Mi lista de blogs

martes, 27 de agosto de 2013

nsf.gov - Ocean acidification: Making new discoveries through National Science Foundation research grants

 Acidifying marine ecosystems of increasing concern
Photo of anemones and symbiotic algae.
NSF awardees will study how ocean acidification affects anemones and symbiotic algae.
Credit and Larger Version
August 26, 2013
With increasing levels of carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere and moving into marine systems, the world's oceans are becoming more acidic.
The oceans may be acidifying faster today than at any time in the past 300 million years, scientists have found.
To address the concern for acidifying marine ecosystems, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded new grants totaling $12 million in its Ocean Acidification Program.
The program is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) investment.
The awards, the third round in this program, are supported by NSF's Directorates for Geosciences and Biological Sciences.
"These new awards will expand the scope of our knowledge about the types of marine organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems that may be affected in unique ways by a more acidic ocean," says David Conover, director of NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences.
From tropical oceans to icy seas, the projects will foster research on the nature, extent and effects of ocean acidification on marine environments and organisms in the past, present and future.
"NSF is excited to add these high-quality research projects to our growing ocean acidification award portfolio," says David Garrison, program director in NSF's Directorate for Geosciences and chair of NSF's Ocean Acidification Working Group.
Ocean acidification affects marine ecosystems, organisms' life histories, ocean food webs and biogeochemical cycling, scientists have discovered.
Researchers believe there is a need to understand the chemistry of ocean acidification and its interplay with marine biochemical and physiological processes, before Earth's seas become inhospitable to life as we know it.
Animal species from pteropods--delicate, butterfly-like planktonic drifters--to hard corals are affected by ocean acidification. So, too, are the unseen microbes that fuel ocean productivity and influence the chemistry of ocean waters.
As the oceans become more acidic, the balance of molecules needed for shell-bearing organisms to manufacture shells and skeletons is altered.
The physiology of many marine species, from microbes to fish, may be affected. Myriad chemical reactions and cycles are influenced by the pH, or acidity, of the oceans.
The newly funded projects include studies of whether populations of animals have the genetic capacity to adapt to ocean acidification. The findings, scientists say, will yield new insights about how a future more acidic ocean will affect marine life.
"These awards will extend our understanding of the physiological abilities of organisms to adjust to acidifying oceans in the near-term, and the evolutionary capacities of populations to adapt to predicted ocean acidification in the next century," says William Zamer, program director in NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences.
Has ocean life faced similar challenges in our planet's past?
"Earth system history informs our understanding of the effects of ocean acidification in the present and the future," says Garrison.
For a true comprehension of how acidification will change the oceans, he says, we need to integrate paleoecology with marine chemistry, physics, ecology and an understanding of the past environmental conditions on Earth.
NSF Ocean Acidification Program grantees will ask questions such as: Will regional differences in marine chemistry and physics increase acidification? Are there complex interactions, cascades and bottlenecks that will emerge as the oceans acidify, and what are their ecosystem implications? And if current trends continue, how far-reaching will the changes be?
NSF 2013 Ocean Acidification awardees, their institutions and projects are:
Additional Collaborators: Patricia Matrai and Peter Countway, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Additional Collaborators: Christof Meile, William Fitt and Yongchen Wang, University of Georgia
Additional Collaborators: Steven Dudgeon, California State University
Additional Collaborators: Ann Tarrant and Amy Maas, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Additional Collaborators: Richard Lenski, Michigan State University
Additional Collaborators: Nitin Baliga, Institute for Systems Biology
Additional Collaborators: Todd Martz, University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Additional Collaborators: Adam Marsh, University of Delaware
-NSF-
Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov
Related WebsitesNSF News: Natural Underwater Springs Show How Coral Reefs Respond to Ocean Acidification:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=128243
NSF News: World Oceans Month Brings Mixed News for Oysters:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=128228
NSF News: Ocean Acidification Linked With Larval Oyster Failure in Hatcheries:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123822
NSF Discovery: Trouble in Paradise: Ocean Acidification This Way Comes:
 http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=122642
NSF News and Audioslideshow: On 'Earth Week,' World Is No Longer Our Oyster:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116767
NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Investments: http://www.nsf.gov/sees
NSF Publication: Discoveries in Sustainability:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics:
 
David Conover
View Video
NSF Ocean Sciences Division Director David Conover answers questions about ocean acidification.
Credit and Larger Version
Oceanus research vessel
View Video
Join scientists studying ocean acidification aboard the research vessel Oceanus.
Credit and Larger Version

Photo of coral reef and fish
Decreased ocean pH will affect coral reef habitats and the organisms that call them home.
Credit and Larger Version
Encrusting red algae
Encrusting red algae are likely to be affected by ocean acidification.
Credit and Larger Version
floating marine snail
Ocean acidification harms the shells of floating marine snails called pteropods.
Credit and Larger Version
Organisms in estuaries, where rivers meet the seas, are affected by ocean acidification.
Organisms in estuaries, where rivers meet the seas, are affected by ocean acidification.
Credit and Larger Version
diatoms, marine phytoplankton
Marine phytoplankton such as diatoms may evolve in acidified conditions.
Credit and Larger Version

The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
Inscríbete en el Foro del blog y participa : A Vuelo De Un Quinde - El Foro!

No hay comentarios: