Ocean acidification " scaling from physiology to populations, ecosystems and fisheries " does it really matter?

Ocean acidification occurs as a result of the absorption of anthropogenic CO2 into the oceans, lowering pH and altering the saturation state of certain bio-minerals such as aragonite or calcite. Ocean acidification has been suggested as posing a major threat to ocean life in the coming decades and centuries, with dramatic consequences for commercial aquaculture and fisheries.

The direct biological impacts of ocean acidification (OA) occur at the molecular and cellular level; however, it is the aggregate expression of these effects at the population level that is of societal concern (Le Quesne & Pinnegar 2012). What will subtle differences in growth rates, survival, energy expenditure, or calcification etc., really mean for populations of key commercial species in the future? Will animals be able to adapt, or will society witness whole-sale deterioration of marine fisheries and aquaculture as speculated by some authors? In the few high-level economic or food-web studies that have been published so far, authors have used "heroic", and largely uncorroborated assumptions about how individual species might be impacted in the future. A firmer theoretical understanding is needed, drawing on the most up-to-date observational studies, as well as "state of the art" population and ecological theory.

This project will consider the conditions to which commercial organisms are exposed on a day-to-day basis (seasonal and spatial variability), as well as outputs from biogeochemical models (e.g. Artioli et al. 2014) that offer insights into anticipated future conditions. Given the growing number of "negligible" responses in laboratory studies of organisms exposed to low pH (high CO2) (see Browman 2016), this project will aim to make sense of recent meta-analyses (e.g. Kroeker et al. 2013) as well as the plethora of different "end points" that have been reported by authors. This project will consider the utility of models based on energetic theory. It will aim to provide real, quantitative data that is of use to resource managers " but also a balanced and well-reasoned evaluation of potential threats to ecosystems and industries.

Working environment and training opportunities: You will be primarily based at University of Reading, but make extended visits to the Cefas laboratories in Lowestoft and Weymouth, where modelling studies on OA, fisheries and aquaculture are already underway. Cefas is an executive agency of the UK Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). It is the primary scientific advisor to government on marine issues, including commercial fisheries, climate change, shellfish hygiene and marine pollution. Cefas is the "industrial partner" for this studentship. The PhD will be cosupervised by John Pinnegar and Silvana Birchenough of Cefas

At Reading you will work in a group of modellers building and evaluating ecological models of species from earthworms to elephants, see https://ibmreading.wordpress.com/. One of the models is of mackerel, and this is also with Cefas.

Student profile: We encourage applications from all relevant disciplines. We will provide training in ecology and computer programming as needed.

To apply, please refer to the QMEE website at http://www.imperial.ac.uk/qmee-cdt/how-to-apply/