Effects of ocean acidification on different life history stages of northern abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) ...

• Main Author: Crim, Ryan Nathanial
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Subjects: Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0071410; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0071410

Anthropogenic atmospheric CO₂ levels are rapidly increasing; however, much of this CO₂ (ca. 30%) dissolves into the surface ocean (upper 200 m) where it reacts with seawater and disrupts both ocean pH and carbonate chemistry, a process termed ocean acidification. Average pH of the surface ocean has already decreased by 0.1 units since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and is expected to drop another 0.2 to 0.4 units by the end of this century. Of primary concern is the potential for ocean acidification to dramatically disrupt biological processes, especially biogenic calcification. Different life history stages may also be affected in different ways. Furthermore, interactions between ocean acidification and other environmental perturbations are often non-additive and thus result in non-predictive outcomes. Here, I investigate the effects of ocean acidification on different life history stages of an endangered abalone, Haliotis kamtschatkana. I reared larvae and adults under elevated CO₂ conditions ...