New phase of West Coast ocean modeling initiative to focus on OAH’s biological impacts

A research team that has been modeling how ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) are expected to intensify along the West Coast in the coming years is moving into a new phase of the modeling investigation, where researchers will examine OAH’s anticipated effects on vulnerable marine life.

The research team, which includes SCCWRP, will rely on a suite of newly developed OAH biological assessment tools to determine the degree, if any, to which sentinel coastal marine communities are expected be adversely affected by acidification-triggered changes in the availability of calcium carbonate minerals in seawater, and by reduced availability of dissolved oxygen.

Researchers also will examine the role, if any, of land-based nutrient discharges to the coastal ocean in exacerbating OAH’s biological impacts, and model how potential biological impacts could be mitigated by modifying nutrient management strategies and wastewater recycling practices.

The West Coast research team has been working over the past several years to develop a computer model that predicts how the coastal ocean will change in response to intensifying OAH, including whether land-based nutrient discharges are expected to exacerbate conditions.