pH and the possible buffering role of the expanding marine vegetation against ocean acidification in coastal waters of Greenland
pH and the possible buffering role of the expanding marine vegetation against ocean acidification in coastal waters of Greenland
Large areas with carbonate corrosive sea water have recently been documented in the Canadian Arctic (Yamamoto-Kawai et al. 2009). In parallel, warming of the Arctic is predicted, and observed, to lead to a poleward spread of macrophyte beds, e.g. kelp forests, and increased primary production in shallow coastal waters (Müller et al. 2009, Kortsch et al. 2012, Krause-Jensen et al. 2012).
This expansion may have a hitherto unrealized buffer effect on acidification of coastal Arctic waters since photosynthetic activity of dense macrophyte stands may raise pH by more than a unit (Middelboe and Hansen 2007). As the long Arctic summer days support photosynthesis almost diurnally, macrophyte stands potentially form oases of elevated pH throughout summer, the critical period for the growth and development of calcifiers.
Site: Kobbefjord, Nuuk, Greenland
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