Acidification has sparked discussion about whether regulatory agencies should place coastal waters on the Clean Water Act 303(d) impaired water bodies list. Here we describe scientific challenges in assessing impairment with existing data, exploring use of both pH and biological criteria. Application of pH criteria is challenging because present coastal ...

Few studies have evaluated the joint effects of elevated temperature and pCO2 on marine organisms. In this study we investigated the interactive effects of Intergovernmental Panel on Clinate Change predicted temperature and pCO2 for the end of the 21st century on key aspects of larval developm,ent of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, an otherwise well-studied, ...

At an oyster hatchery on the Oregon coast, researchers found that production of oyster larvae and growth of young oysters dropped when the aragonite saturation state decreased in seawater. (Laboratory study)

Bryozoan colonies that came from larger larvae survived better, grew faster, and reproduced sooner or produced more embryos than colonies that came from smaller larvae. These effects crossed generations, with colonies from larger larvae themselves producing larger larvae.

Survival of dispersing larvae represents a critical bottleneck that influences the population size of zebra mussels.

This article provides an overview of how rivers, which tend to be acidic compared to the ocean, affect shellfish, with a focus on the Gulf of Maine.

Video analysis of Atlantic cod larvae (12 and 27 days post-hatch) showed no significant differences in most aspects of their swimming kinematics when they had been cultured under ocean acidification conditions. (Laboratory study)

Exposure to extreme ocean acidification conditions (pH 6.95) did not affect growth of adult female copepods. However, only 4 percent of their eggs successfully yielded larvae.

Viability of copepod eggs and larvae was not affected by exposure to ocean acidification conditions. In contrast, warming by 2 or 4°C increased the viability of some eggs. (Laboratory study)

This study investigated the response of metamorphosing larvae of a tubeworm species (Hydroides elegans) to two climate change stressors—ocean acidification (pH 7.6) and low oxygen (hypoxia)—and to both combined. (Laboratory study)