Using integrated, ecosystem-level management to address intensifying ocean acidification and hypoxia in the California Current large marine ecosystem

Terrie Klinger,John L Largier,W Waldo Wakefield,Francis Chan,Elizabeth A Chornesky,Elizabeth A Whiteman,Laurenz Thomsen,Jody W Deming

doi:10.1525/elementa.198

Abstract

Ocean acidification is intensifying and hypoxia is projected to expand in the California Current large marine ecosystem as a result of processes associated with the global emission of CO2. Observed changes in the California Current outpace those in many other areas of the ocean, underscoring the pressing need to adopt management approaches that can accommodate uncertainty and the complicated dynamics forced by accelerating change. We argue that changes occurring in the California Current large marine ecosystem provide opportunities and incentives to adopt an integrated, systems-level approach to resource management to preserve existing ecosystem services and forestall abrupt change. Practical options already exist to maximize the benefits of management actions and ameliorate impending change in the California Current, for instance, adding ocean acidification and hypoxia to design criteria for marine protected areas, including consideration of ocean acidification and hypoxia in fisheries management decisions, and fully enforcing existing laws and regulations that govern water quality and land use and development.

Highlights

Scientific understanding of the patterns, processes, and potential impacts of ocean acidification has grown substantially over the past decade with the realization that elevated greenhouse gases force changes in climatic conditions and cause changes in ocean carbonate chemistry as the seas absorb increasing amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) (Howes et al, 2015)
Because deoxygenation can result in hypoxia, the combined processes are often referred to as ocean acidification and hypoxia, or OAH
In eastern boundary current regions, upwelling brings to the surface deep waters that are naturally enriched in carbon dioxide, and lower in dissolved oxygen

Summary

Introduction

Scientific understanding of the patterns, processes, and potential impacts of ocean acidification has grown substantially over the past decade with the realization that elevated greenhouse gases force changes in climatic conditions and cause changes in ocean carbonate chemistry as the seas absorb increasing amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) (Howes et al, 2015). Patterns of ocean acidification and hypoxia in the CCLME are spatially and temporally complex, because they reflect geographically and temporally variable upwelling currents that bring naturally CO2-rich and dissolved oxygen-poor waters to the coast This dynamic physical setting in turn interacts with localized processes such as primary production and respiration, land-based inputs of nutrients and acidifying chemical constituents, and freshwater inflows to intensify the coastal expression of OAH (Figure 1; Hales et al, 2016). Develop modeling and scenario analysis tools to identify potential The West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science ecosystem trajectories and test alternative management inter- Panel developed a monitoring framework that prioritizes ventions under projected OAH changes Use this information to management relevant questions and couples biological and develop tools to integrate OAH considerations into MPA policies, chemical data collection (http://www.westcoastOAH.org). MPA, fisheries and habitat protections, and inform long-term monitoring design

Fisheries Management

Findings

Conclusion