Dynamic patterns and ecological impacts of declining ocean pH in a high-resolution multi-year dataset
Open accessAbstract
Increasing global concentrations of atmospheric CO 2 are predicted to decrease ocean pH, with potentially severe impacts on marine food webs, but empirical data documenting ocean pH over time are limited. In a high-resolution dataset spanning 8 years, pH at a north-temperate coastal site declined with increasing atmospheric CO 2 levels and varied substantially in response to biological processes and physical conditions that fluctuate over multiple time scales. Applying a method to link environmental change to species dynamics via multispecies Markov chain models reveals strong links between in situ benthic species dynamics and variation in ocean pH, with calcareous species generally performing more poorly than noncalcareous species in years with low pH. The models project the long-term consequences of these dynamic changes, which predict substantial shifts in the species dominating the habitat as a consequence of both direct effects of reduced calcification and indirect effects arising from the web of species interactions. Our results indicate that pH decline is proceeding at a more rapid rate than previously predicted in some areas, and that this decline has ecological consequences for near shore benthic ecosystems.
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Little research has been carried out on the effects of ocean acidification at the ecosystem level.
“Such changes in species distributions and abundances are expected to propagate up through the trophic levels of marine food webs (Fabry et al., 2008;Guinotte and Fabry, 2008) but little research has been carried out on the effects of ocean acidification at the ecosystem level (Wootton et al., 2008).”
From Effects of ocean acidification on macroalgal communities (2011) · cites this paper as Wootton et al., 2008
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- Authors
- Wootton, J. T., Pfister, C. A., & Forester, J. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2008-12-02
- Volume
- 105
- Issue
- 48
- Pages
- 18848-18853
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC2596240
- OpenAlex
- W2164196472
- Cited by
- 537
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 52 · 2012: 42
- FWCI
- 26.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine Biology and Ecology Research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Keywords
- ocean acidification, atmospheric CO2, calcification, species interactions, food webs, coastal ecosystems, ecological impacts, long-term projections
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Thoracica, Environment, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Markov Chains, Oceans and Seas, Seawater, Time Factors, Ecosystem, Food Chain, Eukaryota
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