Ocean acidification in a California upwelling zone: A sentinel site for impacts on open-coast and estuarine foundation species

人类产生的二氧化碳被吸收到海洋中，正在降低海水的pH值，并导致碳酸钙的饱和状态显著下降，碳酸钙是贝壳、骨骼和许多海洋物种试验的主要组成部分。这种变化（统称为“海洋酸化”）有可能在个体层面以及在种群和生态系统的尺度上毁灭各种各样的生物。虽然对这些问题的认识正在迅速提高，但大多数已知的知识都是基于对珊瑚礁生物和浮游生物的研究。该项目将通过提供适用于温带系统的几个新前沿的严格数据，加强对海洋酸化影响的了解。该项目将在东太平洋最强劲的上升流中心之一开展，在那里，以含水二氧化碳含量已经很高为特征的冷水的存在，加剧了全球酸化趋势。利用综合的、比较的方法，利用海洋学家、海洋化学家和生物学家的专业知识，研究人员将明确地将系泊和船上的海水化学测量与生物反应的受控实验室和现场研究相结合。两个重要的基础物种（加利福尼亚贻贝，Mytilus California，和奥林匹亚牡蛎，Ostrea conchaphila）将成为目标。这两个物种分别在开阔海岸和河口系统中扮演着不成比例的重要角色。贻贝和牡蛎的幼虫（通常是最脆弱的阶段）将在高二氧化碳的条件下培养，从整个远洋期到幼年期。生长和存活将被量化，水温和盐度将被改变，以测试多种因素的相互作用。来自不同亲本谱系的幼虫的反应的种内变异将被检查。“遗留物?在幼虫期暴露产生的影响，但影响随后的幼鱼生长和存活，将在实验室和使用田间外植物来确定。由于幼虫期和幼年期在人口年龄结构瓶颈方面发挥着重要作用，因此将通过将观察到的对生命早期阶段的影响与其他已知的招募变异来源进行比较，来估计总体种群后果。作为研究的一部分进行的海洋学采样将提供一个在强烈上升流系统中碳酸盐系统的独特基线数据集，并将扩展当地河口现有的十年尺度的pH值记录。采样还将被整合到一个正在发展的、更大规模的海洋酸化监测网络中，该网络涉及分布在北美西海岸的其他研究人员。在教育领域，该研究将为研究生提供跨学科的培训和研究经验，并将通过与Bodega海洋实验室的联系，为代表性不足（特别是拉丁裔）群体的学生创造独特的机会。美国成功的REU项目和面向公众的暑期课程。研究结果将被纳入一个新的nsf资助的研究生/K-12项目，以及它的公共教育项目，该项目非常活跃，每年有超过1万人参与。在BML以外的推广领域，项目团队将与一家非营利组织合作，领导中学教师讲习班，并建立互动展示，直接向中学生介绍科学概念。在大学和更广泛的学术界，研究成果将被纳入本科和研究生课程，并将通过传统的专业场所传播给科学家、资源管理人员和一般公众。

The absorption of human-produced CO2 into the oceans is decreasing seawater pH and causing marked declines in the saturation state for calcium carbonate, a major building block for shells, skeletons, and tests of many marine species. Such changes (collectively termed "ocean acidification") have the potential to devastate a broad array of organisms, both at the level of individuals and at population and ecosystem scales. Although awareness of these issues is rapidly growing, most of what is known is based on studies of coral reef organisms and plankton. This project will enhance understanding of impacts from ocean acidification by providing rigorous data on several new fronts applicable to temperate systems. The project will operate within one of the strongest upwelling centers of the eastern Pacific, where global trends in acidification are amplified by the presence of cold water characterized by already-high levels of aqueous CO2. Using an integrated, comparative approach that exploits the expertise of oceanographers, marine chemists, and biologists, the investigators will explicitly couple moored and shipboard measurements of seawater chemistry to controlled laboratory and field studies of biological responses. Two vital foundation species (the California mussel, Mytilus californianus, and the Olympia oyster, Ostrea conchaphila) will be targeted. These two species play disproportionately important roles in open-coast and estuarine systems, respectively. Larvae (which are often the most vulnerable stages) of mussels and oysters will be cultured under elevated-CO2 conditions through the full pelagic period and into juvenile life. Growth and survivorship will be quantified, and water temperature and salinity will be varied to test for interactive effects of multiple factors. Intraspecific variation in response of larvae from different parental lineages will be examined. 'Carry-over?' effects that originate from exposure during the larval stage, but influence subsequent juvenile growth and survival, will be determined both in the laboratory and using field outplants. Because larval and juvenile stages play important roles as demographic age-structure bottlenecks, overall population consequences will be estimated through comparison of observed impacts on early life stages to other recognized sources of recruitment variation.Oceanographic sampling conducted as part of the study will provide a unique baseline data set of the carbonate system within an intense upwelling system, and will extend an existing decade-scale record of pH in a local estuary. The sampling will also be integrated into a developing, larger scale ocean acidification monitoring network involving other researchers distributed along the west coast of North America. In the educational realm, the study will provide interdisciplinary training and research experience for a graduate student, and will create unique opportunities for students from under-represented (especially Latino) groups via links to Bodega Marine Laboratory?s successful REU program and publicly accessible summer curriculum. Findings will be incorporated into a new NSF-funded Graduate/K-12 program at BML, as well as its public education program, which is highly active and reaches more than 10,000 people each year. In outreach arenas beyond BML, the project team will work with a nonprofit organization to lead secondary teacher workshops and build interactive displays that bring scientific concepts directly to middle school students. At the level of the university and in academia more generally, research findings will be incorporated into undergraduate and graduate courses, and will be disseminated to scientists, resource managers, and the general public via traditional professional venues.