As erosion threatens treasured places around the Chesapeake Bay, communities are turning to nature-based solutions. Explore how living shorelines are helping to protect coasts and heritage on opposite shores of the Bay.
Living shoreline plants have a tough job: they must hold down the sandy shoreline with their roots and ease waves with their stems, all while surviving salty water.
Researchers are on a mission to determine which key components make a living shoreline successful at preventing erosion—but first they must gather crucial data.
Oyster biology is both an obstacle and an opportunity when it comes to living shorelines. Learn how and why oysters are sometimes included in living shoreline projects.
A living shoreline is under construction in Baltimore City—part of a sweeping project that aims to restore more than 50 acres of habitat along 11 miles of shoreline.
How Rising Carbon Dioxide Threatens
Shell-Builders
Higher CO2 reduces a key ingredient in shells.
1. CO2 absorbed by seawater (H2O).
2. CO2 reacts to form carbonic acid; makes water more acidic (more hydrogen atoms).
3. Carbonic acid breaks down into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions (H+). Bicarbonate breaks down into more H+ and carbonate, key to organisms like oysters, clams, corals, and other marine organisms that make shells and skeletons. But as acidity increases, less bicarbonate changes into carbonate.
Higher CO2 causes shells to dissolve.
Calcium carbonate is the main building block in the shells of marine animals. As seawater becomes more acidic, calcium carbonate — and the shells — can dissolve.
Acidification & Oyster Shells in the Chesapeake Bay
In an estuary like the Chesapeake Bay, sources other than the atmosphere — like runoff of excess nutrients — may add additional CO2 to the water, contributing to acidification. Evidence suggests that higher acidity in the Bay could slow the rate of growth in the shells of young oysters, making them thinner and more vulnerable to predators.
The Geological record of ocean acidification. Bärbel Hönisch et al. Science Magazine. March 2, 2012. [website]
Shellfish face uncertain future in high CO2 world: influence of acidification on oyster larvae calcification and growth in estuaries. A.W. Miller, A.C. Reynolds, C. Sobrino, and G.F. Riedel. PLoS ONE 4(5):e5661, 2009.
Biocalcification in the Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in relation to long-term trends in Chesapeake Bay pH. George G. Waldbusser, Erin P. Voigt, Heather Bergschneider, Mark A. Green, and Roger I. E. Newell. Estuaries and Coasts 34:221-231, 2011.
Marine calcifiers exhibit mixed responses to CO2-induced ocean acidification. Justin B. Ries, Anne L. Cohen, and Daniel C. McCorkle. Geology 37(12): 1131-1134, December 2009.
Anticipating ocean acidification's economic consequences for commercial fisheries. Sarah R. Cooley and Scott C. Doney. Environmental Research Letters 4:024007, 2009. 8 pp.
Special Issue on the Future of Ocean Biogeochemistry in a High-CO2 World. Oceanography 22(4), December 2009. [website]
As erosion threatens treasured places around the Chesapeake Bay, communities are turning to nature-based solutions. Explore how living shorelines are helping to protect coasts and heritage on opposite shores of the Bay.
Living shoreline plants have a tough job: they must hold down the sandy shoreline with their roots and ease waves with their stems, all while surviving salty water.
Researchers are on a mission to determine which key components make a living shoreline successful at preventing erosion—but first they must gather crucial data.
Oyster biology is both an obstacle and an opportunity when it comes to living shorelines. Learn how and why oysters are sometimes included in living shoreline projects.
A living shoreline is under construction in Baltimore City—part of a sweeping project that aims to restore more than 50 acres of habitat along 11 miles of shoreline.
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