Atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased by approximately 40% since preindustrial times from 280 ppm (parts per million) to 400 ppm. The rise in Pco₂ is causing the ocean to become more acidic due to the uptake of carbon dioxide by the water, termed “ocean acidification”. As the Pco₂ in the...
Globally rising anthropogenic CO₂ emissions have resulted in the increased prevalence of ocean acidification (OA) which has the potential to impact shell-forming organisms. On geologic timescales, the largest contributor to atmospheric CO₂ was volcanoes, counterbalanced by weathering and erosion, but due to increased anthropogenic emissions, these processes alone can no...
As the effect of ocean acidification (OA) on marine calcifiers is better understood, a range of potential mitigative strategies have been proposed, many of which are plagued by concerns of scale and feasibility. One oft-cited option is to increase the biomass of photosynthetic organisms to remove CO₂ from the water...
The undergradtuate research project was the completion, manipulation and assessment of a population model. The stage based population model assessed the late larval and juveniles stages of the hard shell clam Mercenaria mercenaria. There were seven class sizes input into the model starting with pediveligers and ending with juveniles at...
Larvae of the Pacific Oyster, Crassostrea gigas, at Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery (WCH) in Netarts Bay, Oregon, are negatively impacted by high-CO₂ water and exposure during the initial shell formation period appears to be particularly damaging. To investigate the mechanism of this early susceptibility, several cohorts of larvae at WCH...
Many marine bivalves are sensitive to ocean acidification (OA) stress and often show heightened sensitivity during brief early larval and post-larval life stages, potentially leading to population bottlenecks. Most of the evidence to date has been collected in laboratory experiments that focused on physiological responses at the organismal level under...
Nearshore and estuarine environments along the U.S West Coast are ocean acidification (OA) "hotspots". Carbon dioxide-enriched water has been correlated with production losses of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) larvae at hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest. Limited and unreliable supply of larval seed has implications for the economic well-being of commercial...
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GeorgeG. Waldbusser
Nearshore and estuarine environments along the U.S West Coast are
The variability of coastal carbonate chemistry continues to provide significant hurdles for understanding interactions between anthropogenic and natural CO2 cycling and resultant effects on coastal acidification dynamics. Attribution of the anthropogenic component is vital for identifying the impacts of increasing atmospheric carbon on coastal habitats such as coral reefs, upwelling...
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are causing ocean acidification (OA) and ocean warming, which have negative effects on the larvae of many marine invertebrates. Oregon pink shrimp (Pandalus jordani) currently encounter upwelling events that can result in pH values as low as 7.6, and, more recently, marine heat waves that raise...
Netarts Bay is a shallow, temperate, tidal lagoon located on the northern coast of Oregon and site of the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery (WCSH). Data collected with an automated flow-through system installed at WCSH capable of high-resolution (1 Hz) pCO2 and hourly TCO2 measurements, with measurement uncertainties of <2.0% and...
In Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), Indonesia, shrimp is one of the most produced seafood. It contributes to 8.74% of total Indonesian shrimp production value. In order to improve aquaculture practices including shrimp farms, Ministry of Marine and Fisheries Affair of Republic of Indonesia recently issued General Guideline for “Minapolitan” (fisheries...
The rapid increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) over the last 250 years has led to the absorption of approximately 550 billion tons of anthropogenic CO₂ by the global ocean. This oceanic uptake of CO₂ has resulted in decreasing pH and alterations to carbonate chemistry, threatening many ecologically and economically...
Two indigenous species of burrowing shrimp inhabit and often dominate the intertidal zone of estuaries along the US West Coast, the ghost shrimp, Neotrypaea californiensis, and the blue mud shrimp, Upogebia pugettensis. Both species are considered ecosystem engineers and play a role in maintaining estuarine health and ecosystem function. They...
Understanding larval bivalve responses to variable regimes of seawater carbonate chemistry requires realistic quantification of physiological stress. Based on a degree-day modeling approach, we developed a new metric, the ocean acidification stress index for shellfish (OASIS), for this purpose. OASIS integrates over the entire larval period the instantaneous stress associated...
ABSTRACT: Sedimentary habitats are complex associations of biotic, chemical, and physical processes
comprising ‘ecosystem function’. The relative importance of these processes to biogeochemical
cycling in highly reactive, permeable sediments remains poorly understood. We report results
from several field experiments in a muddy-sand intertidal flat dominated by 2 functionally different
types...
Bioturbating infauna significantly modify reaction and transport processes in permeable sediments, though most studies to date are limited in the scope of species examined. We conducted a comparative field study measuring density-dependent effects of six common bioturbating species on porewater advection and biogeochemistry, across three intertidal permeable sediment habitats. The...
Understanding the ecological role of Pacific oyster aquaculture (Crassostrea gigas) and eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) as important habitats in US Pacific Northwest estuaries is critical for management and regulatory decisions. The oyster aquaculture industry is currently restricted by regulations concerning impacts of their activities on Z. marina. This seagrass is...
The purpose of this study was to understand the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of shellfish stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest who are adapting to ocean acidification (OA). This study developed a geovisualization tool of existing environmental data for assessing species-specific risk profiles to OA (based on their exposure and sensitivity),...
The spatial distribution and abundance patterns of benthic infauna result from interactions with a host of environmental variables including sediment characteristics (percent silt-clay, grain size, total organic carbon), depth, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. This thesis focuses on the association of bivalve assemblages and species with potentially influential environmental variables along...
Ocean acidification (OA) has had significant negative effects on oyster populations on the west coast of North America over the past decade. Many studies have focused on the physiological challenges experienced by young oyster larvae in high pCO₂/low pH seawater with reduced aragonite saturation state (Ωarag), which is characteristic of...