Abstract

A substantial body of research now exists demonstrating sensitivities of marine organisms to ocean acidification (OA) in laboratory settings. However, corresponding in situ observations of marine species or ecosystem changes that can be unequivocally attributed to anthropogenic OA are limited. Challenges remain in detecting and attributing OA effects in nature, in part because multiple environmental changes are co-occurring with OA, all of which have the potential to influence marine ecosystem responses. Furthermore, the change in ocean pH since the industrial revolution is small relative to the natural variability within many systems, making it difficult to detect, and in some cases, has yet to cross physiological thresholds. The small number of studies that clearly document OA impacts in nature cannot be interpreted as a lack of larger-scale attributable impacts at the present time or in the future but highlights the need for innovative research approaches and analyses. We summarize the general findings in four relatively well-studied marine groups (seagrasses, pteropods, oysters, and coral reefs) and integrate overarching themes to highlight the challenges involved in detecting and attributing the effects of OA in natural environments. We then discuss four potential strategies to better evaluate and attribute OA impacts on species and ecosystems. First, we highlight the need for work quantifying the anthropogenic input of CO₂ in coastal and open-ocean waters to understand how this increase in CO₂ interacts with other physical and chemical factors to drive organismal conditions. Second, understanding OA-induced changes in population-level demography, potentially increased sensitivities in certain life stages, and how these effects scale to ecosystem-level processes (e.g. community metabolism) will improve our ability to attribute impacts to OA among co-varying parameters. Third, there is a great need to understand the potential modulation of OA impacts through the interplay of ecology and evolution (eco–evo dynamics). Lastly, further research efforts designed to detect, quantify, and project the effects of OA on marine organisms and ecosystems utilizing a comparative approach with long-term data sets will also provide critical information for informing the management of marine ecosystems.

中文翻译：

---

发现和归因于海洋酸化对海洋生态系统的影响的挑战

摘要

现在，存在大量的研究表明在实验室环境中海洋生物对海洋酸化（OA）的敏感性。但是，原位对应可以明确归因于人为OA的海洋物种或生态系统变化的观察结果有限。在自然界中检测和归因于OA影响仍然存在挑战，部分原因是OA同时发生多种环境变化，所有这些变化都有可能影响海洋生态系统的响应。此外，自工业革命以来，海洋pH值的变化相对于许多系统中的自然变化而言很小，这使其难以检测，并且在某些情况下还没有超过生理阈值。可以清楚地证明OA影响在自然界中的少量研究不能被解释为当前或将来缺乏大规模的归因影响，而是强调了创新研究方法和分析的必要性。我们总结了四个相对研究透彻的海洋群体（海草，翼足类，牡蛎和珊瑚礁）的一般发现，并整合了总体主题以突出显示在自然环境中检测和归因于OA影响所涉及的挑战。然后，我们讨论了四种潜在策略，以更好地评估和归因于OA对物种和生态系统的影响。首先，我们强调需要量化CO人为输入的工作₂在沿海和开放的海水，以了解这一增长中的CO ₂与其他物理和化学因素相互作用以驱动机体状况。其次，了解OA引起的人口水平人口变化，在某些生命阶段中潜在的敏感性增加以及这些影响如何扩展到生态系统级别的过程（例如社区代谢）将提高我们将OA的影响归因于各种变量的能力。第三，迫切需要通过生态学和进化的相互作用（生态-生态动力学）来了解OA影响的潜在调节。最后，通过采用具有长期数据集的比较方法，旨在检测，量化和预测OA对海洋生物和生态系统影响的进一步研究工作，也将为指导海洋生态系统管理提供重要信息。