Ocean Acidification A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean (2010) / Chapter Skim
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6 A National Ocean Acidification Program
6 A National Ocean Acidification Program
Pages 95-136
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From page 95... ...
Coral reefs appear to be particularly vulnerable because of the sensitivity of reefbuilders to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry, compounded with other stressors such as climate change and overfish ing. Coral reef ecosystems provide many critical resources that support a number of services, including fishing, recreation and tourism, and storm protection.
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From page 96... ...
. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
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From page 97... ...
For tunately, the scope of the problem is not unlike others that have faced the oceanographic and climate change communities in the past; research strategies for addressing ocean acidification can be pulled from existing programs such as the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA) and other national and multinational ocean acidification programs (see Box 6.1)
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From page 98... ...
Ocean Acidification Research Programme: The UK program was launched as a result of the submission of a proposal to an open call by the Natural Environment Research Council and the Department for Environ ment, Food & Rural Affairs. The overall aim of the Research Programme is to pro vide a greater understanding of the implications of ocean acidification and its risks to ocean biogeochemistry, biodiversity and the whole Earth system.
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From page 99... ...
- two international oceanographic research programs -- as a subgroup of the Ocean Carbon working group which coordinates seamless implementation of ocean car bon research between the two programs. Unlike the other programs, it is not sup porting primary research but instead will coordinate international research efforts in ocean acidification and undertake synthesis activities in ocean acidification at the international level.
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From page 100... ...
6.1.1 Measurements The first step in developing an ocean acidification observing network is determining the requirements for biological and chemical measure ments, as well as standards to ensure data quality and continuity. For ocean acidification, requirements for seawater carbonate chemistry mea surements are well defined and include temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrients critical to primary production, and at least two of the following four carbon parameters: dissolved inorganic carbon, pCO2, total alkalinity, and pH.
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From page 101... ...
In part, this is because the field is young and in part it is because the biological effects of ocean acidification, from the cellular to the ecosystem level, are very complex. While biological indicators spe cific to ocean acidification have not yet been defined, however, biological monitoring programs that serve a variety of applications could also be used to track responses to ocean acidification, and it would be beneficial to monitor general indicators of marine ecosystem processes to create a time series data set that will be informative to future efforts to identify correlations and trends between the chemical and biological data.
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From page 102... ...
It should also be noted that to create a time series data set that is informative for efforts to identify correlations and trends between the chemical and bio logical data, chemical data must be collected whenever biological data are collected. Though chemical data may stand alone, understanding the effect of ocean acidification on biological species will require that both types of data are available for analysis.
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From page 103... ...
These measurements will also have value in assessing the effects of other long term environmental stressors. RECOMMENDATION: To ensure long-term continuity of data sets across investigators, locations, and time, the National Ocean Acidification Program should support inter-calibration, standards development, and efforts to make methods of acquiring chemical and biological
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From page 104... ...
As the field advances and a consensus emerges, the Program should support the identification and standardization of biological parameters for monitoring ocean acidification and its effects. 6.1.2 Establishing and Sustaining the Network A number of existing observing systems are already conducting open ocean carbon system measurements.
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From page 105... ...
The national ocean acidification network could also become a com ponent of or partner with OOI and IOOS; this would allow the acidifica tion network to leverage the assets of a developing integrated network
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From page 106... ...
The OOI and IOOS networks complement existing U.S. subtropical ocean biogeochemical timeseries stations by expanding into temperate and subpolar openocean environments and coastal waters, ecosystems that are currently identified as undersampled in community assessments of ocean carbon cycle and acidification research needs (e.g., Doney et al., 2004; Fabry et al., 2008a)
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From page 107... ...
However, these networks can be used as the backbone of a broader monitoring network. RECOMMENDATION: The National Ocean Acidification Program should review existing and emergent observing networks to identify existing measurements, chemical and biological, that could become part of a comprehensive ocean acidification observing network and to identify any critical spatial or temporal gaps in the current capacity to monitor ocean acidification.
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From page 108... ...
, and innovative funding approaches will be necessary to ensure the sustained operations of the ocean acidification observational network. To be sustainable and efficient, the ocean acidification network will have to leverage, coordinate, and integrate with existing observing systems, other components of international ocean acidification observing networks, and other efforts to build national and international integrated ocean observ ing systems.
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From page 109... ...
In particular, detailed research recommendations on specific regions and topics exist in five communitybased reports: OceanAcidificationDueto IncreasingAtmosphericCarbonDioxide (Raven et al., 2005) , ImpactsofOcean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers: A Guide for Future Research (Kleypas et al., 2006)
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From page 110... ...
Given the varying missions of the federal agencies that will fund and undertake acidification research, the committee has intentionally described broad priority areas derived from these reports; however, the committee encourages the agencies to refer to the reports for additional guidance. 6.2.1 Understand the Processes Affecting Acidification in Coastal Waters Coastal margins are already subject to extreme variability in acidbase chemistry due to natural and anthropogenic inputs such as acidic dis charge of river water (Salisbury et al., 2008)
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From page 111... ...
In the water column, the shoaling of the saturation horizons and enhanced dissolution of sinking particles could alter the downward transport of food particles, carbon, and other materials to the subsurface ocean. In coastal environments, dissolution or weathering of carbonate sediments could partially buffer the effects of ocean acidification, but the faster dissolution rates could also lead to the reduction and eventual dis appearance of reef structures that are valuable habitats.
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From page 112... ...
Adaptation is the ability of a population to evolve over successive generations to become better suited to its habitat. Adaptation to changing ocean chemistry is likely on some level for most taxa that have sufficient genetic diversity to express a range of tolerance for ocean acidification.
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From page 113... ...
that exploit naturally occurring spatial or temporal gradients or differences in ocean carbonate chemistry, and longterm observations of ecosystem responses to develop ing ocean acidification, are needed to investigate the sensitivity of indi viduals, populations, and communities to ocean acidification. Available information on the biological effects of acidification is currently limited to a few model organisms.
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From page 114... ...
Because resilience allows ecosystems to resist change, another impor tant research challenge is how to maintain or increase resilience in marine ecosystems despite continued ocean acidification, occurring alongside
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From page 115... ...
To supplement these approaches, it might be possible in some cases to adapt to particular ocean ecosystems such as coral reefs the whole ecosystem manipulation approach that has been used extensively in ter restrial systems, particularly in lakes. In addition to examining the effects of ocean acidification, ecosystem studies can be designed to assess the efficacy and environmental consequences of ocean carbon management approaches including ocean acidification mitigation.
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From page 116... ...
may benefit from a coordinated research program including elements such as: · overlap with the regional ocean acidification observation network; · field studies documenting changes in ecosystem structure and function over natural pH gradients; · mesocosm experiments to understand the response of phytoplankton and micrograzer communities to ocean acidification;
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From page 117... ...
Organisms subjected to ocean acidification must also cope with the other effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 on the climate, such as warming and increased stratification of surface waters. And, of course, marine ecosystems are affected by a variety of human activities such as fishing or pollution of coastal waters.
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From page 118... ...
Ocean acidification will likely affect ocean CO2 storage, though magnitude of the perturbation is not known because of possible counterbalancing effects. Reduced watercolumn and benthic calcification and faster subsurface calcium carbonate dissolution will result in increases in surface ocean alkalinity, which should in turn enhance oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO2.
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From page 119... ...
Understanding, predicting, and valuing impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems are only the first steps. Research is also needed to improve strategies and approaches for marine ecosystem management (see section 6.3)
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From page 120... ...
Ideally, research on vulnerability and adaptation strategies will take this into account and attempt to identify adaptation strate gies that address changes on a variety of time scales and minimize con flicts between shortterm and longterm objectives. 6.3 ASSESSMENT AND DECISION SUPPORT The FOARAM Act of 2009 charges the IWG with overseeing the devel opment of impacts assessments and adaptation and mitigation strate gies, and with facilitating communication and outreach with stakeholders (P.L.
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From page 121... ...
(National Research Council, 2009a) Given the limited current knowledge about impacts of ocean acidifi cation, the first step for the National Ocean Acidification Program will be to clearly define the problem and the stakeholders (i.e., for whom is this a problem and at what time scales?
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From page 122... ...
report could serve as useful guidance for the develop ment of an ocean acidification assessment strategy. RECOMMENDATION: The National Ocean Acidification Program should focus on identifying, engaging, and responding to stakeholders in its assessment and decision support process and work with existing climate service and marine ecosystem management programs to develop a broad strategy for decision support.
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From page 123... ...
RECOMMENDATION: The National Ocean Acidification Program should create a data management office and provide it with adequate resources. guided by experiences from previous and current largescale research programs and the research community, the office should develop policies to ensure data and metadata quality, access, and archiving.
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From page 124... ...
While the appro priate balance of research, observing, and modeling activities will best be determined by the IWG and individual agencies relative to their missions, the committee would like to stress the importance of communication. To successfully engage stakeholders in a twoway dialogue, the National Ocean Acidification Program will require a mechanism for effectively communicating results of the research and receiving feedback and input from managers and others seeking decision support.
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From page 125... ...
. RECOMMENDATION: As the National Ocean Acidification Program develops a research plan, the facilities and human resource needs should also be assessed.
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From page 126... ...
In considering recommendations on program implementation, the committee took lessons learned from largescale research projects such as the NSF LTER Network, the USGCRP, and in particular, major oceanographic programs in its analysis and recommendations for the successful implementation of a National Ocean Acidification Program. It is important to stress, however, that a National Ocean Acidification Pro gram -- which must also link the science to decision making -- will have challenges beyond these largely researchoriented programs.
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From page 127... ...
Further, a National Ocean Acidification Program will have many elements (e.g., operational elements such as decision support) that will naturally continue beyond the initial decade; it will be critical to establish a legacy program for extended ocean acidifica tion observations, research, and management at the outset.
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From page 128... ...
These recommendations are directly relevant to the development of a National Ocean Acidification Program. · The federal sponsors .
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From page 129... ...
Goals and objecties: Clear research, observational, and operational priorities and objectives are essential to develop a National Ocean Acidification Program. Without them, meaningful program assess ment is not conceivable.
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From page 130... ...
Peer reviews for proposals and performance are criti cal to keep the Program on course toward its targeted goals and objectives. RECOMMENDATION: The National Ocean Acidification Program should create a detailed implementation plan with community input.
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From page 131... ...
Therefore, international collaboration is critical to the success of the Program. It will be important to coordinate with the various other national and multinational ocean acidification programs, as well as other international ocean carbon cycle, climate change, and marine ecosystem research programs to leverage existing resources and avoid duplication of efforts.
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From page 132... ...
CONCLUSION: The development of a National Ocean Acidification Program will be a complex undertaking, but legislation has laid the foundation, and a path forward has been articulated in numerous reports that provide a strong basis for identifying future needs and priorities for understanding and responding to ocean acidification. CONCLUSION: The chemical parameters that should be measured as part of an ocean acidification observational network and the methods to make those measurements are well established.
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From page 133... ...
However, these networks can be used as the backbone of a broader monitoring network. RECOMMENDATION: The National Ocean Acidification Program should review existing and emergent observing networks to identify existing measurements, chemical and biological, that could become part of a comprehensive ocean acidification observing network and to identify any critical spatial or temporal gaps in the current capacity to monitor ocean acidification.
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From page 134... ...
RECOMMENDATION: The National Ocean Acidification Program should focus on identifying, engaging, and responding to stakeholders in its assessment and decision support process and work with existing climate service and marine ecosystem management programs to develop a broad strategy for decision support. RECOMMENDATION: The National Ocean Acidification Program should create a data management office and provide it with adequate resources.
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From page 135... ...
RECOMMENDATION: The National Ocean Acidification Program should create a program office with the resources to ensure successful coordination and integration of all of the elements outlined in the FOARAM Act and this report.
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