Award: OCE-1041260

Ocean acidification has the potential to change the world's ocean and coastal ecosystems. By bringing together researchers with diverse expertise across disciplines and institutions, OMEGAS (Ocean Margin Ecosystem Group for Acidification Studies) sought to meet society's demands for scientific information on ocean acidification across the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME). OMEGAS research included five integrated elements: 1) The development of a local-scale network of physical and chemical sensors in nearshore waters of Oregon and California, 2) Coordinated and integrated studies of adults and larvae of sea urchins and mussels collected from the same nearshore waters, 3) Genetic surveys of urchins and mussels from these nearshore waters to determine evolutionary responses and adaptational potential to OA, 4) Monitoring the growth and shell accretion rates of mussels from these nearshore waters, and finally 5) Outreach to increase the visibility and familiarity of science for policy makers and the general public. Our findings on the seasonal persistence of 'acidified' conditions and their interaction with hypoxia as coupled stressors on the Oregon shelf have highlighted and reaffirmed the importance of upwelling shelves as early impact systems for the study of ocean acidification. We have also shared our operational experiences with the Durafet-based pH and spectrophotometric-based pCO2 and pH sensors with the manufacturer to enhance sensor reliability for coastal deployments, and with individuals from academia, shellfish growers, agency scientists who are planning to establish OA observing programs. Our findings have stimulated discussions with microbiologists and physiologists on the importance of developing research collaborations for the purposes of scaling-up and scaling-down ocean acidification impacts across scales of biological and ecological organization. This project has facilitated our collaborative research across physical and biological disciplines with partners in physical oceanography, chemical oceanography, ecology, physiology, and evolutionary biology. The application of new in-situ carbon system measurement technologies to the nearshore ecosystems of the Oregon shelf has involved intensive software, hardware and chemistry training for three female technicians involved in this project (and for a similar number of mostly female junior scientists at the other consortium memberÆs institutions). The experience of making this system operational in the coastal ocean has considerably strengthened their understanding of and qualifications for careers in ecological and oceanographic research. This research casts a direct light on the scope for ocean acidification in the coastal waters of the US west coast. Information generated to date has contributed to the Ocean Research and Resources Advisory Panel's Ocean Acidification Task Force process. Last Modified: 01/27/2015 Submitted by: Margaret Mcmanus