Heather M. Benway

Detecting the Unexpected: A Research Framework for Ocean Acidification

The threat that ocean acidification (OA) poses to marine ecosystems is now recognized and U.S. funding agencies have designated specific funding for the study of OA. We present a research framework for studying OA that describes it as a biogeochemical event that impacts individual species and ecosystems in potentially unexpected ways. We draw upon specific lessons learned about ecosystem responses from research on acid rain, carbon dioxide enrichment in terrestrial plant communities, and nitrogen deposition. We further characterize the links between carbon chemistry changes and effects on individuals and ecosystems, and enumerate key hypotheses for testing. Finally, we quantify how U.S. research funding has been distributed among these linkages, concluding that there is an urgent need for research programs designed to anticipate how the effects of OA will reverberate throughout assemblages of species.

Towards a transformative understanding of the ocean’s biological pump: Priorities for future research - Report on the NSF Biology of the Biological Pump Workshop

NSF Biology of the Biological Pump Workshop, February 19–20, 2016 (Hyatt Place New Orleans, New Orleans, LA)

Building International Research Partnerships in the North Atlantic–Arctic Region

The North Atlantic–Arctic region, which is critical to the health and socioeconomic well being of North America and Europe, is susceptible to climate-driven changes in circulation, biogeochemistry, and marine ecosystems. The need for strong investment in the study of biogeochemical and ecosystem processes and interactions with physical processes over a range of time and space scales in this region was clearly stated in the 2013 Galway Declaration, an intergovernmental statement on Atlantic Ocean cooperation (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-459_en.htm). Subsequently, a workshop was held to bring together researchers from the United States, Canada, and Europe with expertise across multiple disciplines to discuss an international research initiative focused on key features, processes, and ecosystem services (e.g., Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, spring bloom dynamics, fisheries, etc.) and associated sensitivities to climate changes.

United States contributions to the Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (US IIOE-2)

We thank the following organizations and programs for financial contributions, support and endorsement: the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the U.S. Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry program funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the NASA Physical Oceanography Program; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum.

Temporal and spatial perspectives on the fate of anthropogenic carbon : a carbon cycle slide deck for broad audiences

Bar Chart and Line Animations (Khatiwala et al., 2009, 2013) The bar chart and line animations features changes in anthropogenic carbon SOURCES (land biosphere in green, fossil fuels in black) and SINKS (atmosphere in red, ocean in blue) over the industrial era from 1765-2011 (Khatiwala et al., 2009, 2013). Ocean uptake of anthropogenic carbon is calculated using a suite of ocean tracers (chlorofluorocarbons, natural C, temperature, and salinity) from GLODAP and the World Ocean Atlas. Fossil fuel emissions (including a small contribution from cement production) are from Boden et al. (2010). Atmospheric CO2 data are the Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center (CDIAC). The land biosphere component is computed as a residual between the fossil fuel source and the ocean and atmosphere sinks. On the line plot, negative values indicate sinks and positive values indicate sources. Error envelope, indicated by the shaded area on the line plot, includes a 5% uncertainty in fossil fuel emissions. The slide deck includes two versions of the bar chart and line animations: Bar chart version 1 spans 1765-2011 (49 seconds) and version 2 spans 19052011 (22 seconds); line plot version 1 animates one reservoir at a time (17 seconds) and version 2 animates all reservoirs at the same time (10 seconds).

Introduction to the BASIN Special Issue: State of art, past present a view to the future

The starting point for EURO-BASIN were discussions at the EurOcean conference in Hamburg (Germany) in 2000 focusing on perspectives for European and North American research cooperation in the North Atlantic. This conference resulted in a memorandum of understanding signed between the USA National Science Foundation (NSF) and the European Commission (EC), agreeing to support collaborative research in the North Atlantic. However, it was not until 2005 when funds from the USA NSF and the European network of excellence EURO-OCEANS allowed for European, USA and Canadian scientists to meet in Reykjavik, Iceland (Wiebe et al., 2009), to start the process leading to the development of an International North Atlantic Basin scale Science Plan. Subsequently, support for the BASIN community to hold three meetings in 2007–2008 was obtained from the US NSF and a EU 6th Framework Specific Support Action (SSA) BASIN. These meetings, which built upon the issues identified in Reykjavik, were held in Hamburg (Germany), Chapel Hill (USA), and Amsterdam (the Netherlands). The outcome of these meetings was the International BASIN Science Plan, published as a GLOBEC report (Wiebe et al., 2009). Alas, while the science needs were collectively agreed upon, the difficulty of funding coordinating research (both in time and in concept) from both sides of the Atlantic was not easily resolved. Moving ahead, the European Commission issued a call for proposals, which targeted some of the issues outlined in the International BASIN Science Plan. Specifically, the call was focused scientifically “on the need to improve the understanding of the variability, potential impacts, and feedbacks of global change and anthropogenic forcing on the structure, function and dynamics of the ecosystems of the North Atlantic Ocean and associated shelf seas and on their capacity to provide services”. The successful project needed to provide new data, analyses and the models necessary to: (1) Understand and simulate the population structure and dynamics of broadly distributed, and biogeochemically and trophically important plankton and fish species, to resolve the impacts of climate variability on marine ecosystems and the feedbacks to the earth system. (2) Develop understanding and strategies that would contribute to improving and advancing ocean management (ecosystem approach). In response to this call, the successful EURO-BASIN consortium was formed (European Basin Scale Analysis and Synthesis), using as its starting point the BASIN International Science plan. While a similar funding mechanism was not forthcoming from the North American side, North American scientists were able to take advantage of opportunities to participate in EURO-BASIN cruise programs, meetings and to publish joint articles (e.g., this Special Issue).

Improving Intercomparability of Marine Biogeochemical Time Series

Shipboard biogeochemical time series represent one of the most valuable tools scientists have to quantify marine elemental fluxes and associated biogeochemical processes and to understand their links to changing climate. They provide the long, temporally resolved data sets needed to characterize ocean climate, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem variability and change. However, to monitor and differentiate natural cycles and human-driven changes in the global oceans, time series methodologies must be transparent and intercomparable when possible. To review current shipboard biogeochemical time series sampling and analytical methods, the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP; http://www.ioccp.org/) and the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Program (http://www.us-ocb.org/) convened an international ocean time series workshop at the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences.

A Catalyst for Ocean Acidification Research and Collaboration: Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Short Course on Ocean Acidification; Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 2–13 November 2009

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) program is a coordinating body for the U.S. research community that focuses on the oceans role in the global Earth system, bringing together research in geochemistry, ocean physics, and ecology. With support from its federal sponsors (U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)) and the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA), the OCB Project Office coordinated and hosted a hands-on ocean acidification short course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The OCB Ocean Acidification Subcommittee (http://www.us-ocb.org/about.html), chaired by Joan Kleypas (National Center for Atmospheric Research) and Richard Feely (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA), provided critical guidance on the course scope, curriculum, and instructors.

Ecosystems and Biogeochemical Cycling in a Changing Ocean: Fifth Annual Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Summer Workshop; La Jolla, California, 19–22 July 2010

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) program is a coordinating body for the U.S. research community that focuses on the oceans role as a component of the global Earth system, bringing together research in geochemistry, ocean physics, and ecology. The fifth annual Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry summer workshop, sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, convened 107 participants at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, in California.

Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecology: Fourth Annual Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Summer Workshop; Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 20–23 July 2009

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) program is a coordinating body for the U.S. research community that focuses on the oceans role as a component of the global Earth system, bringing together research in geochemistry, ocean physics, and ecology. The fourth annual Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry summer workshop convened 147 participants at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in Massachusetts. The workshop opened with a session on the next U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan (CCSP) that included presentations highlighting the priorities of the next CCSP and providing atmospheric, oceanic, terrestrial, social science, and decision support perspectives. An interdisciplinary panel of CCSP working group members then fielded audience questions and solicited feedback from the OCB community, which focused primarily on CCSP scope, ocean research and observing system priorities, and more effective integration with social science and decision support communities.