The rocky shores are found in certain places of Australia where the rock pools have been made from the waves crashing in and …show more content…
As the human population increased, it also means that the deterioration of the world’s ocean systems.
Climate change is a major issue for rocky shores and the habitats and the species that live amongst it. A certain issue under climate change is ocean acidification, and this refers to a reduction in the PH levels within the ocean over an amount of time, caused mainly by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the surrounding atmosphere. For 200 years or even more the concentration of carbon dioxide has increased in bigger amounts due to the changes in the land use and the burning of the fossil fuels has had a major impact on the atmosphere. The big problem with this is the fact that 30 percent of the carbon dioxide produced is absorbed by the ocean. When the carbon dioxide is absorbed by the sea water, a chemical reaction occurs, which results in an increase of hydrogen ions. The ocean acidification impacts all species differently it can either help them or effect their living conditions. Algae and seagrasses can actually benefit from higher percentages of carbon dioxide in the ocean, as being a plant they require more CO2 just like plants that are on land. The species that have the most effect on them would definitely be calcifying species, when these are risk it impacts the food web because they are the primary animals …show more content…
As this has been happening for many years now most species have learnt to adapt to this change but if it does start to increase more some may not be able to live in those conditions anymore. The rise of this chemical reaction causes the ocean to be more acidic which is a huge issue amongst the ecosystems which lie in the oceans. The carbonate ions are a key component within the ocean, these help build structures for sea shells and coral skeletons, when the carbon dioxide increases the carbonate ions become less abundant. This means that animals are then in trouble of losing their homes or shelter from surrounding predators in the ecosystem. The structures of clams, shallow water corals, plankton, sea urchins, oysters and deep sea corals could be ruined from the increase of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Some certain species of fish may lose the ability to detect predators in the more acidic ocean, with all these changes it will affect the entire food web. Ocean acidification has a major impact on the ecosystems within the rocky shores, and the rest of the ocean but with these changes it could put a huge risk on the living species in the rocky