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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]

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]

Warm-water coral reefs are facing unprecedented Anthropogenic driven threats to their continued existence as biodiverse, functional ecosystems upon which hundreds of millions of people rely. Determining the tipping point thresholds of coral reef ecosystems requires robust assessment of multiple stressors and their interactive effects. We draw upon a literature search and the recent Global Tipping Points Revision initiative to consider warm-water coral reef ecosystem tipping point threshold sensitivity. Considering observed and projected stressor impacts we recognise a global mean surface temperature (relative to pre-industrial) tipping point threshold of 1.2°C (range 0.7-1.5°C) and an atmospheric CO2 warming threshold of 350ppm (range 326-400 ppm), whilst acknowledging that interacting stressors, ocean warming response time, overshoot and cascading impacts have yet to be sufficiently assessed but are likely to lower this threshold. These uncertainties around tipping point sensitivities for such a crucially important ecosystem underlines the imperative of robust assessment and, in the case of knowledge gaps, employing a precautionary principle favouring the lower range tipping point values. [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]

The sustained absorption of anthropogenically released atmospheric C[O.sub.2] by the oceans is modifying seawater carbonate chemistry, a process termed ocean acidification (OA). By the year 2100, the worst case scenario is a decline in the average oceanic surface seawater pH by 0.3 units to 7.75. The changing seawater carbonate chemistry is predicted to negatively affect many marine species, particularly calcifying organisms such as coralline algae, while species such as diatoms and fleshy seaweed are predicted to be little affected or may even benefit from OA. It has been hypothesized in previous work that the direct negative effects imposed on coralline algae, and the direct positive effects on fleshy seaweeds and diatoms under a future high C[O.sub.2] ocean could result in a reduced ability of corallines to compete with diatoms and fleshy seaweed for space in the future. In a 6-week laboratory experiment, we examined the effect of pH 7.60 (pH predicted to occur due to ocean acidification just beyond the year 2100) compared to pH 8.05 (present day) on the lateral growth rates of an early successional, cold-temperate species assemblage dominated by crustose coralline algae and benthic diatoms. Crustose coralline algae and benthic diatoms maintained positive growth rates in both pH treatments. The growth rates of coralline algae were three times lower at pH 7.60, and a non-significant decline in diatom growth meant that proportions of the two functional groups remained similar over the course of the experiment. Our results do not support our hypothesis that benthic diatoms will outcompete crustose coralline algae under future pH conditions. However, while crustose coralline algae were able to maintain their presence in this benthic rocky reef species assemblage, the reduced growth rates suggest that they will be less capable of recolonizing after disturbance events, which could result in reduced coralline cover under OA conditions., Introduction The sustained absorption of anthropogenically released atmospheric C[O.sub.2] by the oceans is causing the seawater carbonate system to be perturbed at a rate that is unprecedented in the geological [...]

ABSTRACT Haliotis iris is a species of abalone common on rocky reefs in southern and central New Zealand. This study examined the poorly understood feeding habits and preferences of H. [...]

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]