Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Lessons learned from ocean acidification research

Reflection on the rapidly growing field of ocean acidification research highlights priorities for future research on the changing ocean.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The number of papers published and number of authors publishing on ocean acidification per year from 1900 to present (data from ref. 15.).
Figure 2: Present state of knowledge and knowledge needs: most information on the impacts of ocean change currently available is on acclimated single species/strains under the influence of a single driver (lower left corner).

References

  1. Rudd, M. A. Front. Mar. Sci. 1, 36 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Riebesell, U., Fabry, V. J., Hansson, L. & Gattuso, J.-P. (eds) Guide to Best Practices for Ocean Acidification Research and Data Reporting (Publications Office of the European Union, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Broadgate, W. et al. Ocean Acidification Summary for Policymakers: Third Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Gattuso, J.-P. et al. in Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability Part A (eds Field, C. B. et al.) 129–131 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Herr, D., Isensee, K., Harrould-Kolieb, E. & Turley, C. Ocean Acidification: International Policy and Governance Options (IUCN, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Pörtner, H.-O. & Farrell, A. P. Science 322, 690–692 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Taylor, J. R. et al. Biogeosciences 11, 1413–1423 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhang, Y. et al. Limnol. Oceanogr. 59, 1570–1580 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Sunday, J. M. et al. Trends Ecol. Evol. 29, 117–125 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Lohbeck, K. T., Riebesell, U. & Reusch, T. B. H. Nature Geosci. 5, 346–351 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Schaum, E., Rost, B., Millar, A. J. & Collins, S. Nature Clim. Change 3, 298–302 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kelly, M. W., Padilla-Gamiño, J. L. & Hofmann, G. E. Glob. Change Biol. 19, 2536–2546 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Boyd, P. W. Nature Clim. Change 3, 530–533 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Dupont, S. & Pörtner, H.-O. Nature 498, 429 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Gattuso, J.-P. & Hansson, L. in Ocean Acidification (eds Gattuso, J.-P. & Hansson, L.) 1–20 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

U.R. acknowledges support for his ocean acidification research by the Kiel Cluster of Excellence 'Future Ocean' and the BMBF projects 'Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification' (BIOACID, 03F0608B) and 'Surface Ocean Processes in the Anthropocene' (SOPRAN, 03F0611C). J.-P.G. acknowledges support of the BNP Paribas Foundation and the EC FP7 project 'Mediterranean Sea Acidification in a Changing Climate' (MedSeA; grant agreement 265103).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulf Riebesell.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Riebesell, U., Gattuso, JP. Lessons learned from ocean acidification research. Nature Clim Change 5, 12–14 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2456

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2456

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing