In addition to existing ocean acidification facilities constructed by the BOAR group, BML was successful in obtaining NSF FSML support to establish a climate change facility that will allow researchers and students to simultaneously control multiple environmental variables (including CO2) with precision at levels typical of real-world climate change scenarios.
Changing climates inevitably raise the pervasive ecological and evolutionary question of whether populations are capable of persisting, either through dispersal, plasticity, or shifts in the genetic composition of populations. Bodega Marine Laboratory’s strategic location at the center of many ranges of intertidal invertebrates, along with its superb culturing facilities and access to rocky shores, makes it an ideal place to test hypotheses about the responses of marine organisms to changing climates.
Human activities are altering the chemistry, temperature, and sea level of the world’s oceans and research at Bodega Marine Laboratory seeks to understand how these global environmental changes influence coastal marine ecosystems. Rising CO2 also affects the temperature and chemistry of the ocean, which can have negative impacts on many kinds of marine life. As the ocean absorbs CO2 emissions, the pH of seawater decreases and it becomes more acidic.
