The Effect of Rising pH Levels on Marine Organisms in Tide Pools (It’s better to
make it more clear that you are trying to show the verities of organisms)
Jessica Garcia and Jackie Olvera
Department of Biological Science
Saddleback College
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
Abstract
Marine organisms are being affected by the acidity of the ocean. The
hypothesis tested was that there would be a less abundance of animals ( what kind of
animal do you mean?) in an environment with a higher acidity. Two locations in
Southern California were observed: Doheny State Beach in Dana Point and Treasure
Island in Laguna Beach. The average pH at Doheny was 8.2 and the average pH at
Treasure Island was 8.8. The variation in pH was too slight to see a difference in
abundance of organisms. The area of the tide pools however did have an affect of
abundance of marine organisms. At Treasure Island the tide pools were much deeper
therefore they had significantly more organisms than that at Doheny. We concluded that
to see if the acidity of the ocean does in fact have an effect on the abundance of
organisms then a wider range of locations would be needed to be observed. More
organisms were found in the larger tide pools which was expected so in order to have
more accurate results we would need to visit tide pools that were much closer in size at
all locations.
Introduction
Recent studies have shown that the rise in carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s
atmosphere has had an effect on Ocean acidity. When carbon dioxide in the air hits the
ocean water a chemical reaction occurs and turns that carbon dioxide into carbonic acid.
An abundance of Carbon Dioxide changes the chemistry of the sea causing the life for
most marine organisms to be in danger (Caldeira 2003).
The distribution of animals is correlated with the environmental factors such
as dissolved oxygen (Jayalakshmy 2008), water temperature, depth, tidal amplitude, and
turbidity (Cha 2004). Water temperature and acidity are directly related. As the water
temperature increases the pH of the water becomes more acidic. The carbonic acid
present in intertidal environments has a negative effect on its inhabitants. Most marine
organism shells and skeletons are composed of the mineral calcium carbonate which is
slowly dissolved by the carbonic acid (Caldeira 2003). Therefore the higher the water
temperature and the more carbon dioxide polluted into the air leads to a more acidic
ocean that can dissolve the shells and skeletons of marine organisms that play an
important role in the food chain. For example smaller shelled organisms called pteropods
are becoming rarer which can disrupt the food chain. Pteropods are a major food source
for larger organisms such as fish and lobsters which are a major food source for humans
(Caldeira 2003). Temperature cannot be controlled as easily as carbon dioxide
abundance. The solution to this problem is to simply lower carbon dioxide emissions. If
we continue to emit carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, then the continuation of
dissolving shells and skeletons of marine organisms that are vital to the food chain will
quickly be eliminated.
Marine organisms already have other dangers to worry about such as
predators. For example in areas where starfish are more abundant sea urchins tend to
emigrate from that environment (Schroeter 1983). Most marine organisms are capable of
adapting to other environmental changes such as turbidity. Not only do shelled organisms
suffer from the rise in pH of the ocean but coral reefs are also struggling to survive
(Smith 1992). Scientists are considering ocean acidification as the other carbon problem
with the first carbon problem being global warming. The first step to solving this
problem is lowering the carbon dioxide emissions given off from automobiles. Doing
this can also help the ozone layer and ultimately halt the ocean acidity problem.
Methods & Materials
Observations were determined during low tide in November of 2009 for the
following two locations: Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California and Treasure
Island Beach in Laguna Beach, California. The locations were selected by their
variations in pH levels ( How did you know about the pH of these locations) At each
location three tide pools of various sizes (small, medium, and large) was
observed calculating the area for each using a tape measure( What do you
mean?). Having once determined the area calculations of the tide pools, all organisms
visible were counted within each pool.
Determining the quantity of each organism found in the tide pools, allowed us
to foresee any possible differences that could potentially be affected due to its levels of
pH(Did you count all the organisms in tide pools) (Which part of tidepool did you choose
for your experiment; nect to the ocean or far from ocean??). Among the
organisms discovered were the Amthopleura xanthogrammica (sea anemone), Pisaster
ochraceus (sea star), Mytilus californianus (California mussel), Pagurus samuelis (hermit
crab), Tegula funebralis (snail), Octopus vulgaris (common octopus), and Aplysia
californica (sea hare)( for what location are you talking about). The pH at both locations
was determined by using a pH probe provided by Professor Steve Teh, Professor of
Biological sciences at Saddleback College.
Results
In Table 1 (Figure 1), the frequency of organisms was graphed according to
their location and size of tide pool they were located in. This indicates that organisms
were more abundant at the tide pools located at Treasure Island, specifically in the large
tide pool. (Data are not available)
In Table 2, the amount of each individual species observed was graphed along
with the pH of the tide pool it was located in. The results indicated that there was a
difference in the abundance of organisms located in tide pools with different acidity
levels. The average pH of the tide pools located at Doheny State Beach was 8.2 and the
average pH of the tide pools located at Treasure Island was 8.9. There was a difference
in the abundance of organisms at both locations due to there varying pH levels. More
organisms were found in the tide pools at Treasure Island than at Doheny State Beach
(Results should be more scientific)( Did the data support your hypothesis).
Table 1
60
Mean Frequency
50
40
Doho
30
T.Isle
20
10
0
Small
Medium
Large
Table 1 caption: Bar graph displaying the mean frequency of marine organisms in tide
pools at the locations of Doheny State Beach (Doho) and Treasure Island (T. Isle)( Data
are not present).( What kind of test? Anova or t-test???
Table 2
250
Sea Anemone
200
Frequency
Mussels
Snails
150
Hermit Crabs
100
Starfish
Sea Slug
50
Octopus
0
8.2
8.9
pH
Table 2 caption: Bar graph displaying the amount of total organisms of a specific species
found in different levels of pH (Need more information on figure caption)(Data are not
present).
Discussion
The acidity level in intertidal environments has been shown to have a negative
effect on shelled organisms. Shells are beginning to slowly dissolve due to the acidity of
the ocean which is created by the carbon dioxide emissions given off by various creations
made by the Industrial Revolution. We tested this by measuring the pH of marine
environments at two different locations in Southern California. Along with the pH
readings we counted the amount of organisms present of different species. The species
included were sea anemones, mussels, snails, hermit crabs, sea stars, sea hares, and
octopus. The area of each tide pool was also conducted by measuring length, width, and
depth.
Our results indicate that our hypothesis (what was your hypothesis?) was
supported however the difference in the abundance of organisms found in the different
pH environments was too slight to make an assertive decision with confidence. The area
of each tide pool indicated that there was a more abundance of marine organisms living
in larger environments. Further investigation is required in order to justify these results
with confidence.
Literature Cited
Cha HR, Buddemeier RW, Fautin DG, Sandhei P. 15 November 2004. Distribution of sea
anemones (Cnidaria, Actiniaria) in Korea analyzed by environmental
clustering. Hydrobiologia. 430(Sp. Issue):497-502
Jayalakshmy KV, Saraswathy M, Nair M. 20 August 2008. Effect of water quality
parameters on the distribution of Pleuromamma (Copepoda-Calanoida)
species in the Indian Ocean: a statistical approach. Environmental Monitoring
and Assessment. 155(1-4): 373-392
Schroeter SC, Dixon J, Kastendiek J. 1983. Effects of the starfish Patiria miniata
on the distribution of the sea-urchin Lytechinus anamesus in a southern
Californian kelp forest. Oecologia. 56(2-3):141-147
Smith, S. V. and R. W. Buddemeier. 1992. Global change and coral-reef ecosystems.
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 23:89-118
Caldeira K, Wickett ME. 2003. Anthropogenic carbon and ocean pH. Nature
425:365-365
Review Form
Department of Biological Sciences
Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692
Author (s): Jessica Garcia and Jackie Olvera
Title: The Effect of Rising pH Levels on Marine Organisms in Tide Pools.
Summary
Summarize the paper succinctly and dispassionately. Do not criticize here, just show that you understood the paper.
Investigators are trying to count present organisms in different tide pool with different
pH. The aim of this study is to show the variety of organisms in different location with
different pH. Two location were chosen for this experiment; Doheny State Beach (Doho)
and Treasure Island. After getting pH of tide pools, investigators count the available
organisms in these areas. Organisms presents were the Amthopleura xanthogrammica
(sea anemone), Pisaster ochraceus (sea star), Mytilus californianus (California mussel),
Pagurus samuelis (hermit crab), Tegula funebralis (snail), Octopus vulgaris (common
octopus), and Aplysia californica (sea hare). Result shown that the acidity level in
intertidal environments have a negative effect on shelled organisms and that’s because of
the shells are beginning to slowly dissolve due to the acidity of the ocean which is created
by the carbon dioxide emissions given off by various creations made by the Industrial
Revolution.
General Comments
Generally explain the paper’s strengths and weaknesses and whether they are serious, or important to our
current state of knowledge.
The first question that came on my mind was that what your hypothesis is. Are you trying
to compare these two locations together? Or you are trying to show the variety of
organisms? Introduction gave enough information but methods are not completed and
good enough. First of all you need to indicate how did you count the organisms and were
they in the specific range? Did you measure pH of water? Is there any different in pH of
ocean’s water and substrates on the location where you count the organisms? Result
section needs data and needs to show that either your hypothesis was right or no? Graphs
doesn’t have error bar and one does not have horizontal axis. I recommend working on
your results and discussion. Discussion does not have any citations and needs to give
more information about your results. Literature cited should be in alphabetic order.
Technical Criticism
Review technical issues, organization and clarity. Provide a table of typographical errors, grammatical
errors, and minor textual problems. It's not the reviewer's job to copy Edit the paper, mark the
manuscript.
This paper was a final version
this paper was a rough draft
-Citations are not complete. You need to fix it. If you have more than one author
you need to put “et al” on your citation.
-
In introduction section, you should indicate your hypothesis and aim of this
experiment.
Methods and results need to be written in past sentence.
Method is not clear. Which part of tide pool investigators choose for this
experiment?
It’s not clear that how they count organisms?
In the result section data are not available.
In result section, need to know that what kind of test they used.
Figure caption is not complete
There is no horizontal axis in figure 1
There is no mean bar
There is no data in figure captions.
Figure 2 captions are not completed; need more information about data and
hypothesis. What kind of tests?
Data were not discussed in discussion.
Conclusion is not clear.
There is no citation in discussion area.
In references area, references are not in alphabetic order.
Did your result match your reference’s results?
And the rest were indicated on the parenthesis.