Workshop

Modelling the response of marine ecosystems to increasing levels of CO2
February 12-14, 2007, Plymouth UK

Convener
Jerry Blackford, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK
Richard Bellerby, University of Bergen and BCCR, Norway
Jim Orr, MEL-IAEA, Monaco

Introduction
Whilst the oceanic uptake of about 48% of the anthropogenic CO2 has significantly buffered the rate of global warming, a secondary consequence, ocean acidification, has recently emerged as a serious concern. The impact of acidification on the marine ecosystem is not well known. A wide variety of ecosystem processes are thought to be vulnerable to changing pH including nutrient processes, calcification, physiology and reproduction. Within a similar time frame the marine ecosystem will be affected by global warming, including changes in temperature, currents, mixing, stratification and storminess. The net impact on ecosystems and their productivity is consequently hard to quantify, providing a stiff challenge for systems modellers.

The workshop brought together a number of researchers in the field from experimental, modelling and observational disciplines. Topics covered included recent advances in understanding acidification responses, modelling approaches and a roadmap for future research progress.