Modeling the impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystem productivity

The impacts of marine ocean ecosystems integrating atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and its potential oscillation effect towards acidification poses threats to marine life as it potentially endangers biological processes, weakens organisms responsible for forming structures, and destabilizes energy transfer feed chains. With earmarks on the destruction that acidification has on ecosystems and the productivity auxiliary to maritime services with emphasis on aquaculture and fisheries, this study undertakes ocean wide biogeochemical simulation and circulation modeling to understand how productivity is affected at different levels of emission scenario frameworks. Through biogeochemical and ocean circulation models, it is possible to project future emission outcomes based on primary productivity, species makeup, and CO₂ emission cutoff interactions. Model outputs anticipate phytoplankton that are calcifying to be less nutritionally dominant, replacing them with non-calcifying ones. Moreover, the efficiency with which energy is transferred across different trophic levels will diminish, culminating to a decrease in fish abundance and yield. Nonetheless, the North Atlantic and Western Pacific regions are still projected to remain relatively high on marine resources economic-value-vulnerability vectors. The study outcome depict grave decline in commercially viable species such as fish and shellfish available for consumption thereby posing a risk for the coastal population’s economic resilience and undermining national food security. The study further describes approaches for incorporating model results into maritime planning including adaptive fisheries management, aquaculture zoning, and carbon reduction policy development. By combining ecological modeling with socioeconomic aspects, this study highlights the imbalance of impacts and responses to ecosystems services in ocean acidification on ecosystem service ecosystems, which calls for integrated maritime planning actions.