Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
  • BCO-DMO Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Project Information
• Funding

Sampling collection details

We gathered naturally settled, adult California mussels (M. californianus between 30 and 80 mm in maximum shell length) by hand from the mid-intertidal zone of Carmet Beach, along the northern California coast. We cleaned mussels of all epibionts and external byssal threads, then transported them in buckets (< 0.5 hr transit time) to Bodega Marine Laboratory, where we acclimated individuals for seven days in flow-through seawater tables prior to subsequent experiments. 

Experiment details 

This experiment utilized separate incubations with de-fleshed mussel shells to quantify rates of abiotic dissolution, and we employed these dissolution rates to correct the alkalinity anomaly data to estimate gross calcification rates (gross calcification = net calcification + dissolution). The researchers dried and bleached shells (n = 60) originating from live mussels at Carmet Beach, CA, and used 7.5% sodium hypochlorite to remove excess tissue and microbial communities, before incubating them in an analogous fashion to the calcification trials (Supplementary Figure S4 in Results paper Pomano de Orte et al. (2021)). Dissolution rate data was plotted against calcium carbonate saturation state, with an Arrhenius-derived dissolution equation of the form y = b0 – b1*ea*Ω where y is the measured dissolution rate, b­0 is the asymptotic dissolution rate, b1 is the y-intercept, and a is the rate of approaching the asymptote12. Dissolution corrections were applied prior to normalization by dry tissue weight.

The researchers fit dissolution rate data, plotted against calcium carbonate saturation state, with an Arrhenius-derived dissolution equation of the form y = b0 – b1*ea*Ω where y is the measured dissolution rate, b­0 is the asymptotic dissolution rate, b1 is the y-intercept, and a is the rate of approaching the asymptote12. Dissolution corrections were applied prior to normalization by dry tissue weight. 

- Removed special characters (e.g., periods) from column names and replaced with underscores
- Changed the presentation of species values from "mytilus_californianus" to "Mytilus californianus" and added AphiaID and LSID to the data file
- All numeric float fields rounded to 2 degrees of precision

NSF Award Abstract:
This research is exploring the capacity of coastal organisms to cope with alterations in seawater chemistry driven by both freshwater inputs and absorption of carbon dioxide into the world's oceans (ocean acidification). The project focuses on calcification responses and behavioral impairments of shoreline animals under altered seawater chemistry, and forefronts a common mussel species (the California mussel), and a common snail (the black turban snail), each abundant on rocky shores along the west coast of North America. The target species operate as exemplar organisms for characterizing the responses of marine invertebrates more generally. Methods involve experimental decoupling of multiple components of the carbonate system of seawater to isolate drivers that are difficult to separate otherwise. Broader impacts include transfer of scientific information to policy-makers, including legislators, as well as training and skill-set development of future generations of scientists and citizens. One Ph.D. student is supported, as are UC Davis undergraduates conducting mentored research. The project also provides research internships for undergraduates from a local community college (Santa Rosa Junior College), many of whom are from underrepresented groups. The latter project component substantially bolsters an ongoing program at Bodega Marine Laboratory that includes efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Data and interpretations from the project are feeding into an existing educational program that links to local K-12 schools and reaches ~10,000 members of the public each year.

Overall, the research of the project is dissecting drivers of calcification and behavioral disruption in key shoreline invertebrates, across present-day and future carbonate system conditions appropriate to coastal marine environments. Efforts are exploring the extent to which calcification depends on one versus multiple parameters of the seawater carbonate system. In particular, existing conceptual models emphasize the importance of calcium carbonate saturation state (Ω) and/or the ratio of bicarbonate to hydrogen ion concentrations ([HCO3-]/[H+]), and the project is examining these mechanisms as well as the possibility that more than one driver acts simultaneously. It is doing so both in bivalves and in gastropods to test for generality across mollusks. The project is additionally examining whether pH is the only carbonate system factor contributing to known patterns of behavioral impairment in marine invertebrates. Leading explanations for debilitating behaviors induced by ocean acidification involve altered ion channel function, but discussion in the literature continues, and studies that explicitly decouple the carbonate system are necessary.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.