Abstract
Research assessing the biological impacts of global ocean change often requires a burdensome characterization of seawater carbonate chemistry. For laboratory-based ocean acidification research, this impedes the scope of experimental design. Honeywell Durafet® III pH electrodes provide precise and continuous seawater pH measurements. In addition to use in oceanographic sensor packages, Durafets can also be used in the laboratory to track and control seawater treatments via Honeywell Universal Dual Analyzers (UDA). Here we provide performance data, instructions, and step-by-step recommendations for use of multiple UDA-Durafets. Durafet pH measurements were within ± 0.005 units pHT of spectrophotometric measurements and agreement among eight Durafets was better than ± 0.005 units pHT. These results indicate equal performance to Durafets in oceanographic sensor packages, but methods for calibration and quality control differ. Use of UDA-Durafets vastly improves time-course documentation of experimental conditions and reduces person-hours dedicated to this activity. Due to the versatility of integrating Durafets in laboratory seawater systems, this technology opens the door to advance the scale of questions that the ocean acidification research community aims to address.
Highlights
Seawater absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by fossil fuel burning and land use change causes a decline in ocean pH, a process known as anthropogenic ocean acidification (Rhein et al, 2013)
In ocean acidification biology, documenting seawater carbonate chemistry over the course of an experiment can be extremely time consuming and expensive, reducing resources that could otherwise be invested in quantifying the biological response of interest
We present a method to improve high-frequency documentation of Methods for Durafet-Based Seawater Experiments experimental conditions, while at the same time reducing the burden of conducting laboratory-based ocean acidification research
Summary
Seawater absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by fossil fuel burning and land use change causes a decline in ocean pH, a process known as anthropogenic ocean acidification (Rhein et al, 2013). The expected magnitude of ocean acidification over the coming decades can be estimated from various CO2 emission scenarios and climate mitigation efforts (Ciais et al, 2013) These projections have resulted in a world-wide proliferation of biological studies aiming to quantify the effects of ocean acidification on marine species and ecosystem function (Yang et al, 2016). Critical to these experiments are proper experimental design and documentation of experimental conditions via established practices (Dickson et al, 2007; Riebesell et al, 2010). In association with our protocol, we give detailed instructions for setting up sensor communication with LabVIEWTM and provide the LabVIEW VI we developed to log time series data
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