I am now finishing up my research projects in Australia, and since I have collected so much video while I’ve been working on my projects, I made a short video to explain some of what I have been doing at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
My goal is to use oysters that have grown up in areas acidified by acid sulphate soils (a natural process that occurs in some parts of Australia) to understand how ocean acidification may impact an oyster’s ability to protect itself from crabs. Ocean acidification is expected to dissolve shell material, in much the same way chalk dissolves in vinegar, or teeth dissolve in soda. However it will be a slow process of acidification, so animals such as oysters may have time to get used to the extra acid in the system. In Australia, the oysters that grow up in areas with acid sulphate soils have had generations to adapt or acclimate to changes, so this is a great place to start. Will oysters that grew up in acidic conditions be eaten faster by predatory mud crabs? Or have they figured out some way to compensate? How might oysters respond to gradual changes in acidity, as is expected to happen world wide with climate change and ocean acidification? Hopefully after I analyze all of my data, I will have some answers.