Biological Consequences of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement
PI: Dakota McCoy
Dr. Ann Marie Hulver (CSEi Research Fellow) will lead a project to test how ocean alkalinity enhancement affects important ecosystems. As our ocean acidifies, coral reefs crumble, shellfish populations plummet, and algal blooms smother fish. Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a promising technique to remove carbon from the atmosphere and reduce ocean acidification, but its effects on marine ecosystems are not yet fully known.
This project will test the little-understood biological effects of OAE in two coastal ecosystems: tropical (Palau, western Pacific) and temperate (Woods Hole, eastern USA).
Researchers will conduct a series of six-month long experiments exposing miniature ocean ecosystems, “mesocosms,” to alkalinity enhancement at current and future temperatures. These experiments will include corals, bivalves, other animals, and settlement tiles. The research team will measure growth, metabolism, microbial associations, biomass, and marine larval settlement throughout the experiment to disentangle short- and long-term effects.
Altogether, this project will collect data on how alkalinization affects a community of organisms across life stages, shedding light on the potential biological consequences of OAE.
