Untitled - The Future Ocean

available, it is unknown whether the marine biota will be able to adapt or evolve to the rapidchanges in ocean chemistry and whether, ultimately, the services that the ocean’s ecosystemsprovide will be affected. Previous ocean acidification events, such as during the Paleocene-EoceneThermal Maximum (PETM, 55 Ma), may serve as suitable analogies to assess the adaptivepotential of the marine biota. Because ocean pH affects many biological, chemical, andsedimentological processes, its continuing decrease is expected to fundamentally change thebiogeochemical and ecological balance of the ocean.3. Previous and on-going work of the proponentsThe proponents have studied the impacts of CO 2 -induced seawater acidification on marineplankton at the species to ecosystem level (Riebesell et al. 2000, Engel et al. 2005). They haveused electrophysiological techniques to characterize ion transport proteins involved in cellular pHhomeostasis and have measured intracellular Ca 2+ and pH by means of fluorescent dyes (Bleich etal. 1998). Biological indicators, such as nutritional condition indices for larval fish and cephalopodsand the microchemical composition of cephalopod and fish earstones, are being developed tocharacterize environmental life history traits and migration patterns (Melzner et al. 2004). Theproponents have performed modeling studies of climate change effects on marine ecosystems(Wirtz & Wiltshire 2005) and continue to develop new models for the interaction of marinechemistry and biology on the cellular and ecosystem level with a strong emphasis on adaptationprocesses. In situ studies include biomineralisation processes of cold-water corals and atcarbonate seamounts (Schönfeld et al. 2005) as well as extensive surveys of calcareous plankton(Regenberg et al. 2006). The analysis of high-resolution stable isotope records in Nordic Seas isused to reconstruct changes in past environmental conditions over periods of high and lowatmospheric CO 2 levels. Major research initiatives of the proponents related to ocean acidificationinclude the EU projects PeECE, CARBOOCEAN and HERMES, the DFG projects CASIOPEIA,Ocean Gateways, DecLakes and LiIONS and the proposed BMBF Verbundprojekt SOPRAN.Project proponents have co-authored the Royal Society Report on Ocean Acidification, co-chairedthe SCOR/IOC conference “The Ocean in a High CO 2 World”, the IGBP-SCOR Fast Track Initiative“Ocean Acidification“ and have played leading roles in developing the SOLAS and IMBER scienceplans, which both promote research on ocean acidification.4. ObjectivesThe objectives addressed by the new Junior Research Group (JRG’s) and the proponents will beto (1) achieve a mechanistic understanding of CO 2 /pH-sensitive processes at the molecular toorganism level, (2) examine synergistic effects of changes in temperature and oxygenconcentrations (hypoxia), and (3) assess the potential for biological adaptation to high CO 2 / low pHlevels. The JRG will act as a bridge between and expand existing expertise by an integratedapproach combining molecular, biochemical, and cell-physiological techniques with CO 2 /pHperturbation studies on a variety of scales (at the cellular to community level). JRG research willbenefit from and be integrated into laboratory-, mesocosm-, field- and model-based studies carried35