Vulnerability and adaptation of US shellfisheries to ocean acidification

• Published in: Nature Climate Change
• Main Authors: Ekstrom, J.A., Suatoni, L., Cooley, S.R., Pendleton, Linwood, H., Waldbusser, G.G., Cinner, J.E., Ritter, J., Langdon, C., van Hooidonk, R., Gledhill, D., Wellman, K., Beck, M.W., Brander, L.M., Rittschof, D., Doherty, C., Edwards, P.E.T., Portela, R.
• Other Authors: Ocean conservancy Washington, Aménagement des Usages des Ressources et des Espaces marins et littoraux - Centre de droit et d'économie de la mer (AMURE), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University Durham, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Corvallis (CEOAS), Oregon State University (OSU), ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE), James Cook University (JCU), Duke University Marine Laboratory, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), University of Miami Coral Gables, NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The Nature Conservancy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam (VU), National Ocean Service (NOS), Conservation International
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: Acidification; Adaptive management; Carbon dioxide; Marine environment; Policy making; Shellfish; Stakeholder; Vulnerability; United States; Mollusca; [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-01726743; https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2508

cited By 56 International audience Ocean acidification is a global, long-term problem whose ultimate solution requires carbon dioxide reduction at a scope and scale that will take decades to accomplish successfully. Until that is achieved, feasible and locally relevant adaptation and mitigation measures are needed. To help to prioritize societal responses to ocean acidification, we present a spatially explicit, multidisciplinary vulnerability analysis of coastal human communities in the United States. We focus our analysis on shelled mollusc harvests, which are likely to be harmed by ocean acidification. Our results highlight US regions most vulnerable to ocean acidification (and why), important knowledge and information gaps, and opportunities to adapt through local actions. The research illustrates the benefits of integrating natural and social sciences to identify actions and other opportunities while policy, stakeholders and scientists are still in relatively early stages of developing research plans and responses to ocean acidification.