![]() An under sampling of the coastal ocean in both time and space in assessment of coastal water chemistry may result in these bivalve-poor water conditions to be overlooked entirely. Crassostrea gigas, for example, shows enhanced sensitivity to water conditions during the first 48 h of calcification ( Barton et al., 2012). Ocean acidification-related symptoms include, but are not limited to, compromised shell integrity, increased mortality, and reduced recruitment success. Biophysical processes within shallow coastal shelves and estuarine bodies occur across variable time and space scales ( Waldbusser and Salisbury, 2014), from hours to interannual, and forecasting how these environments will respond to climate change continues to be challenging, requiring more expansive and higher resolution coastal monitoring networks.ĭespite poor data coverage, our understanding of ocean acidification’s impact on organismal life cycles, specifically for larval and juvenile bivalves, shows these organisms experiencing physiological stress across varying levels of pCO 2, pH, and/or saturation state at levels currently observed during various periods of the year ( Waldbusser et al., 2011, 2015a Barton et al., 2012 White et al., 2013). The lack of extensive spatiotemporal sampling represents a hurdle in understanding how the dynamic coastal ocean and estuarine environments are interacting with and responding to the cascading and complex problems associated with ongoing climate change. Near-shore monitoring studies of oceanic CO 2 in the Pacific Northwest have primarily been limited to shipboard measurements in tandem with buoy observations during upwelling intervals ( van Geen et al., 2000 Ianson et al., 2003 Hales et al., 2005 Feely et al., 2008 Nemcek et al., 2008 Evans et al., 2011) while more recent work in the Columbia River, Puget Sound, and Salish Sea have introduced CO 2 data at higher spatiotemporal resolution ( Evans et al., 2013, 2019 Fassbender et al., 2018). Additionally, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and loss of global marine biomass further complicate these vital ecosystems’ health and stability and the goods and services they provide ( Rabalais et al., 2009). Enhanced nutrient loading from anthropogenically modified runoff, habitat loss, introduction of invasive species, altered freshwater flow, dredging, expanding ‘dead zones’ characterized by prolonged hypoxic episodes, and trace metal contamination represent some of the many stressors facing modern estuarine systems ( Kennish, 2002 Diaz and Rosenberg, 2008). Shallow coastal ecosystems, coral reefs, and temperate estuaries are among the most vulnerable oceanographic regimes currently threatened by exposure to elevated atmospheric CO 2 and related anthropogenic forcings ( Peirson et al., 2015). ![]() These direct measurements of pCO 2 and TCO 2 have been useful to local hatchery owners who have monitored intake waters following historic seed-production failures related to high-CO 2 conditions exacerbated by ocean acidification. The importance of in-bay processes such as net community metabolism during intervals of high productivity are apparent. Further, analysis of alkalinity-salinity relationships suggests multiple water masses inhabiting the bay during 1 year: mixing of end-members associated with direct precipitation, coastal rivers, southward displacement of the Columbia River plume, California Current surface and deep upwelled waters. Wintertime downwelling is associated with bay freshening by both local and remote sources, a strong tidal signature in salinity, TCO 2, and alkalinity, with diel pCO 2 variability much less amplified when compared to summer. Summer upwelling is associated with large amplitude diel pCO 2 variability, elevated TCO 2 and alkalinity, but weak variability in salinity. Summer upwelling, wintertime downwelling, and in situ bay biogeochemistry represent significant modes of the observed variability in carbonate system dynamics. Data collected with an autonomous continuous flow-through system installed at WCSH capable of high-resolution (1 Hz) partial pressure of aqueous CO 2 (pCO 2) and hourly total dissolved inorganic carbon (TCO 2) measurements, with combined measurement uncertainties of < 2.0% and 0.5%, respectively, is analyzed over the 2014–2019 interval. Netarts Bay is a shallow, temperate, tidal lagoon located on the northern coast of Oregon and the site of the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery (WCSH). College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States.
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