Seawater carbonate chemistry and fish communities properties off CO2 seeps in Japan

• Main Authors: Cattano, Carlo, Agostini, Sylvain, Harvey, Ben P, Wada, Shigeki, Quattrocchi, Federico, Turco, Gabriele, Inaba, Kazuo, Hall-Spencer, Jason M, Milazzo, Marco
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2020
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; Aragonite saturation state; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Biotic Habitat Profile ratio; standard deviation; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Canopy height; Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; CO2 vent; Coast and continental shelf; Community composition and diversity; Coverage; Entire community; EXP; Experiment; Field observation; Fish; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Location; North Pacific; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Pelagos; pH; Potentiometric; Potentiometric titration; Replicates; Rocky-shore community; Salinity; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.922738; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.922738

Ocean acidification will likely change the structure and function of coastal marine ecosystems over coming decades. Volcanic carbon dioxide seeps generate dissolved CO2 and pH gradients that provide realistic insights into the direction and magnitude of these changes. Here, we used fish and benthic community surveys to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of fish community properties off CO2 seeps in Japan. Adding to previous evidence from ocean acidification ecosystem studies conducted elsewhere, our findings documented shifts from calcified to non-calcified habitats with reduced benthic complexity. In addition, we found that such habitat transition led to decreased diversity of associated fish and to selection of those fish species better adapted to simplified ecosystems dominated by algae. Our data suggest that near-future projected ocean acidification levels will oppose the ongoing range expansion of coral reef-associated fish due to global warming.