Institute Initiatives
Modification of the Benthic Respiration System for Ocean Acidification Studies
Project Manager: Kurt Buck
Lead Scientist: Jim Barry
Lead Engineers: Craig Okuda, Mike Risi, Bob Herlien
MBARI’s benthic respirometers have been used successfully to measure benthic community oxygen consumption in passive mode. This team will modify the respirometer to allow perturbation experiments of marine communities under controlled levels of carbon dioxide enrichment. The number of experimental chambers will be increased to allow for an adequate number of controls for the experiment, and gas impermeable materials will be substituted to prevent contamination.