SBS Special Seminar - Dr Chris Cornwall
SBS Special Seminar - Dr Chris Cornwall
Date: 31 October 2014 Time: 12.00 pmDr. Chris Cornwall
Research Fellow, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania
How will ocean acidification affect marine macroalgae?
Ocean acidification is the sustained absorption of anthropogenically derived carbon dioxide (CO2) by surface seawater. Increasing CO2 concentrations shift the carbonate chemistry of seawater by reducing pH and carbonate, and by increasing dissolved inorganic carbon and bicarbonate. This presentation will be an overview of the knowledge gained over the last decade that has aided the scientific community’s ability to predict how ocean acidification will affect macroalgae. Macroalgae are important components in coastal reef ecosystems, but our ability to predict their future responses to ocean acidification is limited. The primary obstacles are that macroalgae utilise inorganic carbon via multiple understudied physiological mechanisms, and that their responses to ocean acidification can be extremely variable. The effects of ocean acidification on calcareous macroalgae (i.e. those that precipitate calcium carbonate material) are the clearest; declines in overall growth rates are associated with increasing CO2 concentrations. The responses of non-calcareous macroalgae to ocean acidification are the hardest to discern; positive, neutral and negative responses are all possible. A picture has been painted that reefs dominated by calcareous species will be overcome by non-calcareous species in the future; however I will conclude by highlighting why the effects of ocean acidification will likely be subtle, species-specific, and context-dependent.
For more information, please contact Dr Nicole Phillips on ext. 8049 or Nicole.Phillips@vuw.ac.nz