Lab experiments to examine multi-stressor effects of climate change on Dungeness crab

Posted April 28, 2023
Dungeness crab, one of California’s top commercial fisheries, is the focus of an upcoming SCCWRP laboratory exposure experiment examining the combined effects of low dissolved oxygen levels, ocean acidification and warming water temperatures on the health of juvenile crabs. The experiment will examine how the three different stressors combine to adversely affect the “breathability” of the ocean water for the crabs.

SCCWRP and its partners will evaluate how Dungeness crab are affected by the combined effects of low dissolved oxygen levels, ocean acidification and warming water temperatures as part of an ongoing, multi-year effort to build management tools for tracking the biological consequences of climate change on West Coast ecosystems.

The laboratory exposure experiments, which will be conducted this summer, will examine how the three different stressors combine to adversely affect the “breathability” of the ocean water for juvenile Dungeness crab. To date, researchers have quantified how the ocean’s breathability changes in response to declining oxygen levels and rising water temperatures – but not how declining pH may further alter breathability.

Dungeness crab are one of California’s top commercial fisheries, valued at about $50 million annually.

Researchers are using the laboratory exposure experiments to develop a suite of species-specific metabolic index tools that can help managers track the intensity and pace with which climate change is unfolding along the West Coast.


More news related to: Climate Change, Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia