Project: Bodega Ocean Acidification Research

Acronym/Short Name:BOAR
Project Duration:2009-08 - 2013-07
Geolocation:Central California coast (northeast Pacific)

Description

The absorption of human-produced CO2 into the world's oceans is decreasing seawater pH and causing marked declines in the saturation state for calcium carbonate, a major building block for shells, skeletons, and tests of many marine species. Such changes (collectively termed "ocean acidification") have the potential to devastate a broad array of organisms, both at the level of individuals and at population and ecosystem scales. Although awareness of these issues is rapidly growing, most of what is known is based on studies of coral reef organisms and plankton.

The proposed work will enhance understanding of impacts from ocean acidification by providing rigorous data on several new fronts applicable to temperate systems. The project will operate within one of the strongest upwelling centers of the eastern Pacific, where global trends in acidification are amplified by the presence of cold water characterized by already-high levels of aqueous CO2. Using an integrated, comparative approach that exploits the expertise of oceanographers, marine chemists, and biologists, the project will explicitly couple moored and shipboard measurements of seawater chemistry to controlled laboratory and field studies of biological responses.

Two vital foundation species (the California mussel, Mytilus californianus, and the Olympia oyster, Ostrea conchaphila) will be targeted. These two species play disproportionately important roles in open-coast and estuarine systems, respectively. Larvae (which are often the most vulnerable stages) of mussels and oysters will be cultured under elevated-CO2 conditions through the full pelagic period and into juvenile life. Growth and survivorship will be quantified, and water temperature and salinity will be varied to test for interactive effects of multiple factors. Intraspecific variation in response of larvae from different parental lineages will be examined. "Carry-over" effects that originate from exposure during the larval stage, but influence subsequent juvenile growth and survival, will be determined both in the laboratory and using field outplants. Because larval and juvenile stages play important roles as demographic age-structure bottlenecks, overall population consequences will be estimated through comparison of observed impacts on early life stages to other recognized sources of recruitment variation.

Data Status: Data will be reported from the BML offshore oceanographic moorings and from moorings within nearby Tomales Bay. The moorings will be outfitted with autonomously recording pH and pCO2 sensors, and these measurements will be supplemented with discrete water samples collected monthly along two associated transects.

Live Data: For live-streaming data from Tomales Bay, visit http://www.ipacoa.org/Explorer and click on the icon in Tomales Bay.


DatasetLatest Version DateCurrent State
Results of laboratory study examining effects of elevated concentrations of seawater carbon dioxide and altered salinity on rates of oxygen utilization by larval porcelain crabs (Petrolisthes cinctipes)2016-09-29Final no updates expected
Results of laboratory study examining effects of elevated concentrations of seawater carbon dioxide and altered salinity on rates of oxygen utilization by larval porcelain crabs (Petrolisthes cinctipes)2016-09-29Final no updates expected
Results of laboratory study examining effects of elevated concentrations of seawater carbon dioxide and altered salinity on rates of oxygen utilization by larval porcelain crabs (Petrolisthes cinctipes)2016-09-28Final no updates expected
Results of laboratory study examining effects of elevated concentrations of seawater carbon dioxide and altered salinity on rates of oxygen utilization by larval porcelain crabs (Petrolisthes cinctipes)2016-09-28Final no updates expected
Juvenile growth of Olympia oysters outplanted to the field in Tomales Bay after being reared as larvae in the lab at Bodega Marine Lab in September 20102016-09-27Final no updates expected
Water chemistry during larval rearing experiments concerning persistent effects of ocean acidification on larval and juvenile Olympia oysters conducted at Bodega Marine Laboratory in September 20102016-09-27Final no updates expected
Effects of food on growth of larval Olympia oysters under different levels of ocean acidification; experiments conducted at Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML), UC Davis in June 20112016-09-19Final no updates expected
Effects of food on percent metamorphosis of settling Olympia oysters under different levels of ocean acidification; experiments conducted at Bodega Marine Laboratory, UC Davis in June 20112016-09-19Final no updates expected
Effects of food on body condition of larval oysters under different levels of ocean acidification; experiments conducted at Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML), UC Davis in June 20112016-09-19Final no updates expected
Juvenile growth post-settlement under four larval-to-juvenile ocean acidification transitions in the laboratory; conducted at Bodega Marine Lab in July-Sept 20092016-09-16Final no updates expected
Oyster larval growth at day 9 post-release under ocean acidification in the laboratory; experiments conducted at Bodega Marine Laboratory2016-09-16Final no updates expected
Juvenile growth post-settlement from experimental study of carryover effects of ocean acidification on larval and juvenile Olympia oysters; conducted at Bodega Marine Lab in July-Sept 20092016-09-13Final no updates expected
Percent settlement (metamorphosis) of Olympia oysters exposed to ocean acidification in the laboratory at Bodega Marine Lab in September 20102016-09-09Final no updates expected
Size at settlement of Olympia oysters exposed to ocean acidification in the laboratory at lab Bodega Marine in September 20102016-09-09Final no updates expected
Juvenile survival of Olympia oysters outplanted to the field in Tomales Bay after being reared as larvae in the lab at Bodega Marina lab in September 20102016-09-09Final no updates expected
Temperature, pH, and salinity collected by SAMI sensors at the Bodega Marine Lab mooring in the nearshore surface waters off the central California coast from 2011-2012 (BOAR and OMEGAS-MaS projects)2015-03-31Final with updates expected
pCO2 collected by SAMI-CO2 sensors from Bodega Marine Laboratory Mooring in the nearshore surface waters off the central California coast from 2011-2012 (BOAR project)2013-10-22Final with updates expected
Water quality (including salinity, temperature, pH, O2, chl, DIC, DOC) time series from a mooring and time-series transect in Tomales Bay, Central California Coast from 2008-2011 (BOAR project)2012-10-12Final with updates expected

Project Home Page



People

Lead Principal Investigator: Brian Gaylord
University of California-Davis (UC Davis-BML)

Co-Principal Investigator: Tessa M. Hill
University of California-Davis (UC Davis-BML)

Co-Principal Investigator: Ann D. Russell
University of California-Davis (UC Davis)

Co-Principal Investigator: Eric Sanford
University of California-Davis (UC Davis-BML)

Contact: Brian Gaylord
University of California-Davis (UC Davis-BML)

Contact: Tessa M. Hill
University of California-Davis (UC Davis-BML)

BCO-DMO Data Manager: Shannon Rauch
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO)