Ocean and coastal acidification (OCA) is a multi-dimensional sustainability problem for Maine’s coastal ecosystems, communities and the livelihoods of Mainers. Ocean and coastal acidification is driven by global atmospheric CO₂ emissions, climate-change associated increases in low-alkalinity discharge from rivers, and nutrient-loading-induced coastal eutrophication. Growing out of the 2015 state Ocean and Coastal Acidification Study Commission Report, multiple pathways to improve OCA mitigation, adaptation, and remediation in the state have been advanced, including seaweed aquaculture-based remediation, blue carbon initiatives, information to inform adaptive actions, nutrient reductions, state and regional carbon policy, and use of water quality management frameworks; and the communities of stakeholders involved in discussions of OCA solutions have rapidly grown. This session will explore the multiple dimensions of the ocean and coastal acidification adaptation and resilience efforts in Maine, including presentations on kelp aquaculture as a form of ocean acidification remediation, linking genetic variation with variance in calcification rates in response to climate stressors in blue mussels, updates from the Northeast Coastal Acidification Network, and discussions of the on-going development of stakeholder engagement strategies for OA-affected communities in the state.

Session Co-Chairs

The Maine Ocean and Coastal Acidification Partnership (MOCA):

• Nichole Price, Center for Venture Research (CVR) for Seafood Security, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
• Susie Arnold, Island Institute
• Esperanza Stancioff, UMaine Cooperative Extension and Maine Sea Grant
• Aaron Strong, School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine
• Michele LaVigne, Bowdoin College

Speakers:

8:30am – 8:55am
Can growing sugar kelp locally remediate ocean acidification?
Nichole Price, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science; nprice@bigelow.org

Farmed kelp might do more than generate revenue, diversify the working waterfront economy, and provide consumers with essential nutrients – they may also phytoremediate, or restore coastal water quality. Through the act of growing and photosynthesizing, these small marine forests (natural or manmade) remove carbon dioxide from seawater, creating a ‘halo’ of higher seawater pH and saturation state (Ω).  In an ocean growing more corrosive to calcification, creation of this therapeutic refuge may be critical to the longevity of the growing shellfish aquaculture industry and to the persistence of Maine’s coastal ecosystems. We have gathered laboratory and field evidence that farmed sugar kelp are effective at remediating acidification for larval shellfish. At Bigelow Laboratory, we exposed five species of macrophytes (Saccharina latissima, Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus vesiculosus, Ulva lactuca, and Zostera marina) to past, current and future pCO₂ and temperature levels. CO₂ consumption rates and ability to raise seawater pH and Ω differed across species, but increased at higher pCO₂treatments, with sugar kelp taking up the most CO₂.  In the field, instruments measuring CO₂, pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, and depth were deployed inside and outside of the Ocean Approved sugar kelp farm in Casco Bay, Maine. From the time of deployment in early January through mid-February, CO₂ was lower inside the farm, and as a result, pH was 13% higher and Ω was 23% higher. Our next steps are to determine the spatial extent of the remediated ‘halo’ and if the improved water chemistry can enhance the growth of mussels.

9:00am – 9:25am
Linking genotype to phenotype in a changing ocean: estimating standing genetic variation in a blue mussel stress response with genome wide association
Sarah E. Kingston, Pieter Martino, Marko Melendy, David B. Carlon
Department of Biology and Coastal Studies Center, Bowdoin College; dcarlon@bowdoin.edu

As physical and chemical features of the ocean change in response to the changing climate, marine calcifiers face the biochemical and physiological challenge of maintaining calcium carbonate shell structure in a more acidic environment. A key component to understanding organismal response to this multifactorial stressor is linking underlying genetic variation to phenotypic variation in stress response. We take advantage of the genomic gradient across the blue mussel hybrid zone (Mytilus edulis and Mytilus trossulus) in the Gulf of Maine to link genetic variation with variance in calcification rates in response to lower pH, higher temperatures, and reduced food availability. Intertidal blue mussels were collected from southern Maine through the Bay of Fundy (n=904) and subjected to a 14-day exposure in a laboratory common garden treatment of climate stress (20°C, pH 7.8, and low food availability). The control treatment simulated ambient Harpswell Sound, ME summer conditions (17°C, pH 8.0, and high food availability). The climate stress treatment rendered a significantly greater variation in calcification rates than the control treatment. A next generation sequencing-based genome reduction SNP assay rendered over 170,000 variable loci among a subset of mussels sampled (n=322). A genome-wide association survey linked six of these genetic locations to the phenotypic variation in calcification rate, identifying putative candidate loci for linking the mussel calcification pathway and stress response to underlying genomic architecture. Ongoing research aims to link climate-stress induced RNA expression profiles with these genetic loci.

9:30am – 9:55am
Northeast Coastal Acidification Network: communication and education efforts
Esperanza Stancioff, Associate Extension Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Maine Sea Grant; esp@maine.edu

Public awareness and concern about Ocean Acidification (OA) is growing as the science is still maturing. In addition to the trend in global OA, near-coastal areas experience Coastal Acidification (CA) that is highly dependent on factors such as freshwater and nutrient delivery which are beyond the general increase in atmospheric CO2, but may be influenced by other climate trends. The Northeast Coastal Acidification Network (NECAN) is a collaboration of scientists, agency representatives, industry and non-governmental organizations that seeks to provide relevant information about OCA to stakeholders in the Canadian Maritimes, Gulf of Maine and Long Island Sound.

NECAN’s mission is to provide rigorous and balanced scientific information to decision makers and user groups regarding the current state of knowledge of OCA and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. NECAN also serves as a conduit through which these groups can provide guidance for regional research and monitoring.

The Northeast Coastal Acidification Network (NECAN) is addressing these complex socio-ecological influences on marine species and engaging those whose livelihoods depend on a healthy ocean. NECAN’s strategy is a multi-step process including an implementation plan for the region outlining and supporting action. Over the last three years, NECAN has engaged stakeholders at the local and regional levels and its methods have been replicated nationally. This presentation will include the methods used for understanding and sharing the biophysical scientific synthesis of information, the engagement with stakeholders; as well as the successes that the Maine Ocean Acidification Partnership (MOCA) has enjoyed through outreach and education for which both groups (MOCA and NECAN) provide models for other efforts in the Northeast.

10:00am – 10:25am
Disseminating OCA Citizen Science Monitoring Guidelines and Resources
Parker Gassett (student), University of Maine, School of Marine Sciences; parker.gassett@maine.edu

As ocean and coastal acidification presents unique challenges to the human-ecological interface, it is a salient issue that resources contributed for solution strategies for ocean acidification promote feedbacks that will support educational outreach, local understanding and engagement with the issue, and that data collected from citizen science programs have consistent protocols to be best used for co-creative involvement in research, management and decision making.

Thus, there exists a tremendous opportunity in the Northeast to build upon the existing networks of ocean acidification and water quality monitoring programs to develop robust opportunities for citizen science to fill critical gaps in current coastal acidification research. In moving from regional vulnerability assessments for ocean and coastal acidification, to actionable steps towards statewide mitigation and adaptation, it will be important to delineate drivers of acidification, and foster community outreach about OCA. If local factors including, land use, nutrient loading to rivers, and storm water management are substantial components of acidification processes, well-choreographed citizen science efforts can both provide the data necessary to ground truth information on ocean acidification vulnerability and expedite community awareness of the issue in order to advance best practices and voter understanding for future legislative actions.

This work will help to cross-calibrate citizen science monitoring protocol for ocean acidification among independent organizations by developing a replicable citizen science monitoring training program for the Northeast, and by providing trainings and materials specific for volunteer and citizen science audiences through a series of regional workshops that support successful public participation in research and management.