Grant C. Pitcher

Ocean urea fertilization for carbon credits poses high ecological risks

The proposed plan for enrichment of the Sulu Sea, Philippines, a region of rich marine biodiversity, with thousands of tonnes of urea in order to stimulate algal blooms and sequester carbon is flawed for multiple reasons. Urea is preferentially used as a nitrogen source by some cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates, many of which are neutrally or positively buoyant. Biological pumps to the deep sea are classically leaky, and the inefficient burial of new biomass makes the estimation of a net loss of carbon from the atmosphere questionable at best. The potential for growth of toxic dinoflagellates is also high, as many grow well on urea and some even increase their toxicity when grown on urea. Many toxic dinoflagellates form cysts which can settle to the sediment and germinate in subsequent years, forming new blooms even without further fertilization. If large-scale blooms do occur, it is likely that they will contribute to hypoxia in the bottom waters upon decomposition. Lastly, urea production requires fossil fuel usage, further limiting the potential for net carbon sequestration. The environmental and economic impacts are potentially great and need to be rigorously assessed.

Declining oxygen in the global ocean and coastal waters

Beneath the waves, oxygen disappears As plastic waste pollutes the oceans and fish stocks decline, unseen below the surface another problem grows: deoxygenation. Breitburg et al. review the evidence for the downward trajectory of oxygen levels in increasing areas of the open ocean and coastal waters. Rising nutrient loads coupled with climate change—each resulting from human activities—are changing ocean biogeochemistry and increasing oxygen consumption. This results in destabilization of sediments and fundamental shifts in the availability of key nutrients. In the short term, some compensatory effects may result in improvements in local fisheries, such as in cases where stocks are squeezed between the surface and elevated oxygen minimum zones. In the longer term, these conditions are unsustainable and may result in ecosystem collapses, which ultimately will cause societal and economic harm. Science, this issue p. eaam7240 BACKGROUND Oxygen concentrations in both the open ocean and coastal waters have been declining since at least the middle of the 20th century. This oxygen loss, or deoxygenation, is one of the most important changes occurring in an ocean increasingly modified by human activities that have raised temperatures, CO2 levels, and nutrient inputs and have altered the abundances and distributions of marine species. Oxygen is fundamental to biological and biogeochemical processes in the ocean. Its decline can cause major changes in ocean productivity, biodiversity, and biogeochemical cycles. Analyses of direct measurements at sites around the world indicate that oxygen-minimum zones in the open ocean have expanded by several million square kilometers and that hundreds of coastal sites now have oxygen concentrations low enough to limit the distribution and abundance of animal populations and alter the cycling of important nutrients. ADVANCES In the open ocean, global warming, which is primarily caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions, is considered the primary cause of ongoing deoxygenation. Numerical models project further oxygen declines during the 21st century, even with ambitious emission reductions. Rising global temperatures decrease oxygen solubility in water, increase the rate of oxygen consumption via respiration, and are predicted to reduce the introduction of oxygen from the atmosphere and surface waters into the ocean interior by increasing stratification and weakening ocean overturning circulation. In estuaries and other coastal systems strongly influenced by their watershed, oxygen declines have been caused by increased loadings of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and organic matter, primarily from agriculture; sewage; and the combustion of fossil fuels. In many regions, further increases in nitrogen discharges to coastal waters are projected as human populations and agricultural production rise. Climate change exacerbates oxygen decline in coastal systems through similar mechanisms as those in the open ocean, as well as by increasing nutrient delivery from watersheds that will experience increased precipitation. Expansion of low-oxygen zones can increase production of N2O, a potent greenhouse gas; reduce eukaryote biodiversity; alter the structure of food webs; and negatively affect food security and livelihoods. Both acidification and increasing temperature are mechanistically linked with the process of deoxygenation and combine with low-oxygen conditions to affect biogeochemical, physiological, and ecological processes. However, an important paradox to consider in predicting large-scale effects of future deoxygenation is that high levels of productivity in nutrient-enriched coastal systems and upwelling areas associated with oxygen-minimum zones also support some of the world’s most prolific fisheries. OUTLOOK Major advances have been made toward understanding patterns, drivers, and consequences of ocean deoxygenation, but there is a need to improve predictions at large spatial and temporal scales important to ecosystem services provided by the ocean. Improved numerical models of oceanographic processes that control oxygen depletion and the large-scale influence of altered biogeochemical cycles are needed to better predict the magnitude and spatial patterns of deoxygenation in the open ocean, as well as feedbacks to climate. Developing and verifying the next generation of these models will require increased in situ observations and improved mechanistic understanding on a variety of scales. Models useful for managing nutrient loads can simulate oxygen loss in coastal waters with some skill, but their ability to project future oxygen loss is often hampered by insufficient data and climate model projections on drivers at appropriate temporal and spatial scales. Predicting deoxygenation-induced changes in ecosystem services and human welfare requires scaling effects that are measured on individual organisms to populations, food webs, and fisheries stocks; considering combined effects of deoxygenation and other ocean stressors; and placing an increased research emphasis on developing nations. Reducing the impacts of other stressors may provide some protection to species negatively affected by low-oxygen conditions. Ultimately, though, limiting deoxygenation and its negative effects will necessitate a substantial global decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as reductions in nutrient discharges to coastal waters. Low and declining oxygen levels in the open ocean and coastal waters affect processes ranging from biogeochemistry to food security. The global map indicates coastal sites where anthropogenic nutrients have exacerbated or caused O2 declines to <2 mg liter−1 (<63 μmol liter−1) (red dots), as well as ocean oxygen-minimum zones at 300 m of depth (blue shaded regions). [Map created from data provided by R. Diaz, updated by members of the GO2NE network, and downloaded from the World Ocean Atlas 2009]. Oxygen is fundamental to life. Not only is it essential for the survival of individual animals, but it regulates global cycles of major nutrients and carbon. The oxygen content of the open ocean and coastal waters has been declining for at least the past half-century, largely because of human activities that have increased global temperatures and nutrients discharged to coastal waters. These changes have accelerated consumption of oxygen by microbial respiration, reduced solubility of oxygen in water, and reduced the rate of oxygen resupply from the atmosphere to the ocean interior, with a wide range of biological and ecological consequences. Further research is needed to understand and predict long-term, global- and regional-scale oxygen changes and their effects on marine and estuarine fisheries and ecosystems.

Brown tides and mariculture in Saldanha Bay, South Africa.

In 1997, the brown tide organism, Aureococcus anophageffens, was detected for the first time in Saldanha Bay, South Africa. Its presence was limited to an isolated, tidal dam that was similarly impacted during the late summer of the following two years but not in 2000. Bloom concentrations are typically of the order of 10(-9) cells l-1. This is one of the few reported occurrences of these nuisance blooms outside the north-eastern United States. A small oyster grow-out facility based in the dam has been severely affected by the reduced growth of oysters during these blooms. Reduced flushing of this culture site is a possible explanation for bloom initiation and persistence. However, Aureococcus blooms can be considerably more extensive as was evident during 1998 when the whole of the bay system, including Langebaan Lagoon, was affected for 6-8 weeks during late summer.

7 The variability and potential for prediction of harmful algal blooms in the southern Benguela ecosystem

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the southern Benguela are usually attributed to dinoflagellate species, which constitute a regular component of normal phytoplankton populations. Fundamental to the success of HAB predictive systems is a sound knowledge of their variability. Although the Benguela remains poorly explored in terms of phytoplankton distribution, important biogeographic differences between the northern and southern Benguela, and the West Coast and Western Agulhas Bank have been reported and are reflected in the composition of HABs. The southern Benguela is characterized by clear seasonal trends, and high phytoplankton biomass and productivity during the latter months of the upwelling season can be attributed largely to dinoflagellate populations. Superimposed on the seasonal trend of increasing dinoflagellates and phytoplankton biomass are shorter successional patterns associated with spatial and temporal transitions in water column stratification driven by wind cycles and coastal topography. Understanding the mechanisms that control the transport, concentration and dissipation of dinoflagellate blooms is critical in predicting their coastal impact. For this purpose models of coastal wind-driven upwelling are required to reproduce both across-shelf and alongshore dynamics. Such information stands us in good stead in attempts to predict high biomass dinoflagellate blooms which impact the Benguela through low oxyten and hydrogen sulphide events. Less progress has been made on species-specific prediction fundamental to the prediction of toxin related events.

Accumulation of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning toxins in the oyster Crassostrea gigas and the mussel Choromytilus meridionalis in the southern Benguela ecosystem

Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) poses a significant threat to the safe consumption of shellfish in the southern Benguela ecosystem. The accumulation of DSP toxins was investigated in two cultivated bivalve species, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and the mussel Choromytilus meridio-nalis, suspended from a mooring located off Lamberts Bay on the west coast of South Africa. The dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuminata, a known source of polyether toxins associated with DSP, was common through most of the study period. The toxin composition of the dinoflagellate was dominated by okadaic acid (OA) (91%), with lesser quantities of the dinophysistoxin DTX-1 (6.5%) and pecteno-toxin PTX-2 (2.4%), and traces of PTX-2sa and PTX-11. The mean cell toxin quota of D. acuminata was 7.8 pg OA cell–1. The toxin profile in shellfish was characterised by a notably higher relative content of DTX-1. The study showed the average concentration of DSP toxins in the mussels to exceed that in the oysters by approximately 20-fold. The results indicate a need to establish species-specific sampling frequencies in shellfish safety monitoring programmes.

Dynamics of oxygen depletion in the nearshore of a coastal embayment of the southern Benguela upwelling system

Acquisition of high resolution time series of water column and bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations inform the dynamics of oxygen depletion in St Helena Bay in the southern Benguela upwelling system at several scales of variability. The bay is characterized by seasonally recurrent hypoxia (<1.42 ml l−1) associated with a deep pool of oxygen-depleted water and episodic anoxia (<0.02 ml l−1) driven by the nearshore (<20 m isobath) decay of red tide. Coastal wind forcing influences DO concentrations in the nearshore through its influence on bay productivity and the development of red tides; through shoreward advection of the bottom pool of oxygen-depleted water as determined by the upwelling-downwelling cycle; and through its control of water column stratification and mixing. A seasonal decline in bottom DO concentrations of ∼1.2 ml l−1 occurs with a concurrent expansion of the bottom pool of oxygen depleted water in St Helena Bay. Upwelling of this water into the nearshore causes severe drops in DO concentration (<0.2 ml l−1), particularly during end-of-season upwelling, resulting in a significant narrowing of the habitable zone. Episodic anoxia through the entire water column is caused by localized degradation of red tides within the confines of the shallow nearshore environment. Oxygenation of the nearshore is achieved by ventilation of the water column particularly with the onset of winter mixing. No notable changes are evident in comparing recent measures of bottom DO concentrations in St Helena Bay to data collected in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Lo'Ihi Seamount

Author Posting.

12 The requirements for forecasting harmful algal blooms in the Benguela

Publisher Summary The Benguela system suffers from the frequent occurrence of a variety of harmful algal blooms (HABs). These blooms can have severe negative impacts on local marine ecosystems and communities, in addition to commercial marine concerns such as rock lobster and aquaculture operations. Harmful impacts of HABs are associated with either the toxigenicity of some species, or the high biomass such blooms can achieve. Collapse of high biomass blooms through natural causes such as nutrient exhaustion can lead to low oxygen events, which in extreme cases result in hypoxia and the production of hydrogen sulphide, frequently causing dramatic mortalities of marine organisms. Effective coastal management requires the characterization of HABs as ecologically prominent phenomena, the means of monitoring critical ecosystem locations in real-time and, ultimately, the operational forecasting of both HABs and their impacts. This chapter outlines the feasibility and requirements for establishing an operational HAB monitoring and forecasting system in the southern Benguela based on the current state of understanding of the variability of HABs within the region.

Real-time monitoring of harmful algal blooms in the southern Benguela

The southern Benguela Current region off South Africa is subject to frequent harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can have serious impacts — both through the introduction of toxins into the ecosystem and the collapse of high-biomass blooms leading to anoxia. As part of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme, a bio-optical buoy has been developed for monitoring HABs in the region, providing both real-time and time-series data. Considerations in developing the buoy were that it should be small, cost effective and robust, allowing for field calibration of the sensors and servicing from a small boat. The instrument package on the buoy consists of two hyperspectral radiometers (providing remote sensing reflectance), a thermistor chain, a fluorometer and an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler. A half-hourly acquisition regime collects data from the instruments, which are transmitted in real time using cellular phone telemetry. A website is updated with these data, when available, along with satellite data and shellfish warnings, to provide near real-time information on conditions in the area. Demonstration data from the buoy, related to observed blooms of dinoflagellates and the ciliate Mesodinium rubrum, are presented.

Establishment, Goals, and Legacy of the Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (GEOHAB) Programme

The Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (GEOHAB) Programme was established in 2001 under the sponsorship of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR). GEOHAB was the first international research programme focusing exclusively on harmful marine algae. The GEOHAB mission was to foster international cooperation to advance understanding of HAB dynamics and to improve our ability to predict these events, with the final aim to inform and facilitate management and mitigation of the associated negative impacts. GEOHAB focused on the physiological, behavioural, and genetic characteristics of harmful microalgal species and the interactions between physical and other environmental conditions that promote the success of one group of species over another. A hallmark of GEOHAB was that it championed a comparative approach, across organisms, regions, and ecosystems. GEOHAB advanced our understanding of the mechanisms underlying population dynamics of HABs within an ecological and oceanographic context and also from the ecosystem perspective at the regional scale. GEOHAB encouraged combined experimental, observational, and modelling tools using existing and innovative technologies in a multidisciplinary approach. This deliberately integrative and multidisciplinary framework was consistent with the multiple scales and oceanographic complexity of marine HAB phenomena. One of the legacies of GEOHAB was that it established the basis for continued international efforts to better understand and predict the complex global phenomena of harmful algal blooms, leading in 2016 to the follow-on effort, GlobalHAB, which will continue and extend GEOHAB’s mission.