Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C510016/1
The impact of ocean acidification on the biodiversity, function and health of coastal marine sediments systems.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor S Widdicombe, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth Marine Lab
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr AP Rees, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth Marine Lab
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr CM Turley, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth Marine Lab
- Co-Investigator:
- Mr D Lowe, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth Marine Lab
- Grant held at:
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth Marine Lab
- Science Area:
- Marine
- Overall Classification:
- Marine
- ENRIs:
- Pollution and Waste
- Global Change
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Science Topics:
- Climate & Climate Change
- Biogeochemical Cycles
- Sediment/Sedimentary Processes
- Community Ecology
- Abstract:
- The industrial nations of the World currently depend on the burning of fossil fuel for the provision of energy and world energy demand is forecast to rise at an average of 1.7% every year over the next 30 years. This burning of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide (CO2) as a waste product and as a result of this, European CO2 emissions may rise by an average of 0.6% annually up to 2020. This inevitable rise in atmospheric CO2 will cause an associated rise in temperature. This could have a number environmental effects such as the suppression of the North Atlantic circulation, large-scale melting of ice sheets, destabilisation of methane hydrates and sea level rise. However, one of the most pressing is the acidification of surface waters through the absorption of this CO2 from the atmosphere. The acidity of the ocean is measured in pH units (1 = acid and 14 = alkali) and currently stands at about 8.2 (slightly alkaline). Over recent years, ocean pH has fallen by 0.1 units and it is predicted that the continued release of fossil-fuel CO2 into the atmosphere could lead to a surface ocean pH reduction of 0.7 units by the end of the century. The oceans harbour tremendous biological diversity and it is considered that the majority of this diversity is made up of animals living in (infauna) or on (epifauna) the seafloor. Seafloor sediments and the organisms that live in them also play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem. For example, 80% of the nitrogen required by phytoplankton in coastal seas comes from the seabed. As phytoplankton are the main marine primary producers upon which the whole marine food chain depends the supply of nutrients for their growth from the sediment is essential for shelf sea productivity. Some of the animals that live in the sediment have a bigger impact on the flux of nutrients than others. Two of the most important animal groups are the thalassinidean shrimps, which create a permanent system of tunnels, and the burrowing heart urchins which 'bulldoze' through the surface sediment. These contrasting groups have different effects on the flux of key nutrients such as nitrate; shrimps help the processes that allow sediment to absorb nitrate whilst urchins act against these processes. It is suggested that changing the acidity of seawater could have different effects on these two important groups. Animals that create permanent burrows (e.g. burrowing shrimps) are already exposed to low and variable levels of pH within their burrows whereas those species which inhabit the upper few centimetres of the sediment (e.g. burrowing urchins) are not. Also, the body structure of the urchins would seem to make them particularly susceptible to changes in pH as they rely on a calcareous skeleton and have no impermeable barrier between ambient seawater and the internal body cavity. Such major differences in the potential tolerance of these animals reduced pH could therefore have a considerable impact on the functioning of marine sediments and the 'goods and services' they provide. Changes in ocean acidity could have an effect on both the sediment and the animals that live in it. Impacts on important animals such as shrimps or urchins could increase the effects of falling pH on sediment processes (e.g. nitrate flux) and the whole marine ecosystem. This proposal aims to investigate the potential impact of decreasing seawater pH on the coastal sediment ecosystem; its processes, biodiversity and health of key organisms using a series of carefully controlled laboratory experiments.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C510016/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £237,324
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Staff | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| £23,012 | £93,460 | £77,860 | £42,991 |
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