Co-Locating Sensors and BiologyOne of our key research strategies is to co-locate sensors with biology. Using pH sensors across biogeographic ranges, we are able to capture the pH exposure of local populations and study differences in pH tolerance and adaptation. Understanding pH exposure in the field allows us to generate ecologically relevant future ocean acidification scenarios for laboratory experiments. We select our research sites based on oceanographic features and the spatial mosaic of natural pH variability ranging from near-shore Antarctic waters to tropical coral reefs and temperate kelp forests. Currently, all physiology research in the lab is nested within one of these sensor networks.
Most recently, we are attempting to look at natural pH variability as a driver of community calcification in the Santa Barbara Channel. Lead by undergraduate researcher Mark Bitter we have deployed paired pH sensors and invertebrate recruitment tiles throughout the Channel to quantify site-specific pH exposure and local calcification rates of recruitment communities. |
Photo credit: David Kushner, Channel Islands National Park
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Relevant Publications
- Kapsenberg, L. and G.E. Hofmann (2014) Signals of resilience to ocean change: High thermal tolerance of early stage Antarctic sea urchins (Sterechinus neumayeri) reared under present day and future pCO2 and temperature. Polar Biology 37: 967-980.
- Hofmann, G.E., Evans, T. G., Padilla-Gamiño, J. L., Blanchette, C. A., Washburn, L., Chan, F., McManus, M. A., Menge, B. A., Gaylord, B., Hill, T. M., Sanford E., LaVigne, M., Rose, J. M., Kapsenberg, L., Dutton, J. M. (2013) Exploring local adaptation and the ocean acidification seascape - studies in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. Biogeosciences Discussion 10: 11825-11856. http://doi:10.5194/bgd-10-11825-2013.
- Hofmann, G. E., Smith, J. E., Johnson, K. S., Send, U., Levin, L. A., Micheli, F., Paytan, A., Price, N. N., Peterson, B., Takeshita, Y., Matson, P. G., Crook, E. D., Kroeker, K. J., Martz, T. R. (2011) High-frequency dynamics of ocean pH: a multi-ecosystem comparison. PloS one. 6:e28983. http://doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028983
- Matson, P. G., Martz, T. R., Hofmann, G. E. (2011) High-frequency observations of pH under Antarctic sea ice in the southern Ross Sea. Antarctic Science-Institutional Subscription. 23:607. http://doi:10.1017/S0954102011000551.
- Yu, P. C., Matson, P. G., Martz, T. R., Hofmann, G. E. (2011) The ocean acidification seascape and its relationship to the performance of calcifying marine invertebrates: Laboratory experiments on the development of urchin larvae framed by environmentally-relevant pCO2/pH. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 400 (1-2): 288-298.