Implications of Multiple Stressors on Abalone Population Dynamics within the California Current

Acidification, hypoxia, and ocean warming are escalating threats in the world’s coastal waters, with potentially severe consequences for marine life and ocean economies. In particular, eastern boundary current ecosystems, including the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), are experiencing large-scale declines in pH and dissolved oxygen and shoaling of the oxygen minimum zone. To examine the consequences of ocean acidification and other climate-related changes in oceanographic conditions on nearshore marine communities within the CCLME, we are exploring the potential effects of current and future upwelling-type conditions on the population dynamics of abalone populations, with a focus on sensitive early life history phases (fertilization, larval development, and juvenile growth and survival) expected to be important determinants of abalone population dynamics. Our approach focuses on three objectives, including: 1) measure and characterize the temporal variability of pH, DO and temperature in nearshore abalone habitat, 2) measure the effects of low pH, low DO conditions on the reproductive success, growth, calcification, and survival of juvenile abalone, and 3) estimate the impacts of environmental and local anthropogenic stressors on the resilience of abalone populations using demographic and bio-economic modeling. Here we present our framework and initial experimental results.