Richard Bellerby

Norwegian Institute for Water Research | NIVA · Marine Biogeochemistry and Oceanography

Sea surface salinity (SSS) is a master variable in oceanography and important to understand marine biogeochemical and physical processes. In the East China Sea (ECS), a random forest based regression ensemble model (RF) was developed to estimate the SSS with a spatial resolution of ∼1 km based on a large synchronous data set of in situ SSS observat...

Organic acid‐base species in the dissolved organic carbon pool have been shown to make an important contribution (i.e., organic alkalinity; OrgAlk) to the total alkalinity (TA) in many coastal systems. This study showed an intensive investigation of OrgAlk characteristics in the river‐to‐coast transition zones of six southeast Chinese rivers. OrgAl...

Understanding the long-term response of key marine phytoplankton species to ongoing global changes is pivotal in determining how oceanic community composition will respond over the coming decades. To better understand the impact of ocean acidification and warming, we acclimated two strains of Skeletonema marinoi isolated from natural communities to...

The geomorphological stability and ecological environment of megadeltas worldwide are of vital importance for their sustainable development. Deltaic hydro-morphodynamics is extremely sensitive to high riverine flow due to reduced sediment supply. However, the morphological evolution and response of deltas under high riverine flow have remained inad...

In the context of an increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) level, acidification of estuarine and coastal waters is greatly exacerbated by land-derived nutrient inputs, coastal upwelling, and complex biogeochemical processes. A deeper understanding of how nitrifiers respond to intensifying acidification is thus crucial to predict the response...

The partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) is an important variable to characterize the state of the seawater carbonate system. It is required to calculate the air-sea CO2 flux (FCO2) and for understanding ocean acidification. Surface ocean pCO2 is influenced by thermodynamic process, physical mixing, biological activity and air-sea gas exchange...

The distribution and quantification of water masses on the East China Sea (ECS) shelf is important for identifying and understanding historical climate-driven changes in ocean properties and circulation in the region. We applied an extended Optimum Multiparameter (eOMP) analysis to quantify the relative contribution of water masses using wintertime...

Three field surveys were conducted in the outer Changjiang Estuary on the inner shelf of the East China Sea in March, July, and October, 2018. Observations of total-scale pH (pH T ), total alkalinity (A T ), and calculated total dissolved inorganic carbon (C T ), the partial pressure of CO 2 ( p CO 2 ), and the air–sea CO 2 exchange flux ( F CO 2 )...

Heterosigma akashiwo is classified as a harmful algal bloom (HAB) species that frequently occurs in eutrophic coastal waters and results in the contamination and mortality of fish and shellfish. The growth of H. akashiwo in four phosphate and nitrate concentration scenarios, representing the observed nutrient concentration ranges in the East China...

Successful management and mitigation of marine challenges depends on cooperation and knowledge sharing which often occurs across culturally diverse geographic regions. Global ocean science collaboration is therefore essential for developing global solutions. Building effective global research networks that can enable collaboration also need to ensu...

It is widely projected that under future climate scenarios the economic importance of Arctic Ocean fish stocks will increase. The Arctic Ocean is especially vulnerable to ocean acidification and already experiences low pH levels not projected to occur on a global scale until 2100. This paper outlines how ocean acidification must be considered with...

While our understanding of pH dynamics has strongly progressed for open-ocean regions, for marginal seas such as the East China Sea (ECS) shelf progress has been constrained by limited observations and complex interactions between biological, physical and chemical processes. Seawater pH is a very valuable oceanographic variable but not always measu...

Oceans play a key role in the climate system and are also affected by climate change. As confirmed by the recent IPCC special report on ocean and cryosphere, ocean dynamics are a major modulator of weather and climate including future trends and extremes. However, there are still uncertainties in the understanding and quantification of key climate-...

Sustainable development of the salmon farming industry requires knowledge of the biogeochemical impacts of fish farm emissions. To investigate the spatial and temporal scales of farm impacts on the water column and benthic biogeochemistry, we coupled the C-N-P-Si-O-S-Mn-Fe transformation model BROM with a 2-dimensional benthic-pelagic transport mod...

Ocean acidification (OA) is a global problem with profoundly negative environmental, social and economic consequences. From a governance perspective, there is a need to ensure a coordinated effort to directly address it. This study reviews 90 legislative documents from 17 countries from the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK that primarily bor...

The ocean provides resources key to human health and well-being, including food, oxygen, livelihoods, blue spaces, and medicines. The global threat to these resources posed by accelerating ocean acidification is becoming increasingly evident as the world’s oceans absorb carbon dioxide emissions. While ocean acidification was initially perceived as...

Coastal ecosystems are of high ecological and socioeconomic importance and are strongly influenced by processes from land, sea, and human activities. In this study, we present physical, chemical, and biological observations over two consecutive years from three study regions along the Norwegian coast that represent a broad latitudinal gradient in c...

Total alkalinity (AT) is an important variable in the regulation of the seawater carbonate chemistry system, determining the capacity to buffer changes in pH. In the coastal oceans, carbonate system dynamics are controlled by numerous processes such as land-derived inputs, biological activity, and coastal water dynamics, and seasonal alkalinity var...

Coastal ecosystems are strongly influenced by terrestrial inputs of freshwater, sediments, and nutrients, particularly in a megariver estuary of the Changjiang River. A remarkable increase in nutrient loading from the Changjiang River to the shelf has been observed over the period from 1999 to 2016 and turned the region into a high eutrophication c...

High-turbidity water is a common feature in the estuary and inner shelf. Sediment suspension functions as a modulator that directly influences the interactions among nutrients, phytoplankton and other related ecosystem variables. A physical-biological coupling model system was applied to examine the impact of sediment front on interactions among on...

Abstract. While our understanding of pH dynamics has strongly progressed for open ocean regions, for marginal seas such as the East China Sea (ECS) progress has been constrained by limited observations and complex interactions between biological, physical, and chemical processes. Seawater pH is a very valuable oceanographic variable but not always...

Plastic debris and marine microplastics are being discharged into the ocean at an alarming scale and have been observed throughout the marine environment. Here we report microplastic in sediments of the Challenger Deep, the deepest known region on the planet, abyssal plains and hadal trenches located in the Pacific Ocean (4900 m-10,890 m). Micropla...

Arctic marine ecosystems are often assumed to be highly vulnerable to ongoing climate change, and are expected to undergo significant shifts in structure and function. Community shifts in benthic fauna are likely to result from changes in key physico-chemical drivers, such as ocean warming, but there is little ecological data on most Arctic species...

Dette er et «politikksammendrag» (policy brief) fra ACIDCOAST-prosjektet, hvor forskerne kommer med anbefalinger rundt hvordan kystsoneforvaltningen kan håndtere havforsuringsutfordringen. Prosjektet har vært ledet av Vestlandsforsking, med partnere fra Nord Universitet, Norsk Institutt for Vannforskning (NIVA), Nordlandsforskning og Scottish Assoc...

Ocean acidification (OA) is already impacting marine organisms and may fundamentally alter marine ecosystems in the coming decades, with major implications for ocean services, such as food provision. Though OA is an emerging concern in coastal zone management, current actions are limited to monitoring and knowledge production. This article presents...

Understanding links between the abiotic environment and organism fitness and function is a central challenge of biology, and an issue of growing relevance due to anthropogenic environmental changes. To date, our understanding of these links has largely been based on the findings of isolated experimental studies. This command may, however, be enhanc...

Arctic Ocean Acidification: update of chemical changes

Introduction. In: AMAP Assessment 2018: Arctic Ocean Acidification.

Urchin harvesting and kelp regrowth in northern Norway under ocean acidification and warming.

Conclusions, knowledge gaps and recommendations. In: AMAP Assessment 2018: Arctic Ocean Acidification

Arctic Ocean Acidification: update of chemical changes

Phytoplankton size classes (PSCs) is of great significance for exploring marine ecological and biogeochemical processes. Remote sensing of PSCs has been successfully applied to open oceans; however, it is still quite limited for optically complex coastal oceans. In this study, the entire continental shelf sea of China including Bohai Sea (BS), Yell...

Recently, there has been a growing concern that climate change may rapidly and extensively alter global ecosystems with unknown consequences for terrestrial and aquatic life. While considerable emphasis has been placed on terrestrial ecology consequences, aquatic environments have received relatively little attention. Limited knowledge is available...

Widespread ocean acidification (OA) is modifying the chemistry of the global ocean, and the Arctic is recognised as the region where the changes will progress at the fastest rate. Moreover, Arctic species show lower capacity for cellular homeostasis and acid-base regulation rendering them particularly vulnerable to OA. In the present study, we foun...

Coastal wetlands mainly include ecosystems of mangroves, coral reefs, salt marsh, and sea grass beds. As the buffer zone between land and sea, they are frequently threatened from both sides. The world coastal wetland lost more than 50% of its area in the 20th century, largely before their great value, such as wave attenuation, erosion control, biod...

Increasing concern about the impacts of climate change on ecosystems is prompting ecologists and ecosystem managers to seek reliable projections of physical drivers of change. The use of global climate models in ecology is growing, although drawing ecologically meaningful conclusions can be problematic. The expertise required to access and interpre...

The impacts of oceanic CO2 uptake and global warming on the surface ocean environment have received substantial attention, but few studies have focused on shelf bottom water, despite its importance as habitat for benthic organisms and demersal fisheries such as cod. We used a downscaling ocean biogeochemical model to project bottom water acidificat...

Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the ongoing accumulation in the surface ocean together with concomitantly decreasing pH and calcium carbonate saturation states have the potential to impact phytoplankton community composition and therefore biogeochemical element cycling on a global scale. Here we report on a recent mesocosm CO2 p...

The marine carbonate system is changing as uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere causes ocean acidification. Now, analysis of repeat observations demonstrates that the rate and extent of Arctic Ocean acidification is enhanced through increased transport from the North Pacific.

Interactions between seawater and benthic systems play an important role in global biogeochemical cycling. Benthic fluxes of some chemical elements (e.g., C, N, P, O, Si, Fe, Mn, S) alter the redox state and marine carbonate system (i.e., pH and carbonate saturation state), which in turn modulate the functioning of benthic and pelagic ecosystems. T...

Mangrove wetlands constitute an important carbon pool and play an important role in the global carbon balance. Understanding the distribution and influencing factors for soil organic carbon (SOC) in different mangrove communities can improve the estimation of carbon sink capacity. The SOC content and physicochemical properties were investigated fro...

Coccolithophores—single-celled calcifying phytoplankton—are an important group of marine primary producers and the dominant builders of calcium carbonate globally. Coccolithophores form extensive blooms and increase the density and sinking speed of organic matter via calcium carbonate ballasting. Thereby, they play a key role in the marine carbon c...

The evaluation of marine carbonate system variability and the impacts of ocean acidification (OA) on coastal marine ecosystems increasingly rely on monitoring platforms capable of delivering near real-time in situ carbonate system observations. These observations are also used for developing models and scenarios of OA, including potential impacts o...

Interaction between seawater and benthic sediments plays an important role in global biogeochemical cycling. Benthic fluxes of chemical elements (C, N, P, O, Si, Fe, Mn, S) directly affect redox state and acidification (i.e. pH and carbonate saturation), which in turn determine the functioning of the benthic and pelagic ecosystems. The redox state...

The North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean region includes Food and Agriculture Organization fishing regions 21, 27 and 18. Possible impacts of ocean acidification on fisheries and aquaculture in the region differ between northern and southern parts of the North Atlantic, and are higher in the North in terms of degree of acidification and organisms and ec...

The spring bloom is a key annual event in the phenology of pelagic ecosystems, making a major contribution to the oceanic biological carbon pump through the production and export of organic carbon. However, there is little consensus as to the main drivers of spring bloom formation, exacerbated by a lack of in situ observations of the phytoplankton...

The spring bloom is a key annual event in the phenology of pelagic ecosystems, making a major contribution to the oceanic biological carbon pump through the production and export of organic carbon. However, there is little consensus as to the main drivers of spring bloom formation, exacerbated by a lack of in situ observations of the phytoplankton...

This study evaluates long-term mean fluxes of carbon and nutrients to the upper 100 m of the Iceland Sea. The study utilises hydro-chemical data from the Iceland Sea time series station (68.00° N, 12.67° W), for the years between 1993 and 2006. By comparing data of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and nutrients in the surface layer (upper 100 m), a...

Approximately a quarter of the carbon dioxide (CO2) that we emit into the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean. This oceanic uptake of CO2 leads to a change in marine carbonate chemistry resulting in a decrease of seawater pH and carbonate ion concentration, a process commonly called 'Ocean Acidification'. Salinity data are key for assessing the mar...

The increasing demand for monitoring capabilities required by ocean acidification survey programs is forcing sensor developers to find suitable arrangements for long-term, drift-free deployments. The increasing application of microtechnology will help the development of fault-free, calibration-free solid state probes. Spectrophotometry already help...

Fluxes of carbon and nutrients to the upper 100 m of the Iceland Sea are evaluated. The study utilises hydro-chemical data from the Iceland Sea time-series station (68.00° N, 12.67° W), for the years between 1993 and 2006. By comparing data of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and nutrients in the surface layer (upper 100 m), and a sub-surface layer...

Marine and coastal biodiversity – ecosystems, species and genetic material – provide enormous benefits for human well-being. Hundreds of millions of people rely directly on marine biodiversity for their livelihoods. Oceans are critical to many important global geo-chemical processes, such as climate regulation and carbon cycling. Ocean ecosystems p...

The world's oceans play a crucial role in the carbon budget, absorbing approximately a quarter of the CO2 emitted through the burning of fossil fuels. The North Atlantic (NA) is the ocean region that accumulates the largest inventory of anthropogenic CO2 (IPCC AR5). It is therefore essential to understand effects of climate change and other impacts...

A large scale multidisciplinary mesocosm experiment in an Arctic fjord (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard; 78° 56.2´ N) was used to study Arctic marine food webs and biogeochemical elements cycling at natural and elevated future carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. At the start of the experiment marine-derived chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) dominated th...

Mediated principally by the sinking of organic rich particles from the upper ocean, the biological carbon pump (BCP) is a significant component of the global carbon cycle. It transfers roughly 11 GT C yr-1 into the ocean’s interior and maintains atmospheric carbon dioxide at significantly lower levels than would be the case if it did not exist. Mor...

Observations from small-scale (20 to 90 litres) CO2 experiments conducted off the coast of California at 684 m depth and at 3942 m depth are discussed. In both experiments, when the seawater velocity was sufficiently strong, parcels of liquid CO2 were torn off and transported away as discrete units by the turbulent water current. In the deep experi...

Studying more than 3600 observations of particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate organic nitrogen (PON), we evaluate the applicability of the classic Redfield C:N ratio (6.6) and the recently proposed Sterner ratio (8.3) for the Arctic Ocean and pan-Arctic shelves. The confidence intervals for C:N ranged from 6.43 to 8.82, while the average...

In the European Iron Fertilization Experiment (EIFEX), the iron hypothesis was tested by an open ocean perturbation experiment. The success of EIFEX owes to the applied experimental strategy; namely to use the closed core of a mesoscale eddy for the iron injection. This strategy not only allowed tracking the phytoplankton bloom within the fertilize...