Title: Accounting for life-history strategies during ocean acidification research: are brooding species 'winners'?

Speaker: Dr. Matthew Gray, Horn Point Laboratory, UMCES

Abstract: As oceans and many estuaries become more acidic, identifying adaptable or non-adaptable (‘winners’ or ‘losers’) will enable better predictions of communities and ecosystem function alterations due to climate change. Marine bivalves are frequently subjects of ocean acidification (OA) research due to their perceived vulnerability that threatens their survival and loss of their valuable ecosystem services. Studies indicate that larvae of many broadcast spawning oyster and mussel species are physiologically sensitive to alterations in carbonate chemistry; however, recent investigations of brooding oyster species (genus Ostrea) suggest they may be OA stress resistant. The precise mechanism conferring this apparent resistance to OA is currently unknown but may be linked to the typical conditions larvae encounter in the brood chamber during development. This seminary will highlight the current understanding of brooding behavior and brood chamber conditions among Ostrea spp. and proposes how the brooding life-history trait may or may not prepare young to be well adapted for the increasingly acidic ocean and estuarine conditions predicted for the future.