Think Tank #5 Strategic Planning Session for Ocean Acidification Research Little Cayman Research Center Dec 3-7, 2007 Response of Florida Shelf Ecosystems

Think Tank #5 Strategic Planning Session for Ocean Acidification Research

Little Cayman Research CenterDec 3-7, 2007

Response of Florida Shelf Ecosystems to Climate Change:

USGS Research



Overarching Questions

• What are the implications of climate change on shelf habitat ?

• What is the overall sustainability of certain critical carbonate ecosystems under changing environmental conditions?



Project Outline

• Task 1: Ocean Acidification & Shelf Habitat– 1.1 Field study– 1.2 Laboratory study

• Task 2: Mapping, data acquisition, and data integration– 2.1 Characterization and mapping of the FL shelf

using existing data– 2.2 Establishing the links between geology, water

chemistry and biologic communities- field acquisition– 2.3 Integration of data: linking past and present



Status

• Not completely funded

• Field portion cut back dramatically- one cruise

• Compilation & mapping of existing data

• New climate change proposal submitted to USGS to address AO field component: Notification will be received end of December



Hypotheses- Task 1

• Calcareous species will undergo shifts in latitudinal distribution and depth ranges as carbonate chemistry of seawater changes

• Forams and calcifying algae will have a physiological response to increased pCO2



Ocean Acidification Task 1

• Document latitudinal gradients of carbonate sediment producers/forams on Florida shelf- relate to responses to OA

• Initiate regional pCO2 & carbonate saturation map for shelf to link to specific habitats

• Characterize how generations of important sediment producing species of benthic foraminifera and calcifying algae respond to changing pCO2 levels

• Identify critical thresholds and impacts for sediment producing communities



Subtask 1.1

• Calcareous species will undergo shifts in latitudinal distribution and depth ranges as carbonate chemistry of seawater changes– Heterozoan vs

Photozoan– Use usSeabed data,

cooperators pCO2, sat. state data, field data



Sediment data



Subtask 1.2

• Calcareous organisms will have a biogeochemical/ physiological response to environmental change

-Calcareous tests, plates will record carbon chemistry of sw (proxy)

- pCO2/temp/- 40 years of

cooperators data



Proposed Research Task: Monitoring and modeling of Florida Shelf

carbonate saturation state and calcification rates: setting a baseline for response of ocean acidification on marine habitats

Robbins, Kuffner, Byrne, Eakin, and Gledhill

• USGS Global Change internal proposal• Working with State cooperators, USF, NOAA• Develop saturation state maps for inner shelf

and coast• Coral calcification studies• Goal: Linking data to sediment & habitat maps

developed (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/flash)



Shelf Carbonate Saturation State

• SEAS II and MICA (Multiparameter Inorganic Carbon Analyzer) developed by Dr. Robert Byrne, SRI,USF COT

• Map variations in ocean chemistry including carbonate saturation states along designated tracks – Flow-thru instrumentations measuring pCO2, tCO2, and pH -alkalinity also collected at discrete site

• Link these data with GOMECC data• Work with NOAA to develop saturation state maps for

west Florida shelf- begin to extend saturation state data from Caribbean into the GOM

• Link data to habitat data



Proposed Cruise tracks and station sampling

• 5 cruise tracks – Focus on shallow water– Using ships of opportunity– USGS, FWRI, FIO, IGFA:

commercial fishermen

• 4 sites in Florida Keys for Coral experiments

- First reef

- Fowey Rocks

- Sombrero Reef

- Pulaski Shoals



Coral and coralline algae study• Diploria labyrinthiformis and Acropora cervicornis• Mounted on stainless steel plates and cinderblocks • Coral calcification rates will be measured seasonally by

“buoyant weight” methods. • Linear extension of corals will be measured by alizarin-

red staining and periodically micro-cored• Accretion rates by crustose coralline algal communities

will be measured by deploying settlement tiles at the same sites where coral growth will be monitored and weighing them quarterly

• Carbonate chemistry of water analyzed to and from field site

Documents

Think Tank #5 Strategic Planning Session for Ocean Acidification Research Little Cayman Research Center Dec 3-7, 2007 Response of Florida Shelf Ecosystems