Ocean acidification drives community shifts towards simplified non-calcified habitats in a subtropical-temperate transition zone.

ABSTRACT: Rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are causing surface seawater pH and carbonate ion concentrations to fall in a process known as ocean acidification. To assess the likely ecological effects of ocean acidification we compared intertidal and subtidal marine communities at increasing levels of pCO₂ at recently discovered volcanic seeps off the Pacific coast of Japan (34° N). This study region is of particular interest for ocean acidification research as it has naturally low levels of surface seawater pCO₂ (280-320 µatm) and is located at a transition zone between temperate and sub-tropical communities. We provide the first assessment of ocean acidification effects at a biogeographic boundary. Marine communities exposed to mean levels of pCO₂

SUBMITTER: Agostini S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6063920 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature