F. Chan, J. A. Barth, C. A. Blanchette, R. H. Byrne, F. Chavez, O. Cheriton, R. A. Feely, G. Friederich, B. Gaylord, T. Gouhier, S. Hacker, T. Hill, G. Hofmann, M. A. McManus, B. A. Menge, K. J. Nielsen, A. Russell, E. Sanford, J. Sevadjian, L. Washburn

Scientific Reports

Published date May 31, 2017

Persistent spatial structuring of coastal ocean acidification in the California Current System

  • States that the near-term progression of ocean acidification (OA) is projected to bring about sharp changes in the chemistry of coastal upwelling ecosystems
  • States that the distribution of OA exposure across these early-impact systems, however, is highly uncertain and limits scientists' understanding of whether and how spatial management actions can be deployed
  • Using a novel coastal OA observing network, uncovers a remarkably persistent spatial mosaic in the penetration of acidified waters into ecologically-important nearshore habitats across 1,000 km of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem
  • Finds that in the most severe exposure hotspots, suboptimal conditions for calcifying organisms encompassed up to 56% of the summer season
  • Finds that these conditions were accompanied by some of the lowest and most variable pH environments known for the surface ocean
  • Notes existence of persistent refuge areas that highlight opportunities for local adaptation