Ocean Acidification: Collaborative Research: Interactive effects of acidification, low dissolved oxygen and temperature on abalone population dynamics within the California Current

海洋酸化日益被认为是海洋生态系统变化的一个重要驱动因素。特别是，东部边界流系统中的生态系统，包括加利福尼亚海流大型海洋生态系统(CCLME)，经常在浅海近岸生境经历上升流驱动的低pH、低溶解氧(DO)水域，这种情况在过去十年中在规模和持续时间上一直在增加。该项目的目标是研究海洋酸化和其他与气候有关的海洋条件变化(溶解氧、温度)对CCLME大范围海洋梯度上近岸海洋群落的影响。了解海洋酸化与其他与气候有关的变化对单个海洋生物或生命阶段的影响将如何影响到种群及其提供的服务，是科学、管理和政策的高度优先事项。通过在人口和生物经济模拟框架内综合海洋实地测量和实验室实验的结果，本项目将增进我们对海洋变异性对海洋种群和渔业动态的作用的理解。特别是，这项研究将提供关于pH、DO和温度同时变化对近岸种群和渔业的交互影响的关键见解。通过调查多种应激源对沿海海洋生态系统的影响，该项目将使我们能够更好地预测低pH值和低DO事件的频率和/或强度增加可能对生态和渔业造成的影响。更深入地了解海洋酸化、沿海海洋过程和近岸海洋生态系统健康之间的联系，将有助于制定适应未来海洋状况的战略。该项目还将培训高中生、本科生、研究生和职业生涯早期研究员进行海洋酸化的基础和应用研究。研究计划将实施一种新的从个体到种群的方法，专门研究海洋酸化对两个具有重大生态和商业意义的模式物种--红鲍和粉鲍--的直接影响，以及这些物种为人类提供的服务。研究人员将：1)测量和表征加州中部蒙特利湾和墨西哥Nativida岛近岸鲍鱼栖息地的pH、DO和温度的时间变异性，特别是与未来气候变化替代情景下极低pH、低DO事件的持续时间和强度的关系；2)进行实验室实验，调查低pH、低DO条件对红鲍和粉鲍幼体繁殖成功、生长、钙化和存活的影响；3)建立人口统计学和生物经济模型，估计环境和当地人为应激源对鲍鱼种群弹性的影响，并评估哪些管理和保护策略，包括实施海洋保护区网络，可能有助于缓冲在不久的将来气候情景下预计的低pH和低DO事件的频率和/或强度增加的负面影响。

Ocean acidification is increasingly recognized as a significant driver of change in marine ecosystems. In particular, ecosystems in eastern boundary current systems, including the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), routinely experience upwelling driven low pH, low dissolved oxygen (DO) waters in shallow near shore habitats, and these occurrences have been increasing in magnitude and duration over the past decade. The goal of this project is to study the consequences of ocean acidification and other climate-related changes (dissolved oxygen(DO), temperature) in oceanographic conditions on near shore marine communities over a large scale oceanographic gradient in the CCLME. Understanding how the effects of ocean acidification combined with other climate-related changes on individual marine organisms or life stages will cascade to populations and the services they provide is a high priority for science, management, and policy. By integrating the results of oceanographic field measurements and laboratory experiments in a demographic and bio-economic modeling framework, the present project will advance our understanding of the role of oceanographic variability on the dynamics of marine populations and fisheries. In particular, this research will provide key insights regarding the interactive influences of simultaneous changes in pH, DO, and temperature on nearshore populations and fisheries. By investigating the effects of multiple stressors on coastal marine ecosystems, the project will allow us to better anticipate possible ecological and fishery impacts of increasing frequency and/or intensity of low pH and low DO events. A deeper understanding of the linkages among ocean acidification, coastal oceanographic processes and the health of nearshore marine ecosystems in the CCLME will inform adaptation strategies for future ocean conditions. The project will also train high-school, undergraduate and graduate students, and early-career fellows in basic and applied research on ocean acidification.The research program will implement a novel individual- to population-level approach to specifically investigate how the direct effects of ocean acidification, alone or in combination with low DO and temperature, on two model species of great ecological and commercial relevance, red and pink abalone, will manifest at the population level, and ultimately, the services these species provide to humans. Researchers will: 1) measure and characterize the temporal variability of pH, DO and temperature in nearshore abalone habitat in Monterey Bay, Central California, and Isla Natividad, Mexico, particularly in relation to the duration and intensity of extreme low pH, low DO events, under alternative scenarios of future climate change, 2) conduct laboratory experiments to investigate the effects of low pH, low DO conditions on the reproductive success, growth, calcification, and survival of juvenile red and pink abalone, and 3) develop demographic and bio-economic models to estimate the impacts of environmental and local anthropogenic stressors on the resilience of abalone populations and to assess what management and conservation strategies, including the implementation of networks of marine reserves, may contribute to buffering the negative effects of increased frequency and/or intensity of low pH and low DO events expected under near-future climate scenarios.