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Research Regions

Florida Keys & Caribbean

The Florida Keys & Caribbean region is home to especially sensitive coral reef ecosystems and commercially important fisheries, which are all inexorably linked to coastal communities and economies. Research aims to better understand how vulnerable and important species and ecosystems respond to ocean acidification.

Understanding the ecological effects of ocean acidification

The Florida Keys and U.S. Caribbean rely on economically important fisheries, active tourism industries and fulfill important roles for coastal protection. Numerous marine life are sensitive to acidification and this further threatens biological and economic systems that are already degraded due to warming, disease, overfishing and eutrophication. These ecosystems’ heightened sensitivity to stress and their close relationship with carbonate chemistry serve to underscore the importance of ocean acidification in the region.

This region encompasses the Florida Keys and coastal waters of south Florida, as well as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the surrounding areas between the Gulf of America and Atlantic Ocean. Processes driving acidification range from global carbon in surface waters to localized alteration of seawater chemistry by natural ecosystems and human activities. The Caribbean exhibits some of the highest carbonate mineral saturation states in the world, but also exhibits the most rapid rates of decline since pre-industrial times. Making holistic characterizations of these habitats is challenging, as fluctuations in seawater carbon dioxide are highly dynamic with variation ranging from decades to hours. Research in this area aims to address these challenges and prepare people to adapt to change.

View FULL Research Plan (PDF)

Tracking progress of ocean acidification research in the Florida Keys and Caribbean

The Florida Keys and Caribbean Region include the Florida Keys and coastal waters of south Florida, as well as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the surrounding areas between the Gulf of America and Atlantic Ocean

The research goals in the Florida Keys  andCaribbean Region are to:

  • Enhance the temporal and spatial resolution of ocean acidification (OA) monitoring to capture the ecologically-relevant variability of this dynamic region
  • Monitor responses to OA on scales ranging from individuals to ecosystems, specifically targeting those that have been previously identified as susceptible to or threatened by OA
  • Experimentally investigate the sensitivity and resilience of ecologically and economically important species, as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms that drive their differential responses to OA
  • Develop interdisciplinary tools that integrate socioeconomic data with ecological outcomes.

The following charts represent the mid-point progress in implementing research actions that focus on the Florida Keys and Caribbean Region according to the NOAA Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Acidification Research Plan.

NOAA invests in research and activities toward meeting goals that improve our ability to understand and predict environmental change, species and ecosystem to response to changing ocean chemistry, and the human impacts of these changes. The report card below summarizes progress over the past five years toward meeting these goals for the Florida Keys and Caribbean Region, measured by the number of major actions toward meeting this goal: good progress (4+ actions), some progress (1-3 actions) and no known progress.

Good overall progress

Some progress

No known progress

Environmental Change

There are 11 environmental change actions: three have good overall progress and seven have made some progress and one has no known progress.

Biological Sensisitivity

There are 10 biological sensitivity actions: four made some progress and six have no known progress.

Human Dimensions

There are four human dimension actions: three have made some progress and one has no known progress.

Featured Research Projects

Environmental Change
Sustained Monitoring of Florida Waters
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Biological Sensitivity
FRESCA - Florida Regional Ecosystem Stressors Collaborative Assessment​
View Project
Human Dimensions
Assessing OA Vulnerability and Resilience in Puerto Rico​
View Project

Partners in Understanding Ocean Acidification in the Florida Keys and Caribbean

The Caribbean Coastal Acidification Network works in partnership with the Caribbean Integrated Coastal Ocean Observing System and is a regional initiative focused on strengthening capacity for research, monitoring, and adaptive solutions related to ocean acidification in the Caribbean. 

Get Involved
Caribbean Coastal Acidification Network

OAP Funded Projects

Three bottles with labels of certified reference materials used for ocean acidification chemistry research. Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Building capacity for seawater certified reference materials
  • PI(s): Denis Pierrot, NOAA Atlantic Oceanic and Meteorological Laboratory; Katelyn Schockman, University of Miami/CIMAS
  • Fiscal Year Funded: 2024, 2025, 2026
This project will build a reference material (RM) production facility at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), with the capability to produce RMs for use by NOAA laboratories and..
Project Summary >
The colder water assemblage of foraminifera. T. quinqueloba, N. incompta and G. falconensis are common. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
Determining the Influence of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement on Foraminifera Calcification, Distribution, and Calcium carbonate Production
  • PI(s): Laura Haynes
  • Fiscal Year Funded: 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
  • Grant Award # NA23OAR0170513
This project examines the effects of different materials used in ocean alkalinity enhancement on foraminifera...
Project Summary >
Air-Sea Interaction Spar buoy. Credit: Lt. Elizabeth Crapo, NOAA Corps
Data requirements for quantifying natural variability and the background ocean carbon sink in mCDR models
  • PI(s): Galen McKinley
  • Fiscal Year Funded: 2023
This project will better quantify the air-sea carbon dioxide exchange on a regional scale...
Project Summary >
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Latest Publications

Will Climate Change Alter the Swimming Behavior of Larval Stone Crabs?: A Guided-Inquiry Lesson
  • Abigail L. Smith, Jessyca LaBadie, Aly Busse, Emilie Solomon, Casie Farrell, Daniel M. Holstein, Zuo George Xue, Philip M. Gravinese
  • Current The Journal of Marine Education
  • December 11, 2024
  • Stone Crab
Citation: Smith, A. L., Jessyca LaBadie, Aly Busse, Emilie Solomon, Casie Farrell, Daniel M. Holstein, Zuo George Xue, Philip M. Gravinese. (2024). Will Climate Change Alter the Swimming Behavior of Larval Stone Crabs?: A Guided-Inquiry Lesson. Current The Journal of Marine Education, 39(2). https://doi.org/10.5334/cjme.117
Read Summary >
Ocean acidification thresholds for decapods are unresolved
Citation: McElhany, P. a. S. B. (2024). Ocean acidification thresholds for decapods are unresolved. Front. Mar. Sci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1449345
Read Summary >
Climatological distribution of ocean acidification variables along the North American ocean margins
  • Li-Qing Jiang, Tim P. Boyer, Christopher R. Paver, Hyelim Yoo, James R. Reagan, Simone R. Alin, Leticia Barbero, Brendan R. Carter, Richard A. Feely, Rik Wanninkhof
  • Earth System Science Data
  • July 24, 2024
Citation: Jiang, L.-Q., Boyer, T. P., Paver, C. R., Yoo, H., Reagan, J. R., Alin, S. R., Barbero, L., Carter, B. R., Feely, R. A., and Wanninkhof, R.: Climatological distribution of ocean acidification variables along the North American ocean margins, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3383–3390, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3383-2024, 2024.
Read Summary >
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Get involved with ocean acidification

The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program exists to meet the ocean acidification research and monitoring needs of the U.S. See how you can get involved to serve your community and participate in cutting-edge research and education and outreach. 

Get involved

Sustained Monitoring of Florida Waters

Snapper over coral in Florida waters
Image credit: NOAA

The Office for Coastal Management’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) provides consistent, sustained and long-term measurement of key indicators that gauge the status and trends of U.S. coral reef health. Through NCRMP and sustained NOAA Ocean Acidification Program support, the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory leads ocean acidification monitoring in coral reefs ecosystems for the Atlantic Ocean. NCRMP monitoring in the region includes a high-resolution time series of carbonate chemistry and biweekly water sampling collected at the Cheeca Rocks buoy in Florida, diel carbonate chemistry sampling at fixed sites and discrete carbonate chemistry sampling at random sites.

FRESCA - Florida Regional Ecosystem Stressors Collaborative Assessment

Coral reef in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Image credit: NOAA CCMA Biogeography Team

FRESCA – Florida Regional Ecosystem Stressors Collaborative Assessment: South Florida’s coastal and marine ecosystems provide critical ecosystem services and economic value to coastal communities. A variety of environmental stressors threaten these ecosystems, which can shift the structure and productivity of marine food webs. Led by Dr. Ian Enochs at AOML and Dr. Ana Palacio at University of Miami a team of nine scientists across seven institutions are investigating five interacting stressors: ocean acidification, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, warming and eutrophication. This work improves our understanding of how these stressors impact ecosystems under present and future climate change scenarios. The project results will inform Everglades and Mission: Iconic Reefs restoration efforts and water quality and fisheries management. This work is funded by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the NOAA Climate Program Office, the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program and the Integrated Ocean Observing System, in collaboration with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

Assessing OA Vulnerability and Resilience in Puerto Rico

View of San Juan, Puerto Rico from the Ocean
Image credit: NOAA

In Puerto Rico, more than three million inhabitants rely on ocean and coastal resources for food, economic livelihoods and protection, but impacts from ocean acidification to coastal communities have not been assessed. To fill this gap, a regional vulnerability assessment in Puerto Rico assessed socioeconomic vulnerability through community interviews, identifying scientific trends and research gaps and holding a multi-disciplinary workshop to collect social and natural science perspectives and prioritize activities for a future regional vulnerability assessment. This project also created a multi-stakeholder network to form an initial framework for a new Caribbean Coastal Acidification Network, managed by CARICOOS.

More about this work supported by NOAA Ocean Acidification Program

Bioeconomic modeling to inform Alaska fisheries management

Fishing Dock in Juneau Alaska
Image credit: Allen Shimada, NOAA NMFS

Bioeconomic models are a multidisciplinary tool that use oceanography, fisheries science and social science to assess socioeconomic impacts. Funded by the Ocean Acidification Program, researchers at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center use a bioeconomic model to study the impacts of ocean acidification on Eastern Bering Sea crab, northern rock sole and Alaska cod. The goal is to predict how ocean acidification will affect abundance yields and income generated by the fisheries. This work informs the potential economic impacts of ocean acidification and future decision making and research planning.

More about this work

Effects of ocean acidification and temperature on Alaskan crabs

Red King Crab
Image credit: David Csepp, NMFS AKFSC ABL

Long-term declines of red king crab in Bristol Bay, Alaska may be partially attributed to ocean acidification conditions. These impacts may be partially responsible for the fishery closures during the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 seasons. Researchers found that ocean acidification negatively impacts Alaskan crabs generally by changing physiological processes, decreasing growth, increasing death rates and reducing shell thickness. Funded by the Ocean Acidification Program, scientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center continue to investigate the responses of early life history stages and study the potential of various Alaska crabs to acclimate to changing conditions. Results will inform models that will use the parameters studied to predict the effects of future ocean acidification on the populations of red king crab in Bristol Bay as well as on the fisheries that depend on them. Fishery managers will better be able to anticipate and manage stocks if changing ocean chemistry affects stock productivity and thus the maximum sustainable yield.

More about this work

Forecasts for Alaska Fisheries

Crab pots and fishing nets in Alaska's Dutch Harbor
Image credit: Michael Theberge

Understanding seasonal changes in ocean acidification in Alaskan waters and the potential impacts to the multi-billion-dollar fishery sector is a main priority. Through work funded by NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program, the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory developed a model capable of depicting past ocean chemistry conditions for the Bering Sea and is now testing the ability of this model to forecast future conditions. This model is being used to develop an ocean acidification indicator provided to fisheries managers in the annual NOAA Eastern Bering Sea Ecosystem Status Report.

ADAPTING TO OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) works to prepare society to adapt to the consequences of ocean acidification and conserve marine ecosystems as acidification occurs. Learn more about the human connections and adaptation strategies from these efforts.

Adaptation approaches fostered by the OAP include:

FORECASTING

Using models and research to understand the sensitivity of organisms and ecosystems to ocean acidification to make predictions about the future, allowing communities and industries to prepare

Closeup of oysters cupped in someone's hands

MANAGEMENT

Using these models and predictions as tools to facilitate management strategies that will protect marine resources and communities from future changes

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Developing innovative tools to help monitor ocean acidification and mitigate changing ocean chemistry locally

REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

50 more ways to reduce your carbon footprint >

On the Road

Drive fuel-efficient vehicles or choose public transportation. Choose your bike or walk! Don't sit idle for more than 30 seconds. Keep your tires properly inflated.

With your Food Choices

Eat local- this helps cut down on production and transport! Reduce your meat and dairy. Compost to avoid food waste ending up in the landfill

With your Food Choices

Make energy-efficient choices for your appliances and lighting. Heat and cool efficiently! Change your air filters and program your thermostat, seal and insulate your home, and support clean energy sources

By Reducing Coastal Acidification

Reduce your use of fertilizers, Improve sewage treatment and run off, and Protect and restore coastal habitats

TAKE ACTION WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

You've taken the first step to learn more about ocean acidification - why not spread this knowledge to your community?

Every community has their unique culture, economy and ecology and what’s at stake from ocean acidification may be different depending on where you live.  As a community member, you can take a larger role in educating the public about ocean acidification. Creating awareness is the first step to taking action.  As communities gain traction, neighboring regions that share marine resources can build larger coalitions to address ocean acidification.  Here are some ideas to get started:

  1. Work with informal educators, such as aquarium outreach programs and local non-profits, to teach the public about ocean acidification. Visit our Education & Outreach page to find the newest tools!
  2. Participate in habitat restoration efforts to restore habitats that help mitigate the effects of coastal acidification
  3. Facilitate conversations with local businesses that might be affected by ocean acidification, building a plan for the future.
  4. Partner with local community efforts to mitigate the driver behind ocean acidification  – excess CO2 – such as community supported agriculture, bike & car shares and other public transportation options.
  5. Contact your regional Coastal Acidification Network (CAN) to learn how OA is affecting your region and more ideas about how you can get involved in your community
       More for Taking Community Action