The endangered arroyo toad, which breeds at the edges of aquatic habitats, can be impacted by even small changes in flow patterns. SCCWRP and its partners have completed a study examining how changing rainfall patterns and temperatures in the Los Angeles region stemming from climate change will impact this organism and other sensitive aquatic species.
Pteropods
Pteropods, or sea snails, are among the marine calcifying organisms that can serve as sentinel indicators of the biological impacts of ocean acidification. SCCWRP has wrapped up a study examining how to assess the vulnerability of these organisms to ocean acidification in the Pacific Northwest’s Salish Sea.
EnvironmentalFlows
Treated wastewater effluent is discharged into the Los Angeles River from the nearby L.A.-Glendale Water Reclamation Plant. Water-quality managers for the effluent-dominated river have initiated a study to explore the potential ecological and recreational effects of diverting effluent and runoff from the river for water recycling purposes.
Dungeness crab crop
SCCWRP is part of a research team that will examine how ocean acidification is impacting Dungeness crab in the Pacific Northwest. This commercially important species relies on minerals in seawater to form its protective outer shell; the supply of these minerals is decreasing as a result of ocean acidification.