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The impacts of global climate change are threatening the health and integrity of New Zealand's seaweed ecosystems that provide crucial ecological, economic, and cultural benefits. Important species that comprise these ecosystems include canopy forming large brown algae (fucoids and kelp), and understorey species. Here we review current knowledge of the measured impacts of climate change stressors on New Zealand seaweeds. Ocean warming has driven increasing frequencies, durations, and intensities of marine heatwaves globally and in New Zealand. Significant negative impacts resulting from heatwaves have already been observed on New Zealand's canopy forming brown algae (giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera and bull kelp Durvillaea spp.). We predict that ongoing ocean warming and associated marine heatwaves will alter the distributional range and basic physiology of many seaweed species, with poleward range shifts for many species. Increased extreme weather events causes accelerated erosion of sediments into the marine environment and re-suspension of these sediments, termed coastal darkening, which has reduced the growth rates and available vertical space on rocky reefs in New Zealand and is predicted to worsen in the future. Furthermore, ocean acidification will reduce the growth and recruitment of coralline algae, this may reduce the settlement success of many marine invertebrate larvae. Mechanistic underpinnings of the effects of multiple drivers occurring in combination is poorly described. Finally, local stressors, such as overfishing, will likely interact with global change in these ecosystems. Thus, we predict very different futures for New Zealand seaweed ecosystems depending on whether they are managed appropriately or not. Given recent increases in sea surface temperatures and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events in some regions of New Zealand, predicting the impacts of climate change on seaweeds and the important communities they support is becoming increasingly important for conserving resilient seaweed ecosystems in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caulerpa is a widely distributed genus of chlorophytes (green macroalgae) which are important for their dietary, social and coastal ecosystem value. Ocean acidification (OA) threatens the future of marine ecosystems, favouring macroalgal species that could benefit from increased seawater carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. Most macroalgae species possess CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) that allow active uptake of bicarbonate (HCO3−). Those species without CCMs are restricted to using CO2, which is currently the least abundant species of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in seawater. Thus, macroalgae without CCMs are predicted to be likely benefit from OA. Caulerpa is one of the rare few genera that have species both with and without CCMs. The two most common Caulerpa species in New Zealand are C. geminata (possesses a CCM) and C. brownii (non-CCM). We investigated the responses of growth, photo-physiology and DIC utilisation of C. geminata and C. brownii to four mean seawater pH treatments (8.03, 7.93, 7.83 and 7.63) that correspond to changes in pH driven by increases in pCO2 simulating future OA. There was a tendency for the mean growth rates for C. brownii (non-CCM) to increase under lower pH, and the growth rates of C. geminata (CCM) to decline with lower pH, although this was not statistically significant. However, this is likely because variability in growth rates also increased as seawater pH declined. There were few other differences in physiology of both species with pH, although there was tendency for greater preference for CO2 over HCO3− uptake in the CCM species with declining seawater pH. This study demonstrates that DIC-use alone does not predict macroalgal responses to OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean acidification can negatively affect a broad range of physiological processes in marine shelled molluscs. Marine bioeroding organisms could, in contrast, benefit from ocean acidification due to reduced energetic costs of bioerosion. Ocean acidification could thus exacerbate negative effects (e.g. reduced growth) of ocean acidification and shell borers on oysters. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of ocean acidification on the oyster Ostrea chilensis, the boring sponge Cliona sp., and their host-parasite relationship. We exposed three sets of organisms 1) O. chilensis, 2) Cliona sp., and 3) O. chilensis infested with Cliona sp. to pHT 8.03, 7.83, and 7.63. Reduced pH had no significant effect on calcification, respiration and clearance rate of uninfested O. chilensis. Low pH significantly reduced calcification leading to net dissolution of oyster shells at pHT 7.63 in sponge infested oysters. Net dissolution was likely caused by increased bioerosion by Cliona sp. at pHT 7.63. Additionally, declining pH and sponge infestation had a significant negative antagonistic effect (less negative than predicted additively) on clearance rate. This interaction suggests that sponge infested oysters increase clearance rates to cope with higher energy demand of increased shell repair resulting from higher boring activity of Cliona sp. at low seawater pH. O. chilensis body condition was unaffected by sponge infestation, pH, and the interaction of the two. The reduction in calcification rate suggests sponge infestation and ocean acidification together would exacerbate direct (reduced growth) and indirect (e.g., increased predation) negative effects on oyster health and survival. Our results indicate that ocean acidification by the end of the century could have severe consequences for marine molluscs with boring organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean acidification (OA) is predicted to cause profound shifts in many marine ecosystems by impairing the ability of calcareous taxa to calcify and grow and by influencing the physiology of many others. In both calcifying and non-calcifying taxa, ocean acidification could further impair the ability of marine life to regulate internal pH and thus metabolic function and/or behaviour. Identifying tipping points at which these effects will occur for different taxa due to the direct impacts of ocean acidification on organism physiology is difficult because they have not adequately been determined for most taxa nor for ecosystems at higher levels. This is due to the presence of both resistant and sensitive species within most taxa. However, calcifying taxa such as coralline algae, corals, molluscs, and sea urchins appear to be most sensitive to ocean acidification. Conversely, non-calcareous seaweeds, seagrasses, diatoms, cephalopods, and fish tend to be more resistant or even benefit from the direct effects of ocean acidification, though the effects of ocean acidification are more subtle for these taxa. While physiological tipping points of the effects of ocean acidification either do not exist or are not well defined, their direct effects on organism physiology will have flow-on indirect effects. These indirect effects will cause ecological tipping points in the future through changes in competition, herbivory, and predation. Evidence for indirect effects and ecological change is mostly taken from benthic ecosystems in warm temperate–tropical locations in situ that have elevated CO 2. Species abundances at these locations indicate a shift away from calcifying taxa and towards non-calcareous taxa at high-CO 2 concentrations. For example, lower abundance of corals and coralline algae and higher covers of non-calcareous macroalgae, often turfing species, are often found at elevated CO 2. However, there are some locations where only minor changes or no detectable changes occur. Where ecological tipping points do occur, it is usually at locations with naturally elevated mean p CO 2 concentrations of 500 µ atm or more, which also corresponds to just under that concentration where the direct physiological impacts of ocean acidification are detectable in the most sensitive taxa in laboratory research (coralline algae and corals). Collectively, the available data support the concern that ocean acidification will most likely cause ecological change in the near future in most benthic marine ecosystems, with tipping points in some ecosystems as low as 500 µ atm p CO 2. However, further research is required to more adequately quantify and model the extent of these impacts in order to accurately project future marine ecosystem tipping points under ocean acidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coralline algae play crucial roles in near-shore ecosystems but are susceptible to ocean acidification (OA). It has been hypothesized that low water velocity, allowing localized photosynthesis-driven pH-increases in the coralline surface boundary layer, could buffer against the negative impacts of OA. To test how water motion affected the sensitivity of coralline algae to OA, coralline communities (from 2 m and 10 m depth) were grown for 220 days at two pH levels (present-day: pH 8.03, OA: pH 7.65) under differing inflow rates (400, 200 and 100 ml min–1) providing water velocities of 2.7, 5.9 and 7.8 cm s–1. Communities from both depths were grown together, photographed to assess growth, and the resulting recruitment was evaluated at the experiment's conclusion. Low seawater pH reduced growth by c. 11% (highest flow), further decreased by >23% under the lowest flow. This reduction resulted in differential outcomes for the two depths, with skeletal net-dissolution under the combination of low flow and pH 7.65 for 10 m communities. Furthermore, there was a synergistic interaction between the effects of flow and pH, whereby the negative effect of OA strengthened under low flow, with recruitment halved at pH 7.65. This demonstrates that OA impacts can be modulated by the flow environment. Surprisingly, increased flow rates/water velocities reduced negative impacts of low pH, thus further challenging the notion that slow flow habitats offer protection from OA. The observed interactions between water flow and OA on early successional communities and their recruits may hold implications for the future of rocky reef systems dominated by these communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are recognized as principal drivers of ocean change. However, interactions with other important local and global drivers such as ocean acidification, eutrophication and sedimentation, and the physiological mechanisms via which MHWs act on species are poorly understood. Additionally, past studies have often focused on ecologically dominant taxa such as kelps, fucoids and coral, potentially leading to a lack of understanding of direct impacts on associated species. To this end, we examined the individual and interactive impacts of MHW duration (14 and 28 days) and intensity (20.5°C and 23°C) as well as irradiance (2.3 and 4.4 mol m–2 d–1) on standardized growth of Caulerpa brownii, Corallina berteroi and Phymatolithopsis complex, three temperate macroalgal taxa that are important spaceholders in their native ecosystem in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. All three taxa exhibited no declines in growth in response to the exposure to longer and more intense MHWs. We posit that the simulated MHW scenarios were tolerated due to large thermal safety margins which can be expected from the range centre/leading edge position of the sampled populations, even though some of these scenarios far exceeded the intensities encountered in this region previously. Interactions between intensity, duration and irradiance were limited to an antagonistic irradiance-duration interaction in the non-calcareous green macroalga Ca. brownii only. Together, the displayed tolerance of the study species to the simulated scenarios implies limited impacts of strong MHWs four weeks or shorter in duration on ecosystem functioning in New Zealand kelp forest systems if brown algal canopies remain intact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean acidification is predicted to cause profound shifts in many marine ecosystems by impairing the ability of calcareous taxa to calcify and grow, and by influencing the photo-physiology of many others. In both calcifying and non-calcifying taxa, ocean acidification could further impair the ability of marine life to regulate internal pH, and thus metabolic function and/or behaviour. Identifying tipping points at which these effects will occur for different taxa due to the direct impacts of ocean acidification on organism physiology is difficult and they have not adequately been determined for most taxa, nor for ecosystems at higher levels. This is due to the presence of both resistant and sensitive species within most taxa. However, calcifying taxa such as coralline algae, corals, molluscs, and sea urchins appear to be most sensitive to ocean acidification. Conversely, non-calcareous seaweeds, seagrasses, diatoms, cephalopods, and fish tend to be more resistant, or even benefit from the direct effects of ocean acidification. While physiological tipping points of the effects of ocean acidification either do not exist or are not well defined, their direct effects on organism physiology will have flow on indirect effects. These indirect effects will cause ecologically tipping points in the future through changes in competition, herbivory and predation. Evidence for indirect effects and ecological change is mostly taken from benthic ecosystems in warm temperate–tropical locations in situ that have elevated CO2. Species abundances at these locations indicate a shift away from calcifying taxa and towards non-calcareous at high CO2 concentrations. For example, lower abundance of corals and coralline algae, and higher covers of non-calcareous macroalgae, often turfing species, at elevated CO2. However, there are some locations where only minor changes, or no detectable change occurs. Where ecological tipping points do occur, it is usually at locations with naturally elevated pCO2 concentrations of 500 μatm or more, which also corresponds to just under that concentrations where the direct physiological impacts of ocean acidification are detectable on the most sensitive taxa in laboratory research (coralline algae and corals). Collectively, the available data support the concern that ocean acidification will most likely cause ecological change in the near future in most benthic marine ecosystems, with tipping points in some ecosystems at as low as 500 μatm pCO2. However, much more further research is required to more adequately quantify and model the extent of these impacts in order to accurately project future marine ecosystem tipping points under ocean acidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Split-plot experimental data are often analyzed as if the data came from a completely randomized design. As is well known, ignoring the different levels of randomization and replication can lead to serious inferential errors. However, in some experiments, including many of the ocean global change experiments that motivated this research, variation between whole-plot experimental units may be small relative to variation between subplot units. Even though a factorial analysis will often perform poorly in general, in this special case it outperforms a split-plot analysis, providing narrower confidence intervals for treatment means and differences with coverage rates close to the desired level. The performance of the proposed model-averaged analysis was compared to a classical split-plot analysis via a simulation study, and its utility demonstrated for an ocean global change experiment examining growth and condition of a juvenile mussel species. In our simulation study, model-averaged confidence intervals for whole-plot treatment means or comparisons of means were up to 40% narrower than split-plot confidence intervals while maintaining close to nominal coverage rates. In our example experiment, we observed narrowing of up to 25%. We recommend model averaging as a preferred approach when variation between whole-plot experimental units is expected to be less than between subplot units, with a few caveats for studies with very few replicates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coral reefs are iconic ecosystems with immense ecological, economic and cultural value, but globally their carbonate‐based skeletal construction is threatened by ocean acidification (OA). Identifying coral species that have specialised mechanisms to maintain high rates of calcification in the face of declining seawater pH is of paramount importance in predicting future species composition, and growth of coral reefs. Here, we studied multiple coral species from two distinct volcanic CO2 seeps in Papua New Guinea to assess their capacity to control their calcifying fluid (CF) chemistry. Several coral species living under conditions of low mean seawater pH, but with either low or high variability in seawater pH, were examined and compared with those living in 'normal' (non‐seep) ambient seawater pH. We show that when mean seawater pH is low but highly variable, corals have a greater ability to maintain constant pHcf in their CF, but this characteristic was not linked with changes in abundance. Within less variable low pH seawater, corals with limited reductions in pHcf at the seep sites compared with controls tended to be more abundant at the seep site than at the control site. However, this finding was strongly influenced by a single species (Montipora foliosa), which was able to maintain complete pHcf homeostasis. Overall, although our findings indicate that there might be an association between ecological success and greater pHcf homeostasis, further research with additional species and at more sites with differing seawater pH regimes is required to solidify inferences regarding coral ecological success under future OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean acidification (OA) is a major threat to the persistence of biogenic reefs throughout the world's ocean. Coralline algae are comprised of high magnesium calcite and have long been considered one of the most susceptible taxa to the negative impacts of OA. We summarize these impacts and explore the causes of variability in coralline algal responses using a review/qualitative assessment of all relevant literature, meta‐analysis, quantitative assessment of critical responses, and a discussion of physiological mechanisms and directions for future research. We find that most coralline algae experienced reduced abundance, calcification rates, recruitment rates, and declines in pH within the site of calcification in laboratory experiments simulating OA or at naturally elevated CO2 sites. There were no other consistent physiological responses of coralline algae to simulated OA (e.g., photo‐physiology, mineralogy, and survival). Calcification/growth was the most frequently measured parameters in coralline algal OA research, and our meta‐analyses revealed greater declines in seawater pH were associated with significant decreases in calcification in adults and similar but nonsignificant trends for juveniles. Adults from the family Mesophyllumaceae also tended to be more robust to OA, though there was insufficient data to test similar trends for juveniles. OA was the dominant driver in the majority of laboratory experiments where other local or global drivers were assessed. The interaction between OA and any other single driver was often additive, though factors that changed pH at the surface of coralline algae (light, water motion, epiphytes) acted antagonistically or synergistically with OA more than any other drivers. With advances in experimental design and methodological techniques, we now understand that the physiology of coralline algal calcification largely dictates their responses to OA. However, significant challenges still remain, including improving the geographic and life‐history spread of research effort and a need for holistic assessments of physiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean warming and acidification threaten the future growth of coral reefs. This is because the calcifying coral reef taxa that construct the calcium carbonate frameworks and cement the reef together are highly sensitive to ocean warming and acidification. However, the global-scale effects of ocean warming and acidification on rates of coral reef net carbonate production remain poorly constrained despite a wealth of studies assessing their effects on the calcification of individual organisms. Here, we present global estimates of projected future changes in coral reef net carbonate production under ocean warming and acidification. We apply a meta-analysis of responses of coral reef taxa calcification and bioerosion rates to predicted changes in coral cover driven by climate change to estimate the net carbonate production rates of 183 reefs worldwide by 2050 and 2100. We forecast mean global reef net carbonate production under representative concentration pathways (RCP) 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5 will decline by 76, 149, and 156%, respectively, by 2100. While 63% of reefs are projected to continue to accrete by 2100 under RCP2.6, 94% will be eroding by 2050 under RCP8.5, and no reefs will continue to accrete at rates matching projected sea level rise under RCP4.5 or 8.5 by 2100. Projected reduced coral cover due to bleaching events predominately drives these declines rather than the direct physiological impacts of ocean warming and acidification on calcification or bioerosion. Presently degraded reefs were also more sensitive in our analysis. These findings highlight the low likelihood that the world's coral reefs will maintain their functional roles without near-term stabilization of atmospheric CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean warming, ocean acidification and overfishing are major threats to the structure and function of marine ecosystems. Driven by increasing anthropogenic emissions of CO2, ocean warming is leading to global redistribution of marine biota and altered ecosystem dynamics, while ocean acidification threatens the ability of calcifying marine organisms to form skeletons due to decline in saturation state of carbonate Ω and pH. In Tasmania, the interaction between overfishing of sea urchin predators and rapid ocean warming has caused a phase-shift from productive kelp beds to overgrazed sea urchin barren grounds, however potential impacts of ocean acidification on this system have not been considered despite this threat for marine ecosystems globally. Here we use automated loggers and point measures of pH, spanning kelp beds and barren grounds, to reveal that kelp beds have the capacity to locally ameliorate effects of ocean acidification, via photosynthetic drawdown of CO2, compared to unvegetated barren grounds. Based on meta-analysis of anticipated declines in physiological performance of grazing urchins to decreasing pH and assumptions of nil adaptation, future projection of OA across kelp-barrens transition zones reveals that kelp beds could act as important pH refugia, with urchins potentially becoming increasingly challenged at distances >40 m from kelp beds. Using spatially explicit simulation of physicochemical feedbacks between grazing urchins and their kelp prey, we show a stable mosaicked expression of kelp patches to emerge on barren grounds. Depending on the adaptative capacity of sea urchins, future declines in pH appear poised to further alter phase-shift dynamics for reef communities; thus, assessing change in spatial-patterning of reef-scapes may indicate cascading ecological impacts of ocean acidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean acidification (OA) poses a major threat to marine organisms, particularly during reproduction when externally shed gametes are vulnerable to changes in seawater pH. Accordingly, several studies on OA have focused on how changes in seawater pH influence sperm behavior and/or rates of in vitro fertilization. By contrast, few studies have examined how pH influences prefertilization gamete interactions, which are crucial during natural spawning events in most externally fertilizing taxa. One mechanism of gamete interaction that forms an important component of fertilization in most taxa is communication between sperm and egg‐derived chemicals. These chemical signals, along with the physiological responses in sperm they elicit, are likely to be highly sensitive to changes in seawater chemistry. In this study, we experimentally tested this possibility using the blue mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, a species in which females have been shown to use egg‐derived chemicals to promote the success of sperm from genetically compatible males. We conducted trials in which sperm were allowed to swim in gradients of egg‐derived chemicals under different seawater CO2 (and therefore pH) treatments. We found that sperm had elevated fertilization rates after swimming in the presence of egg‐derived chemicals in low pH (pH 7.6) compared with ambient (pH 8.0) seawater. This observed effect could have important implications for the reproductive fitness of external fertilizers, where gamete compatibility plays a critical role in modulating reproduction in many species. For example, elevated sperm fertilization rates might disrupt the eggs' capacity to avoid fertilizations by genetically incompatible sperm. Our findings highlight the need to understand how OA affects the multiple stages of sperm‐egg interactions and to develop approaches that disentangle the implications of OA for female, male, and population fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean acidification poses a serious threat to marine calcifying organisms, yet experimental and field studies have found highly diverse responses among species and environments. Our understanding of the underlying drivers of differential responses to ocean acidification is currently limited by difficulties in directly observing and quantifying the mechanisms of bio‐calcification. Here, we present Raman spectroscopy techniques for characterizing the skeletal mineralogy and calcifying fluid chemistry of marine calcifying organisms such as corals, coralline algae, foraminifera, and fish (carbonate otoliths). First, our in vivo Raman technique is the ideal tool for investigating non‐classical mineralization pathways. This includes calcification by amorphous particle attachment, which has recently been controversially suggested as a mechanism by which corals resist the negative effects of ocean acidification. Second, high‐resolution ex vivo Raman mapping reveals complex banding structures in the mineralogy of marine calcifiers, and provides a tool to quantify calcification responses to environmental variability on various timescales from days to years. We describe the new insights into marine bio‐calcification that our techniques have already uncovered, and we consider the wide range of questions regarding calcifier responses to global change that can now be proposed and addressed with these new Raman spectroscopy tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many scientific studies, the underlying data-generating process is unknown and multiple statistical models are considered to describe it. For example, in a factorial experiment we might consider models involving just main effects, as well as those that include interactions. Model-averaging is a commonly-used statistical technique to allow for model uncertainty in parameter estimation. In the frequentist setting, the model-averaged estimate of a parameter is a weighted mean of the estimates from the individual models, with the weights typically being based on an information criterion, cross-validation, or bootstrapping. One approach to building a model-averaged confidence interval is to use a Wald interval, based on the model-averaged estimate and its standard error. This has been the default method in many application areas, particularly those in the life sciences. The MA-Wald interval, however, assumes that the studentized model-averaged estimate has a normal distribution, which can be far from true in practice due to the random, data-driven model weights. Recently, the model-averaged tail area Wald interval (MATA-Wald) has been proposed as an alternative to the MA-Wald interval, which only assumes that the studentized estimate from each model has a N(0, 1) or t-distribution, when that model is true. This alternative to the MA-Wald interval has been shown to have better coverage in simulation studies. However, when we have a response variable that is skewed, even these relaxed assumptions may not be valid, and use of these intervals might therefore result in poor coverage. We propose a new interval (MATA-SBoot) which uses a parametric bootstrap approach to estimate the distribution of the studentized estimate for each model, when that model is true. This method only requires that the studentized estimate from each model is approximately pivotal, an assumption that will often be true in practice, even for skewed data. We illustrate use of this new interval in the analysis of a three-factor marine global change experiment in which the response variable is assumed to have a lognormal distribution. We also perform a simulation study, based on the example, to compare the lower and upper error rates of this interval with those for existing methods. The results suggest that the MATA-SBoot interval can provide better error rates than existing intervals when we have skewed data, particularly for the upper error rate when the sample size is small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reef-building corals are surrounded by complex microenvironments (i.e. concentration boundary layers) that partially isolate them from the ambient seawater. Although the presence of such concentration boundary layers (CBLs) could potentially play a role in mitigating the negative impacts of climate change stressors, their role is poorly understood. Furthermore, it is largely unknown how heat stress-induced bleaching affects O2 and pH dynamics across the CBLs of coral, particularly in branching species. We experimentally exposed the common coral species Acropora aspera to heat stress for 13 d and conducted a range of physiological and daytime microsensor measurements to determine the effects of bleaching on O2 and pH gradients across the CBL. Heat stress equivalent to 24 degree heating days (3.4 degree heating weeks) resulted in visible bleaching and significant declines in photochemical efficiency, photosynthesis rates and photosynthesis to respiration (P/R) ratios, whereas dark respiration and calcification rates were not impacted. As a consequence, bleached A. aspera had significantly lower (− 13%) surface O2 concentrations during the day than healthy corals, with concentrations being lower than that of the ambient seawater, thus resulting in O2 uptake from the seawater. Furthermore, we show here that Acropora, and potentially branching corals in general, have among the lowest surface pH elevation of all corals studied to date (0.041 units), which could contribute to their higher sensitivity to ocean acidification. Additionally, bleached A. aspera no longer elevated their surface pH above ambient seawater values and, therefore, had essentially no [H+] CBL. These findings demonstrate that heat stress-induced bleaching has negative effects on pH elevation and [H+] CBL thickness, which may increase the overall susceptibility of coral to the combined impacts of ocean acidification and warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ocean acidification (OA) is a major threat to marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs which are heavily reliant on calcareous species. OA decreases seawater pH and calcium carbonate saturation state (Ω), and increases the concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Intense scientific effort has attempted to determine the mechanisms via which ocean acidification (OA) influences calcification, led by early hypotheses that calcium carbonate saturation state (Ω) is the main driver. We grew corals and coralline algae for 8–21 weeks, under treatments where the seawater parameters Ω, pH, and DIC were manipulated to examine their differential effects on calcification rates and calcifying fluid chemistry (Ωcf, pHcf, and DICcf). Here, using long duration experiments, we provide geochemical evidence that differing physiological controls on carbonate chemistry at the site of calcification, rather than seawater Ω, are the main determinants of calcification. We found that changes in seawater pH and DIC rather than Ω had the greatest effects on calcification and calcifying fluid chemistry, though the effects of seawater carbonate chemistry were limited. Our results demonstrate the capacity of organisms from taxa with vastly different calcification mechanisms to regulate their internal chemistry under extreme chemical conditions. These findings provide an explanation for the resistance of some species to OA, while also demonstrating how changes in seawater DIC and pH under OA influence calcification of key coral reef taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coralline algae provide important ecosystem services but are susceptible to the impacts of ocean acidification. However, the mechanisms are uncertain, and the magnitude is species specific. Here, we assess whether species-specific responses to ocean acidification of coralline algae are related to differences in pH at the site of calcification within the calcifying fluid/medium ( pHcf) using δ11B as a proxy. Declines in δ11B for all three species are consistent with shifts in δ11B expected if B( OH)4− was incorporated during precipitation. In particular, the δ11B ratio in Amphiroa anceps was too low to allow for reasonable pHcf values if B( OH)3 rather than B( OH)4− was directly incorporated from the calcifying fluid. This points towards δ11B being a reliable proxy for pHcf for coralline algal calcite and that if B( OH)3 is present in detectable proportions, it can be attributed to secondary postincorporation transformation of B( OH)4−. We thus show that pHcf is elevated during calcification and that the extent is species specific. The net calcification of two species of coralline algae ( Sporolithon durum, and Amphiroa anceps) declined under elevated CO2, as did their pHcf. Neogoniolithon sp. had the highest pHcf, and most constant calcification rates, with the decrease in pHcf being ¼ that of seawater pH in the treatments, demonstrating a control of coralline algae on carbonate chemistry at their site of calcification. The discovery that coralline algae upregulate pHcf under ocean acidification is physiologically important and should be included in future models involving calcification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean acidification has been identified as a risk to marine ecosystems, and substantial scientific effort has been expended on investigating its effects, mostly in laboratory manipulation experiments. However, performing these manipulations correctly can be logistically difficult, and correctly designing experiments is complex, in part because of the rigorous requirements for manipulating and monitoring seawater carbonate chemistry. To assess the use of appropriate experimental design in ocean acidification research, 465 studies published between 1993 and 2014 were surveyed, focusing on the methods used to replicate experimental units. The proportion of studies that had interdependent or non-randomly interspersed treatment replicates, or did not report sufficient methodological details was 95%. Furthermore, 21% of studies did not provide any details of experimental design, 17% of studies otherwise segregated all the replicates for one treatment in one space, 15% of studies replicated CO2 treatments in a way that made replicates more interdependent within treatments than between treatments, and 13% of studies did not report if replicates of all treatments were randomly interspersed. As a consequence, the number of experimental units used per treatment in studies was low (mean = 2.0). In a comparable analysis, there was a significant decrease in the number of published studies that employed inappropriate chemical methods of manipulating seawater (i.e. acid-base only additions) from 21 to 3%, following the release of the "Guide to best practices for ocean acidification research and data reporting" in 2010; however, no such increase in the use of appropriate replication and experimental design was observed after 2010. We provide guidelines on how to design ocean acidification laboratory experiments that incorporate the rigorous requirements for monitoring and measuring carbonate chemistry with a level of replication that increases the chances of accurate detection of biological responses to ocean acidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coralline algae are susceptible to the changes in the seawater carbonate system associated with ocean acidification (OA). However, the coastal environments in which corallines grow are subject to large daily pH fluctuations which may affect their responses to OA. Here, we followed the growth and development of the juvenile coralline alga Arthrocardia corymbosa, which had recruited into experimental conditions during a prior experiment, using a novel OA laboratory culture system to simulate the pH fluctuations observed within a kelp forest. Microscopic life history stages are considered more susceptible to environmental stress than adult stages; we compared the responses of newly recruited A. corymbosa to static and fluctuating seawater pH with those of their field-collected parents. Recruits were cultivated for 16 weeks under static pH 8.05 and 7.65, representing ambient and 4× preindustrial pCO2 concentrations, respectively, and two fluctuating pH treatments of daily (daytime pH = 8.45, night-time pH = 7.65) and daily (daytime pH = 8.05, night-time pH = 7.25). Positive growth rates of new recruits were recorded in all treatments, and were highest under static pH 8.05 and lowest under fluctuating pH 7.65. This pattern was similar to the adults’ response, except that adults had zero growth under fluctuating pH 7.65. The % dry weight of MgCO3 in calcite of the juveniles was reduced from 10% at pH 8.05 to 8% at pH 7.65, but there was no effect of pH fluctuation. A wide range of fleshy macroalgae and at least 6 species of benthic diatoms recruited across all experimental treatments, from cryptic spores associated with the adult A. corymbosa. There was no effect of experimental treatment on the growth of the benthic diatoms. On the community level, pH-sensitive species may survive lower pH in the presence of diatoms and fleshy macroalgae, whose high metabolic activity may raise the pH of the local microhabitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding ecosystem responses to global and local anthropogenic impacts is paramount to predicting future ecosystem states. We used an ecosystem modeling approach to investigate the independent and cumulative effects of fishing, marine protection, and ocean acidification on a coastal ecosystem. To quantify the effects of ocean acidification at the ecosystem level, we used information from the peer-reviewed literature on the effects of ocean acidification. Using an Ecopath with Ecosim ecosystem model for the Wellington south coast, including the Taputeranga Marine Reserve (MR), New Zealand, we predicted ecosystem responses under 4 scenarios: ocean acidification + fishing; ocean acidification + MR (no fishing); no ocean acidification + fishing; no ocean acidification + MR for the year 2050. Fishing had a larger effect on trophic group biomasses and trophic structure than ocean acidification, whereas the effects of ocean acidification were only large in the absence of fishing. Mortality by fishing had large, negative effects on trophic group biomasses. These effects were similar regardless of the presence of ocean acidification. Ocean acidification was predicted to indirectly benefit certain species in the MR scenario. This was because lobster ( Jasus edwardsii) only recovered to 58% of the MR biomass in the ocean acidification + MR scenario, a situation that benefited the trophic groups lobsters prey on. Most trophic groups responded antagonistically to the interactive effects of ocean acidification and marine protection (46%; reduced response); however, many groups responded synergistically (33%; amplified response). Conservation and fisheries management strategies need to account for the reduced recovery potential of some exploited species under ocean acidification, nonadditive interactions of multiple factors, and indirect responses of species to ocean acidification caused by declines in calcareous predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenically-modulated reductions in pH, termed ocean acidification, could pose a major threat to the physiological performance, stocks, and biodiversity of calcifiers and may devalue their ecosystem services. Recent debate has focussed on the need to develop approaches to arrest the potential negative impacts of ocean acidification on ecosystems dominated by calcareous organisms. In this study, we demonstrate the role of a discrete (i.e. diffusion) boundary layer (DBL), formed at the surface of some calcifying species under slow flows, in buffering them from the corrosive effects of low pH seawater. The coralline macroalga Arthrocardia corymbosa was grown in a multifactorial experiment with two mean pH levels (8.05 ‘ambient’ and 7.65 a worst case ‘ocean acidification’ scenario projected for 2100), each with two levels of seawater flow (fast and slow, i.e. DBL thin or thick). Coralline algae grown under slow flows with thick DBLs (i.e., unstirred with regular replenishment of seawater to their surface) maintained net growth and calcification at pH 7.65 whereas those in higher flows with thin DBLs had net dissolution. Growth under ambient seawater pH (8.05) was not significantly different in thin and thick DBL treatments. No other measured diagnostic (recruit sizes and numbers, photosynthetic metrics, %C, %N, %MgCO3) responded to the effects of reduced seawater pH. Thus, flow conditions that promote the formation of thick DBLs, may enhance the subsistence of calcifiers by creating localised hydrodynamic conditions where metabolic activity ameliorates the negative impacts of ocean acidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenically-modulated reductions in pH, termed ocean acidification, could pose a major threat to the physiological performance, stocks, and biodiversity of calcifiers and may devalue their ecosystem services. Recent debate has focussed on the need to develop approaches to arrest the potential negative impacts of ocean acidification on ecosystems dominated by calcareous organisms. In this study, we demonstrate the role of a discrete (i.e. diffusion) boundary layer (DBL), formed at the surface of some calcifying species under slow flows, in buffering them from the corrosive effects of low pH seawater. The coralline macroalga Arthrocardia corymbosa was grown in a multifactorial experiment with two mean pH levels (8.05 ‘ambient’ and 7.65 a worst case ‘ocean acidification’ scenario projected for 2100), each with two levels of seawater flow (fast and slow, i.e. DBL thin or thick). Coralline algae grown under slow flows with thick DBLs (i.e., unstirred with regular replenishment of seawater to their surface) maintained net growth and calcification at pH 7.65 whereas those in higher flows with thin DBLs had net dissolution. Growth under ambient seawater pH (8.05) was not significantly different in thin and thick DBL treatments. No other measured diagnostic (recruit sizes and numbers, photosynthetic metrics, %C, %N, %MgCO3) responded to the effects of reduced seawater pH. Thus, flow conditions that promote the formation of thick DBLs, may enhance the subsistence of calcifiers by creating localised hydrodynamic conditions where metabolic activity ameliorates the negative impacts of ocean acidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolic processes have the potential to modulate the effects of ocean acidification (OA) in nearshore macroalgal beds. We investigated whether natural mixed assemblages of the articulate coralline macroalga Arthrocardia corymbosa and understory crustose coralline algae (CCA) altered pH and O2 concentrations within and immediately above their canopies. In a unidirectional flume, we tested the effect of water velocity (0-0.1 m s-1), bulk seawater pH (ambient pH 8.05, and pH 7.65), and irradiance (photosynthetically saturating light and darkness) on pH and O2 concentration gradients, and the derived concentration boundary layer (CBL) thickness. At bulk seawater pH 7.65 and slow velocities (0 and 0.015 m s-1), pH at the CCA surface increased to 7.90-8.00 in the light. Although these manipulations were short term, this indicates a potential daytime buffering capacity that could alleviate the effects of OA. Photosynthetic activity also increased O2 concentrations at the surface of the CCA. However, this moderating capacity was flow dependent; the CBL thickness decreased from an average of 26.8 mm from the CCA surface at 0.015 m s-1 to 4.1 mm at 0.04 m s-1. The reverse trends occurred in the dark, with respiration causing pH and O2 concentrations to decrease at the CCA surface. At all flow velocities the CBL thicknesses (up to 68 mm) were much greater than those previously published, indicating that the presence of canopies can alter the CBL substantially. In situ, the height of macroalgal canopies can be an order of magnitude larger than those used here, indicating that the degree of buffering to OA will be context dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean acidification (OA) is a reduction in oceanic pH due to increased absorption of anthropogenically produced CO2. This change alters the seawater concentrations of inorganic carbon species that are utilized by macroalgae for photosynthesis and calcification: CO2 and HCO3− increase; CO32− decreases. Two common methods of experimentally reducing seawater pH differentially alter other aspects of carbonate chemistry: the addition of CO2 gas mimics changes predicted due to OA, while the addition of HCl results in a comparatively lower [HCO3−]. We measured the short-term photosynthetic responses of five macroalgal species with various carbon-use strategies in one of three seawater pH treatments: pH 7.5 lowered by bubbling CO2 gas, pH 7.5 lowered by HCl, and ambient pH 7.9. There was no difference in photosynthetic rates between the CO2, HCl, or pH 7.9 treatments for any of the species examined. However, the ability of macroalgae to raise the pH of the surrounding seawater through carbon uptake was greatest in the pH 7.5 treatments. Modeling of pH change due to carbon assimilation indicated that macroalgal species that could utilize HCO3− increased their use of CO2 in the pH 7.5 treatments compared to pH 7.9 treatments. Species only capable of using CO2 did so exclusively in all treatments. Although CO2 is not likely to be limiting for photosynthesis for the macroalgal species examined, the diffusive uptake of CO2 is less energetically expensive than active HCO3− uptake, and so HCO3−-using macroalgae may benefit in future seawater with elevated CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenically mediated decreases in pH, termed ocean acidification ( OA), may be a major threat to marine organisms and communities. Research has focussed mainly on tropical coral reefs, but temperate reefs play a no less important ecological role in colder waters, where OA effects may first be manifest. Herein, we report that trends in pH at the surface of three ecologically important cold-water calcifiers (a primary producer and herbivores), under a range of fluid flows, differ substantially from one another, and for two of the three calcifiers, the pH, during darkness, is lower than the mean projected pH due to OA for the surface waters of the global ocean beyond the year 2100. Using micro-electrodes, we show that each calcifier had a different pH gradient between its surface and mainstream seawater, i.e. within the diffusion boundary layer ( DBL) that appears to act as an environmental buffer to mainstream pH. Abalone encountered only mainstream seawater pH, whereas pH at the sea urchins' surface was reduced by ~0.35 units. For coralline algae, pH was ~0.5 units higher in the light and ~0.35 units lower under darkness than in ambient mainstream seawater. This wide range of pH within the DBL of some calcifiers will probably affect their performance under projected future reductions in pH due to OA. Differing exposure to a range of surface pH may result in differential susceptibility of calcifiers to OA. Such fluctuations are no doubt regulated by the interplay of water movement, morphology and metabolic rates (e.g. respiration, calcification and/or photosynthesis). Our study, by considering physics (flow regime), chemistry ( pH gradients vs. OA future projections) and biology (trophic level, physiology and morphology), reveals that predicting species-specific responses and subsequent ecosystem restructuring to OA is complex and requires a holistic, eco-mechanical, approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]