Advances in OA science in Washington: A overview and summary from the Washington Ocean Acidification Center

• Main Authors: Newton, J. A. (Jan A.), Klinger, Terrie
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Western CEDAR 2016
• Subjects: Fresh Water Studies; Life Sciences; Marine Biology; Natural Resources and Conservation; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2016ssec/climate_change_ocean_acidification/56

The Washington Ocean Acidification Center (WOAC; coenv.uw.edu/oacenter) serves the state from its base in the College of the Environment at the University of Washington. The Center was established by the Washington State Legislature in 2013 to connect researchers, policymakers, industry, and others across Washington to advance the science of ocean acidification (OA) and provide a foundation for proactive strategies and policies to protect marine ecosystems and the people connected to them. To date, the Center has supported OA research in three areas: monitoring, modeling, and biological experiments on Washington species. Through interactions with the Marine Resource Advisory Council, the information and products from the research are provided to policy makers and managers. We present a synthesis of key findings from many of the investigators funded through WOAC. These findings corroborate and extend earlier reports of impacts outside Washington state. Early results from biological experiments show that impacts may be most acute at earlier life stages and on zooplankton. Research performed by investigators from by UW and WWU found that krill experienced lower survival at higher levels of CO2. Research by NOAA scientists showed that crab experienced delayed development in early stages under conditions of both higher levels of CO2 and lower oxygen, a combination commonly found in benthic habitats of Washington. Monitoring of Washington waters by scientists from UW and NOAA revealed that aragonite saturation state in the Salish Sea is commonly corrosive to pteropods, a planktonic species that serves as an important prey item for fish, with hot spots of high corrosion in some productive sub-basins of Puget Sound. The variation in the water chemistry revealed by monitoring is being used by UW modelers to forecast conditions off the coast and within Puget Sound. The model results will provide an important additional adaptation tool for shellfish growers in Washington.