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Global change stressors can modify ecological niches of species, thereby altering ecological interactions within communities and food webs. Yet, some species might take advantage of a fast-changing environment, allowing species with high niche plasticity to thrive under climate change. We used natural CO2 vents to test the effects of ocean acidification on niche modifications of a temperate rocky reef fish assemblage. We quantified three ecological niche traits (overlap, shift and breadth) across three key niche dimensions (trophic, habitat and behavioural). Only one species increased its niche width along multiple niche dimensions (trophic and behavioural), shifted its niche in the remaining (habitat) was the only species to experience a highly increased density (i.e. doubling) at vents. The other three species that showed slightly increased or declining densities at vents only displayed a niche width increase in one (habitat niche) out of seven niche metrics considered. This niche modification was likely in response to habitat simplification (transition to a system dominated by turf algae) under ocean acidification. We further showed that, at the vents, the less abundant fishes had a negligible competitive impact on the most abundant and common species. This species appeared to expand its niche space, overlapping with other species, which likely led to lower abundances of the latter under elevated CO2. We conclude that niche plasticity across multiple dimensions could be a potential adaptation in fishes to benefit from a changing environment in a high-CO2 world.
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Anthropogenic noise is rising and may interfere with natural acoustic cues used by organisms to recruit. Newly developed acoustic technology provides enriched settlement cues to boost recruitment of target organisms navigating to restoration sites, but can it boost recruitment in noise-polluted sites? To address this dilemma, we coupled replicated aquarium experiments with field experiments. Under controlled and replicated laboratory conditions, acoustic enrichment boosted recruitment by 2.57 times in the absence of anthropogenic noise, but yielded comparable recruitment in its presence (i.e. no boosting effect). Using the same technique, we then tested the replicability of these responses in real-world settings where independently replicated 'sites' are unfeasible owing to the inherent differences in soundscapes. Again, acoustic enrichment increased recruitment where anthropogenic noise was low (by 3.33 times), but had no effect at a site of noise pollution. Together, these coupled laboratory-to-field outcomes indicate that anthropogenic noise can mask the signal of acoustic enrichment. While noise pollution may reduce the effectiveness of acoustic enrichment, some of our reported observations suggest that anthropogenic noise per se might also provide an attractive cue for oyster larvae to recruit. These findings underscore the complexity of larval behavioural responses to acoustic stimuli during recruitment processes.
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Señales (Psicología) , Ruido , Animales , Larva/fisiología , Larva/crecimiento & desarrollo , Acústica , Crassostrea/fisiología , Conducta AnimalRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: For diving, marine predators, accelerometer and magnetometer data provides critical information on sub-surface foraging behaviours that cannot be identified from location or time-depth data. By measuring head movement and body orientation, accelerometers and magnetometers can help identify broad shifts in foraging movements, fine-scale habitat use and energy expenditure of terrestrial and marine species. Here, we use accelerometer and magnetometer data from tagged Australian sea lions and provide a new method to identify key benthic foraging areas. As Australian sea lions are listed as endangered by the IUCN and Australian legislation, identifying key areas for the species is vital to support targeted management of populations. METHODS: Firstly, tri-axial magnetometer and accelerometer data from adult female Australian sea lions is used in conjunction with GPS and dive data to dead-reckon their three-dimensional foraging paths. We then isolate all benthic phases from their foraging trips and calculate a range of dive metrics to characterise their bottom usage. Finally, k-means cluster analysis is used to identify core benthic areas utilised by sea lions. Backwards stepwise regressions are then iteratively performed to identify the most parsimonious model for describing bottom usage and its included predictor variables. RESULTS: Our results show distinct spatial partitioning in benthic habitat-use by Australian sea lions. This method has also identified individual differences in benthic habitat-use. Here, the application of high-resolution magnetometer/accelerometer data has helped reveal the tortuous foraging movements Australian sea lions use to exploit key benthic marine habitats and features. CONCLUSIONS: This study has illustrated how magnetometer and accelerometer data can provide a fine-scale description of the underwater movement of diving species, beyond GPS and depth data alone, For endangered species like Australian sea lions, management of populations must be spatially targeted. Here, this method demonstrates a fine-scale analysis of benthic habitat-use which can help identify key areas for both marine and terrestrial species. Future integration of this method with concurrent habitat and prey data would further augment its power as a tool for understanding the foraging behaviours of species.
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Long-term environmental change, sudden pulses of extreme perturbation, or a combination of both can trigger regime shifts by changing the processes and feedbacks which determine community assembly, structure, and function, altering the state of ecosystems. Our understanding of the mechanisms that stabilise against regime shifts or lock communities into altered states is limited, yet also critical to anticipating future states, preventing regime shifts, and reversing unwanted state change. Ocean acidification contributes to the restructuring and simplification of algal systems, however the mechanisms through which this occurs and whether additional drivers are involved requires further study. Using monthly surveys over three years at a shallow-water volcanic seep we examined how the composition of algal communities change seasonally and following periods of significant physical disturbance by typhoons at three levels of ocean acidification (equivalent to means of contemporary â¼350 and future â¼500 and 900 µatm pCO2). Sites exposed to acidification were increasingly monopolised by structurally simple, fast-growing turf algae, and were clearly different to structurally complex macrophyte-dominated reference sites. The distinct contemporary and acidified community states were stabilised and maintained at their respective sites by different mechanisms following seasonal typhoon disturbance. Macroalgal-dominated sites were resistant to typhoon damage. In contrast, significant losses of algal biomass represented a near total ecosystem reset by typhoons for the turf-dominated communities at the elevated pCO2 sites (i.e. negligible resistance). A combination of disturbance and subsequent turf recovery maintained the same simplified state between years (elevated CO2 levels promote turf growth following algal removal, inhibiting macroalgal recruitment). Thus, ocean acidification may promote shifts in algal systems towards degraded ecosystem states, and short-term disturbances which reset successional trajectories may 'lock-in' these alternative states of low structural and functional diversity.
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Tormentas Ciclónicas , Ecosistema , Agua de Mar/química , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Acidificación de los OcéanosRESUMEN
The paradigm that climate change will alter global marine biodiversity is one of the most widely accepted. Yet, its predictions remain difficult to test because laboratory systems are inadequate at incorporating ecological complexity, and common biodiversity metrics have varying sensitivity to detect change. Here, we test for the prevalence of global responses in biodiversity and community-level change to future climate (acidification and warming) from studies at volcanic CO2 vents across four major global coastal ecosystems and studies in laboratory mesocosms. We detected globally replicable patterns of species replacements and community reshuffling under ocean acidification in major natural ecosystems, yet species diversity and other common biodiversity metrics were often insensitive to detect such community change, even under significant habitat loss. Where there was a lack of consistent patterns of biodiversity change, these were a function of similar numbers of studies observing negative versus positive species responses to climate stress. Laboratory studies showed weaker sensitivity to detect species replacements and community reshuffling in general. We conclude that common biodiversity metrics can be insensitive in revealing the anticipated effects of climate stress on biodiversity-even under significant biogenic habitat loss-and can mask widespread reshuffling of ecological communities in a future ocean. Although the influence of ocean acidification on community restructuring can be less evident than species loss, such changes can drive the dynamics of ecosystem stability or their functional change. Importantly, species identity matters, representing a substantial influence of future oceans.
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Ecosistema , Agua de Mar , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Océanos y Mares , Cambio Climático , Biota , Arrecifes de CoralRESUMEN
Ocean acidification is considered detrimental to marine calcifiers, but mounting contradictory evidence suggests a need to revisit this concept. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to critically re-evaluate the prevailing paradigm of negative effects of ocean acidification on calcifiers. Based on 5153 observations from 985 studies, many calcifiers (e.g., echinoderms, crustaceans, and cephalopods) are found to be tolerant to near-future ocean acidification (pH ≈ 7.8 by the year 2100), but coccolithophores, calcifying algae, and corals appear to be sensitive. Calcifiers are generally more sensitive at the larval stage than adult stage. Over 70% of the observations in growth and calcification are non-negative, implying the acclimation capacity of many calcifiers to ocean acidification. This capacity can be mediated by phenotypic plasticity (e.g., physiological, mineralogical, structural, and molecular adjustments), transgenerational plasticity, increased food availability, or species interactions. The results suggest that the impacts of ocean acidification on calcifiers are less deleterious than initially thought as their adaptability has been underestimated. Therefore, in the forthcoming era of ocean acidification research, it is advocated that studying how marine organisms persist is as important as studying how they perish, and that future hypotheses and experimental designs are not constrained within the paradigm of negative effects.
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Calcificación Fisiológica , Agua de Mar , Organismos Acuáticos , Homeostasis , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Agua de Mar/químicaRESUMEN
Achieving a sustainable socioecological future now requires large-scale environmental repair across legislative borders. Yet, enabling large-scale conservation is complicated by policy-making processes that are disconnected from socioeconomic interests, multiple sources of knowledge, and differing applications of policy. We considered how a multidisciplinary approach to marine habitat restoration generated the scientific evidence base, community support, and funding needed to begin the restoration of a forgotten, functionally extinct shellfish reef ecosystem. The key actors came together as a multidisciplinary community of researchers, conservation practitioners, recreational fisher communities, and government bodies that collaborated across sectors to rediscover Australia's lost shellfish reefs and communicate the value of its restoration. Actions undertaken to build a case for large-scale marine restoration included synthesizing current knowledge on Australian shellfish reefs and their historical decline, using this history to tell a compelling story to spark public and political interest, integrating restoration into government policy, and rallying local support through community engagement. Clearly articulating the social, economic, and environmental business case for restoration led to state and national funding for reef restoration to meet diverse sustainability goals (e.g., enhanced biodiversity and fisheries productivity) and socioeconomic goals (e.g., job creation and recreational opportunities). A key lesson learned was the importance of aligning project goals with public and industry interests so that projects could address multiple political obligations. This process culminated in Australia's largest marine restoration initiative and shows that solutions for large-scale ecosystem repair can rapidly occur when socially valued science acts on political opportunities.
Transformación de un Ecosistema Arrecifal Perdido en un Programa Nacional de Restauración Resumen Actualmente se requiere una reparación ambiental a gran escala que atraviese fronteras legislativas para lograr un futuro socio-ecológico sustentable. Aun así, habilitar la conservación a gran escala es complicado debido a los procesos de elaboración de políticas que están desconectadas de los intereses socio-económicos, las múltiples fuentes de conocimiento y las diferentes aplicaciones de las políticas. Consideramos cómo una estrategia multidisciplinaria para la restauración de hábitats marinos generó una base de evidencia científica, apoyo comunitario y el financiamiento necesario para así iniciar la restauración de un ecosistema arrecifal de conchas funcionalmente extinto. Los actores clave formaron una comunidad multidisciplinaria de investigadores, practicantes de la conservación, comunidades de pescadores recreativos y órganos gubernamentales que colaboró con varios sectores para redescubrir los arrecifes perdidos de Australia y comunicó el valor de su restauración. Las acciones realizadas para armar el caso para la restauración marina a gran escala incluyeron la síntesis del conocimiento actual sobre los arrecifes de conchas en Australia y su declinación histórica, el uso de esta historia para contar una narración convincente que active el interés público y político, la integración de la restauración a la política gubernamental y la movilización del apoyo local por medio de la participación comunitaria. Claramente, la articulación del caso del negocio social, económico y ambiental para la restauración llevó al financiamiento estatal y nacional para la restauración arrecifal a cumplir diversos objetivos socio-económicos (p. ej.: creación de empleos, oportunidades recreativas) y de restauración (p. ej.: una productividad realzada de la biodiversidad y las pesquerías). Una lección clave que aprendimos fue lo importante que es alinear los objetivos del proyecto con los intereses públicos y de la industria, de tal manera que los proyectos aborden las múltiples obligaciones políticas. Este proceso culminó con la iniciativa de restauración marina más grande en Australia y demuestra que las soluciones para la reparación de los ecosistemas a gran escala pueden ocurrir rápidamente cuando la ciencia con valor social actúa sobre las oportunidades políticas.
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Conservación de los Recursos Naturales , Ecosistema , Australia , Explotaciones Pesqueras , Biodiversidad , Arrecifes de CoralRESUMEN
Everyone has an opportunity to contribute to climate solutions. To help people engage with this opportunity, it is critical to understand how climate organizations and fundraisers can best communicate with people and win their financial support. In particular, fundraisers often rely on practical skills and anecdotal beliefs at the expense of scientific knowledge. Fundraisers could be motivated to achieve a substantial boost in funding for climate solutions, if there is evidence of the financial gains that science-based fundraising makes available. In this Perspective, we provide a preliminary foray into such evidence. We bring together findings from philanthropic research and climate psychology to identify what factors can help captivate donors. Then, through an experimental study of a charitable appeal for a climate charity, we show how putting these factors into practice may contribute toward an increase in donated money. This provides optimism that evidence-based fundraising can inspire donors to contribute much-needed resources toward climate solutions.
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Ocean acidification can cause dissolution of calcium carbonate minerals in biological structures of many marine organisms, which can be exacerbated by warming. However, it is still unclear whether this also affects organisms that have body parts made of calcium phosphate minerals (e.g. shark teeth), which may also be impacted by the 'corrosive' effect of acidified seawater. Thus, we examined the effect of ocean acidification and warming on the mechanical properties of shark teeth (Port Jackson shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni), and assessed whether their mineralogical properties can be modified in response to predicted near-future seawater pH (-0.3 units) and temperature (+3°C) changes. We found that warming resulted in the production of more brittle teeth (higher elastic modulus and lower mechanical resilience) that were more vulnerable to physical damage. Yet, when combined with ocean acidification, the durability of teeth increased (i.e. less prone to physical damage due to the production of more elastic teeth) so that they did not differ from those raised under ambient conditions. The teeth were chiefly made of fluorapatite (Ca5 (PO4 )3 F), with increased fluoride content under ocean acidification that was associated with increased crystallinity. The increased precipitation of this highly insoluble mineral under ocean acidification suggests that the sharks could modulate and enhance biomineralization to produce teeth which are more resistant to corrosion. This adaptive mineralogical adjustment could allow some shark species to maintain durability and functionality of their teeth, which underpins a fundamental component of predation and sustenance of the trophic dynamics of future oceans.
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Agua de Mar , Tiburones , Animales , Cambio Climático , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Océanos y Mares , Agua de Mar/química , TemperaturaRESUMEN
Scientific publications are the building blocks of discovery and collaboration, but their impact is limited by the style in which they are traditionally written. Recently, many authors have called for a switch to an engaging, accessible writing style. Here, we experimentally test how readers respond to such a style. We hypothesized that scientific abstracts written in a more accessible style would improve readers' reported readability and confidence as well as their understanding, assessed using multiple-choice questions on the content. We created a series of scientific abstracts, corresponding to real publications on three scientific topics at four levels of difficulty-varying from the difficult, traditional style to an engaging, accessible style. We gave these abstracts to a team of readers consisting of 170 third-year undergraduate students. Then, we posed questions to measure the readers' readability, confidence, and understanding with the content. The scientific abstracts written in a more accessible style resulted in higher readability, understanding, and confidence. These findings demonstrate that rethinking the way we communicate our science may empower a more collaborative and diverse industry.
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Restoration is criticized as ineffectively small scale, a smoke screen against global-scale action. Yet, large-scale solutions arise from small-scale successes, which inject social values and optimism needed for global investment. Human values are central to achieving socio-ecological sustainability; understanding human behavior is now arguably more important than understanding the ecological processes.
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Conservación de los Recursos Naturales , Ecosistema , Humanos , Valores SocialesRESUMEN
Volcanic CO2 seeps are natural laboratories that can provide insights into the adaptation of species to ocean acidification. While many species are challenged by reduced-pH levels, some species benefit from the altered environment and thrive. Here, we explore the molecular mechanisms of adaptation to ocean acidification in a population of a temperate fish species that experiences increased population sizes under elevated CO2. Fish from CO2 seeps exhibited an overall increased gene expression in gonad tissue compared with those from ambient CO2 sites. Up-regulated genes at CO2 seeps are possible targets of adaptive selection as they can directly influence the physiological performance of fishes exposed to ocean acidification. Most of the up-regulated genes at seeps were functionally involved in the maintenance of pH homeostasis and increased metabolism, and presented a deviation from neutral evolution expectations in their patterns of DNA polymorphisms, providing evidence for adaptive selection to ocean acidification. The targets of this adaptive selection are likely regulatory sequences responsible for the increased expression of these genes, which would allow a fine-tuned physiological regulation to maintain homeostasis and thrive at CO2 seeps. Our findings reveal that standing genetic variation in DNA sequences regulating the expression of genes in response to a reduced-pH environment could provide for adaptive potential to near-future ocean acidification in fishes. Moreover, with this study we provide a forthright methodology combining transcriptomics and genomics, which can be applied to infer the adaptive potential to different environmental conditions in wild marine populations.
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Negative interactions among species are a major force shaping natural communities and are predicted to strengthen as climate change intensifies. Similarly, positive interactions are anticipated to intensify and could buffer the consequences of climate-driven disturbances. We used in situ experiments at volcanic CO2 vents within a temperate rocky reef to show that ocean acidification can drive community reorganization through indirect and direct positive pathways. A keystone species, the algal-farming damselfish Parma alboscapularis, enhanced primary productivity through its weeding of algae whose productivity was also boosted by elevated CO2. The accelerated primary productivity was associated with increased densities of primary consumers (herbivorous invertebrates), which indirectly supported increased secondary consumers densities (predatory fish) (i.e. strengthening of bottom-up fuelling). However, this keystone species also reduced predatory fish densities through behavioural interference, releasing invertebrate prey from predation pressure and enabling a further boost in prey densities (i.e. weakening of top-down control). We uncover a novel mechanism where a keystone herbivore mediates bottom-up and top-down processes simultaneously to boost populations of a coexisting herbivore, resulting in altered food web interactions and predator populations under future ocean acidification.
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Dióxido de Carbono , Agua de Mar , Animales , Dióxido de Carbono/análisis , Cadena Alimentaria , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Océanos y Mares , Conducta PredatoriaRESUMEN
Humanity's ambitions to revive ecosystems at large scales require solutions to move restoration efforts beyond the small scale. There are increasing calls for technological solutions to reduce costs and facilitate large-scale restoration through the use of emerging technologies using an adaptive process of research and development. We show how technological enrichment of marine soundscapes may provide a solution that repairs the recruitment process to accelerate the recovery of lost marine habitats. This solution would solve the problems of current practice that largely relies upon natural recruitment processes, which carries considerable risk where recruitment is variable or eroded. By combining the literature with laboratory experiments, we describe evidence for "highways of sound" that convey navigable information for dispersing life stages in search for adult habitat. We show that these navigational cues tend to be silenced as their habitat is lost, creating negative feedbacks that hinders restoration. We suggest that reprovisioning soundscapes using underwater technology offers the potential to reverse this feedback and entice target organisms to recruit in greater densities. Collective evidence indicates that the application of soundscape theory and technology may unlock the recruitment potential needed to trigger the recruitment of target organisms and the natural soundscapes they create at large scales.
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Acústica , Ecosistema , Restauración y Remediación Ambiental , Animales , Señales (Psicología) , Sonido , TecnologíaRESUMEN
Ocean warming is predicted to challenge the persistence of a variety of marine organisms, especially when combined with ocean acidification. While temperature affects virtually all physiological processes, the extent to which thermal history mediates the adaptive capacity of marine organisms to climate change has been largely overlooked. Using populations of a marine gastropod (Turbo undulatus) with different thermal histories (cool vs. warm), we compared their physiological adjustments following exposure (8-week) to ocean acidification and warming. Compared to cool-acclimated counterparts, we found that warm-acclimated individuals had a higher thermal threshold (i.e. increased CTmax by 2 °C), which was unaffected by the exposure to ocean acidification and warming. Thermal history also strongly mediated physiological effects, where warm-acclimated individuals adjusted to warming by conserving energy, suggested by lower respiration and ingestion rates, energy budget (i.e. scope for growth) and O:N ratio. After exposure to warming, warm-acclimated individuals had higher metabolic rates and greater energy budget due to boosted ingestion rates, but such compensatory feeding disappeared when combined with ocean acidification. Overall, we suggest that thermal history can be a critical mediator of physiological performance under future climatic conditions. Given the relatively gradual rate of global warming, marine organisms may be better able to adaptively adjust their physiology to future climate than what short-term experiments currently convey.
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Cambio Climático , Gastrópodos , Aclimatación , Animales , Calentamiento Global , Humanos , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Agua de Mar , TemperaturaRESUMEN
Ocean acidification affects species populations and biodiversity through direct negative effects on physiology and behaviour. The indirect effects of elevated CO2 are less well known and can sometimes be counterintuitive. Reproduction lies at the crux of species population replenishment, but we do not know how ocean acidification affects reproduction in the wild. Here, we use natural CO2 vents at a temperate rocky reef and show that even though ocean acidification acts as a direct stressor, it can indirectly increase energy budgets of fish to stimulate reproduction at no cost to physiological homeostasis. Female fish maintained energy levels by compensation: They reduced activity (foraging and aggression) to increase reproduction. In male fish, increased reproductive investment was linked to increased energy intake as mediated by intensified foraging on more abundant prey. Greater biomass of prey at the vents was linked to greater biomass of algae, as mediated by a fertilisation effect of elevated CO2 on primary production. Additionally, the abundance and aggression of paternal carers were elevated at the CO2 vents, which may further boost reproductive success. These positive indirect effects of elevated CO2 were only observed for the species of fish that was generalistic and competitively dominant, but not for 3 species of subordinate and more specialised fishes. Hence, species that capitalise on future resource enrichment can accelerate their reproduction and increase their populations, thereby altering species communities in a future ocean.
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Ácidos/farmacología , Peces/fisiología , Reproducción/efectos de los fármacos , Ácidos/metabolismo , Animales , Biodiversidad , Dióxido de Carbono/metabolismo , Dióxido de Carbono/farmacología , Cambio Climático , Ecosistema , Femenino , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Masculino , Nueva Zelanda , Océanos y Mares , Crecimiento Demográfico , Agua de Mar/química , Conducta Sexual Animal/efectos de los fármacos , Estrés Fisiológico/efectos de los fármacosRESUMEN
Ocean acidification is considered detrimental to marine calcifiers based on laboratory studies showing that increased seawater acidity weakens their ability to build calcareous shells needed for growth and protection. In the natural environment, however, the effects of ocean acidification are subject to ecological and evolutionary processes that may allow calcifiers to buffer or reverse these short-term negative effects through adaptive mechanisms. Using marine snails inhabiting a naturally CO2 -enriched environment over multiple generations, it is discovered herein that they build more durable shells (i.e., mechanically more resilient) by adjusting the building blocks of their shells (i.e., calcium carbonate crystals), such as atomic rearrangement to reduce nanotwin thickness and increased incorporation of organic matter. However, these adaptive adjustments to future levels of ocean acidification (year 2100) are eroded at extreme CO2 concentrations, leading to construction of more fragile shells. The discovery of adaptive mechanisms of shell building at the nanoscale provides a new perspective on why some calcifiers may thrive and others collapse in acidifying oceans, and highlights the inherent adaptability that some species possess in adjusting to human-caused environmental change.
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Ácidos , Agua de Mar , Dióxido de Carbono , Humanos , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Océanos y Mares , Fenómenos FísicosRESUMEN
As human activities intensify, the structures of ecosystems and their food webs often reorganize. Through the study of mesocosms harboring a diverse benthic coastal community, we reveal that food web architecture can be inflexible under ocean warming and acidification and unable to compensate for the decline or proliferation of taxa. Key stabilizing processes, including functional redundancy, trophic compensation, and species substitution, were largely absent under future climate conditions. A trophic pyramid emerged in which biomass expanded at the base and top but contracted in the center. This structure may characterize a transitionary state before collapse into shortened, bottom-heavy food webs that characterize ecosystems subject to persistent abiotic stress. We show that where food web architecture lacks adjustability, the adaptive capacity of ecosystems to global change is weak and ecosystem degradation likely.
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Cadena Alimentaria , Calentamiento Global , Ácidos/química , Animales , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Océanos y MaresRESUMEN
The ocean provides resources key to human health and well-being, including food, oxygen, livelihoods, blue spaces, and medicines. The global threat to these resources posed by accelerating ocean acidification is becoming increasingly evident as the world's oceans absorb carbon dioxide emissions. While ocean acidification was initially perceived as a threat only to the marine realm, here we argue that it is also an emerging human health issue. Specifically, we explore how ocean acidification affects the quantity and quality of resources key to human health and well-being in the context of: (1) malnutrition and poisoning, (2) respiratory issues, (3) mental health impacts, and (4) development of medical resources. We explore mitigation and adaptation management strategies that can be implemented to strengthen the capacity of acidifying oceans to continue providing human health benefits. Importantly, we emphasize that the cost of such actions will be dependent upon the socioeconomic context; specifically, costs will likely be greater for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, exacerbating the current inequitable distribution of environmental and human health challenges. Given the scale of ocean acidification impacts on human health and well-being, recognizing and researching these complexities may allow the adaptation of management such that not only are the harms to human health reduced but the benefits enhanced.