Transdisciplinary Science: A Path to Understanding the Interactions Among Ocean Acidification, Ecosystems, and Society

The global nature of ocean acidification (OA) transcends habitats, ecosystems, regions, and science disciplines. The scientific community recognizes that the biggest challenge in improving understanding of how changing OA conditions affect ecosystems, and associated consequences for human society, r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oceanography
Main Authors: Kimberly K. Yates, Carol Turley, Brian M. Hopkinson, Anne E. Todgham, Jessica N. Cross, Holly Greening, Phillip Williamson, Ruben Van Hooidonk, Dimitri D. Deheyn, Zackary Johnson
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Oceanography Society 2015
Subjects:
OA
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2015.43
https://doaj.org/article/2a35b01a5b464accb0dfe31aa6f1b1e5
Description
Summary:The global nature of ocean acidification (OA) transcends habitats, ecosystems, regions, and science disciplines. The scientific community recognizes that the biggest challenge in improving understanding of how changing OA conditions affect ecosystems, and associated consequences for human society, requires integration of experimental, observational, and modeling approaches from many disciplines over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Such transdisciplinary science is the next step in providing relevant, meaningful results and optimal guidance to policymakers and coastal managers. We discuss the challenges associated with integrating ocean acidification science across funding agencies, institutions, disciplines, topical areas, and regions, and the value of unifying science objectives and activities to deliver insights into local, regional, and global scale impacts. We identify guiding principles and strategies for developing transdisciplinary research in the ocean acidification science community.