Dynamic exposure lab used to simulate pH buffering effects of kelp forests on oyster larvae

SCCWRP has used its new, state-of-the-art dynamic exposure laboratory to study how underwater kelp forests could lessen the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on oysters and other marine calcifiers.

The laboratory portion of the experiment, completed in September in SCCWRP’s Dynamic Stressor Exposure Research Facility (DSERF), involved exposing oyster juveniles to a variety of different pH conditions. The conditions were designed to mimic a kelp forest’s ability to draw carbon dioxide out of the water and potentially offset OA conditions.

Kelp forests, as part of regular photosynthetic processes, may be able to buffer vulnerable organisms from intensifying OA conditions.

The study marks the first time that dynamic, diel-variability treatment has been used to investigate the biological responses of economically important oysters.