Making meaningful reductions in COâ‚‚ emissions could help marine life damaged by increasingly acidified oceans to recover, according to new research.
An international team of scientists ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ“ world-leading experts in ocean acidification and warming from the ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ and the Shimoda Marine Research Center at the University of Tsukuba ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ“ placed a series of artificial tiles on the ocean floor off the coast of Japan.
The seafloor in the region is home to a number of volcanic seeps, which have been shown to raise the COâ‚‚ in the ocean to levels predicted to occur globally over the coming decades.
Over a period of 12 months, they monitored how the tiles were colonised by different forms of algae and what effect the differing degrees of ocean acidification had on that process.
As a result of regular monitoring, the scientists found the tiles became dominated by turf algae under elevated COâ‚‚ conditions and had lower biomass, diversity and complexity, a pattern consistent across seasons.
However, when those tiles were removed and placed in waters with current levels of COâ‚‚ , the algae which had colonised them was able to recover and display similar characteristics to that found in oceans today.
Scientists say the study highlights that without reducing atmospheric COâ‚‚emissions, we may increasingly observe the loss of large algal habitats and the spread of fast-growing, small opportunistic species that can utilise additional inorganic carbon.
However, making meaningful reductions in COâ‚‚ within the oceans ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ“ the goal of many international climate agreements ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ“ can have a marked and positive effect on species living within them.
The study is the latest to result from an ongoing collaboration between scientists in ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ and Tsukuba. They and other collaborators have published several studies over the past decade that show ocean acidification is having a major impact on marine life, resulting in habitat degradation and a loss of biodiversity.
