1) Quantify the temporal and spatial (vertical and horizontal) extent of ocean acidification, hypoxia, and nutrients, phytoplankton abundance, and phytoplankton diversity, 2) Construct monthly two- and three-dimensional maps of acidification, hypoxia, nutrients, and algal biomass and diversity for the NY Bight, 3) Quantify rates of ecosystem metabolism potentially influencing the extent of acidification and hypoxia in the NY Bight, 4) Quantify and model the survivorship of bivalve larvae and later stage bivalves under current and future acidification conditions within the NY Bight.

1. Perform horizontal mapping of pH, pCO2, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, temperature, and salinity. 2. Perform vertical profiling of pH, pCO2, DIC, carbonate chemistry, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, phytoplankton, temperature, and salinity. 3. Quantify rates of respiration and net ecosystem metabolism contributing to acidification and hypoxia. 4. Construct two- and three-dimensional maps of acidification, hypoxia, nutrients, and algal biomass and diversity monthly for the NY Bight, 5. Perform experiments with larval sea scallops exploring the effects of acidification and low oxygen on their growth and survival 6. Use modeled relationships between the growth and survival of multiple life history stages of sea scallops and calcium carbonate saturation states to assess the effects of current and future acidification on sea scallop populations in the NY Bight

Ocean acidification resulting from increased anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions over the last several decades is expected to have profound adverse effects on marine organisms and disrupt ocean ecosystems. Beyond acidification driven by atmospheric CO2, eutrophication-accelerated microbial respiration is a strong sources of CO2 within coastal zones that can lead to hypoxia and the accumulation of CO2 that can exceed concentrations projected for the end of the century (>2,000 µatm). The NY Bight represents an economically important ecosystem with a long history of eutrophication. In the late 1970s, hypoxic events associated with ocean dumping in the NY Bight covered up to 1,000 km2 of bottom waters and caused mass mortality of marine life. In the last decade, satellite imagery has revealed the recurrent nature of extensive, summer algal blooms that have spread across the entire Bight, likely promoting acidification and hypoxia in deeper waters. Calcifying bivalves are NY’s most valuable fisheries, a status threatened by acidification and hypoxia. This project will partner with cruises being performed by Drs. Thorne and Frisk from Stony Brook University for NYSDEC, providing data that will refine the measurements of carbonate chemistry, broaden the understanding of processes controlling acidification and hypoxia, and assess the implications these processes for shellfish. This project will generate 2-D and 3-D maps of measured constituents, providing visualization of acidification, hypoxia, algal blooms, nutrients, and processes controlling acidification. The project will also provide insight regarding how current and future acidification and hypoxia may impact one of NY’s top fisheries, sea scallops.