected in the coming decades. In this review, we present the OMEGAS strategy of co-locating sensors and oceanographic observations with biological studies on benthic marine invertebrates, specifically measurements of functional traits such as calcification-related processes and genetic variation in populations that are locally adapted to conditions in a particular region of the coast. Highlighted in this contribution are (1) the OMEGAS sensor network that spans the west coast of the US from central Oregon to southern California, (2) initial findings of the carbonate chemistry amongst the OMEGAS study sites, (3) an overview of the biological data that describes the acclimatization and the adaptation capacity of key benthic marine invertebrates within the CCLME

Ecology of the Ocean Sunfish, Mola mola, in the southern California Current System

“…The longest running extant datasets include the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) records of hydrographic and plankton sampling off the California coast and the Investigaciones Mexicanas de la Corriente de California (IMECOCAL) operations off Baja California, Mexico. Recently the CCLME has been forecast to be impacted significantly by ocean acidification (Hofmann et al, 2014) and changing ocean temperatures (NOAA, 2014). This region thus provides an ideal location to investigate the relationships between M. mola ecology, oceanographic processes and fishery interactions within the context of broader human impacts.…”

Evaluating the promise and pitfalls of a potential climate change–tolerant sea urchin fishery in southern California

“…In addition, upwelling events, which are well known to bring deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to shallower depths into coastal habitats are also characterized by relatively low oxygen, low pH, and low calcium carbonate saturation [Ω] (Feely et al , 2008; Send and Nam, 2012; Booth et al , 2014). Such events have been observed in nearshore kelp forests of San Diego (Frieder et al , 2012), and potential sublethal effects on the reproductive output, structural integrity, and population dynamics of key calcifying resources are expected to become far more widespread (Gaylord et al , 2011; Kelly et al , 2013; Hofmann et al , 2014). Recent corrosive upwelling events have caused mortality in several oyster hatcheries on the US west coast in Oregon, resulting in major environmental projects to mitigate the effects of ocean acidification (Barton et al , 2012, 2015).…”

“…The M. franciscanus fishery is vulnerable to overfishing, disease, thermal stress, poor spawning seasons, and the supply of and demand for its roe (known as uni in sushi restaurants) (Botsford et al , 2004). Additionally, potential deleterious effects of CO 2 -acidified water due to ocean acidification on fertilization, larval development, and gene expression in red urchins could negatively impact recruitment to the fishery, which depends on large, sexually mature individuals (O’Donnell et al , 2009; Frieder, 2014; Hofmann et al , 2014; Kapsenberg et al , 2017). Early life-history stages of M. franciscanus have also been shown to be vulnerable to both acidification (Frieder, 2014) and thermal stress (O’Donnell et al , 2009; Byrne and Przeslawski, 2013).…”

Ocean acidification and marine microorganisms: responses and consequences

“…The discrepancy in pH tolerance of marine community makes it complicated to predict the future due to the requirement of adaptive changes in the marine organisms (Hofmann et al, 2010). Thus, acclimatization and phenotypic plasticity are adaptive responses to changing marine ecosystem, which significantly varies among different groups in the different communities (Hofmann et al, 2013;Shirayama et al, 2004). Though variable and contradictory results have been obtained regarding the effect of OA on coccolithophores, meta-analysis revealed a negative effect of OA on calcification of two most abundant coccolithophore species, i.e.…”