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Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Conservation Biology CB - Genetics and Evolution

Information

Project
Evolutionary responses to ocean acidification
Title
Genetics and genomics of response to ocean acidification
Description
We are applying a variety of genetic tools to assess the response of our ocean resources to ocean acidification, including gene expression techniques, identification of candidate genes, and application of genomics. The focus of this research is to determine whether or to what extent the responses of key marine organisms to ocean acidification are evolutionary or phenotypically plastic. At present, this research focuses on invertebrates such as arthropods (e.g., Dungeness crab) and molluscs (e.g., clams, oysters, mussels), but will eventually also include vertebrates (e.g., marine and anadromous fishes).

Research Themes

Recovery and rebuilding of marine and coastal species
The Pacific Northwest is home to several iconic endangered species, including Pacific salmon and killer whales, and several rockfish species. Mandates such as the Endangered Species Act, MagnusonStevens Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, grant NOAA Fisheries the authority to manage the recovery of depleted species and stocks. The NWFSC contributes to species recovery through research, monitoring and analysis, providing NOAA managers and regional stakeholders the tools and information they need to craft effective regulations and develop sustainable plans for recovery.

Research Foci

Describe the relationships between human activities and species recovery, rebuilding and sustainability
Human activities play a major role in determining the status of species and stocks. Rebuilding and recovery therefore need to address how these activities affect their status. At the NWFSC, biophysical modeling is used to link specific human activities such as land use and pollution to habitat conditions, and then to link these conditions and other activities to particular life stages. These models can be used to quantitatively assess how human activities influence species abundance, productivity, distribution and diversity. Not surprisingly, altering human activities in some way is often necessary for species or stock recovery and rebuilding. It is therefore important to understand the socio-economic effects of alternative management structures. Gathering data on their economic costs and social impacts helps identify actions that are cost-effective. These actions will need to be resilient to potential changes in climate throughout the region. Research on how humans react to management strategies helps policy makers avoid those that lead to unintended consequences that can hinder rather than help recovery.
Develop methods to use physiological, biological and behavioral information to predict population-level processes
Understanding the biological processes occurring within organisms is a powerful way of understanding how environmental changes affect those organisms. Genetics, developmental, physiological and behavioral studies all provide important information for effective species recovery and rebuilding. Integrating this information into models is vital to predict how populations will respond to natural or human perturbations, and to assess the constraints to stock rebuilding efforts. For example, data on thermal tolerance and physiological responses to temperature can be used to explore changes caused by shifts in climate on reproductive behavior and productivity, viability, movement, habitat selection, and population dynamics. Similarly, data on contaminants that impact physiological processes (immune system, growth, development, reproduction, and general health) are critical in determining how these compounds affect population dynamics. Data on biological responses of organisms to ocean acidification are useful for understanding how acidification may affect individual development and survival. The NWFSC collects such information for several species that are of concern, targets of fisheries or otherwise important for overall ecosystem function. NWFSC scientists will continue to expand current efforts and develop methods to incorporate physiological, biological and behavioral data into population models in order to predict population-level processes from these individual level data.

Keywords

genetics
use of genetic markers to determine differential reproductive success between adults with different life histories
ocean acidification
change in ocean pH

Products

None associated

Taxa

Class Actinopterygii
ray-finned fishes
Class Bivalvia
bivalves, bivalves and clams
Class Gastropoda
gastropods, snails and slugs
Phylum Arthropoda
arthropods

People

Jeff Hard
Internal Collaborator
Krista Nichols
Principal Investigator
Linda Park
Internal Point of Contact