Effects of ocean acidification on benthic marine species and ecosystems

由于人为二氧化碳被海洋吸收，它改变了碳酸盐化学，并导致pH值和碳酸盐离子有效性的降低。这一过程被称为海洋酸化(OA)，将导致海洋pH值在本世纪末之前达到数百万年来未曾见过的水平。由于可能导致大规模的生态变化，包括人口崩溃、食物网中断和生态系统功能丧失，海洋生态系统最大的威胁就是海洋生态系统。迄今为止，记录在案的酸化影响包括幼虫发育受阻、生长减慢、贝壳和骨骼溶解以及直接死亡。尽管人们越来越清楚地描述了海洋酸化对个体表现的影响，但我们目前无法预测海洋酸化将如何影响人们最关心的事情，如可收获的人口数量和生物多样性。

As anthropogenic carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans, it alters carbonate chemistry and leads to reductions in pH and carbonate ion availability. This process, know as ocean acidification (OA), will result in oceanic pH levels not seen in many millions of years being reached well before the end of this century. Because massive ecological changes, including population collapses, disruption of food webs, and loss of ecosystem function, are likely to result, OA is considered to be the single greatest threat to marine ecosystems. To date, documented effects of acidification include impairment of larval development, reductions in growth, dissolution of shells and skeletons, and direct mortality. Although effects of OA on individual performance are increasingly well described, we cannot currently predict how ocean acidification will affect the things that people care about the most, like harvestable population size and biodiversity.