Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

ORCID

0000-0003-3556-7616

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

ICES Journal of Marine Science

ISSN

1054-3139

Publication Date

12-9-2021

Keywords

Calcifying algae, Coralline algae, Environmental change, Global change, pH, Scaling responses

Abstract

Accurately predicting the effects of ocean and coastal acidification on marine ecosystems requires understanding how responses scale from laboratory experiments to the natural world. Using benthic calcifying macroalgae as a model system, we performed a semi-quantitative synthesis to compare directional responses between laboratory experiments and field studies. Variability in ecological, spatial, and temporal scales across studies, and the disparity in the number of responses documented in laboratory and field settings, make direct comparisons difficult. Despite these differences, some responses, including community-level measurements, were consistent across laboratory and field studies. However, there were also mismatches in the directionality of many responses with more negative acidification impacts reported in laboratory experiments. Recommendations to improve our ability to scale responses include: (i) developing novel approaches to allow measurements of the same responses in laboratory and field settings, and (ii) researching understudied calcifying benthic macroalgal species and responses. Incorporating these guidelines into research programs will yield data more suitable for robust meta-analyses and will facilitate the development of ecosystem models that incorporate proper scaling of organismal responses to in situ acidification. This, in turn, will allow for more accurate predictions of future changes in ecosystem health and function in a rapidly changing natural climate.

DOI

10.1093/icesjms/fsab232

First Page

fsab232

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Peer Reviewed

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