Smith Lab Collects Data From Year Long Ocean Acidification Experiment

The multipurpose sombrero - it shades-out unwanted glare and makes taking photos of tiles way more fun

The multipurpose sombrero – it shades-out unwanted glare and makes taking photos of tiles way more fun

A crew of lab members worked together this week to collect data for Emily Donham’s ocean acidification experiment examining the effects of declining pH and grazing on local communities of benthic organisms.  This project is a part of the California Sea Grant project run through the Smith Lab and Scott Hamilton’s lab at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories to examine the effects of ocean acidification on local seaweeds and invertebrates in California.
Blank tiles are definitely busy with life after 12 months by the kelp forests

Blank tiles are definitely busy with marine  life after 12 months underwater by the kelp forests

The work in the lab over the last couple of days consisted of weighing the tiles to determine growth changes over the last month in the different pH and grazing treatments, removing baby kelps and other algae from the tiles, and preparing for future examinations of the diversity of the cool seaweeds and invertebrates that have been living on the tiles.  The team in the lab put in a lot of hours but had a great time seeing the end result of over a year of work!
Written by: Emily Kelly
Photos Credit: Emily Kelly