Spanning six years and seven seagrass meadows along the California coast, a paper published from the University of California, is the most extensive study yet of how seagrasses can buffer ocean acidification. The study reports on how seagrass meadows along the California coast  can alleviate low pH, or more acidic  conditions for extended periods of time, even at night in the absence of photosynthesis. It found the grasses can reduce local acidity by up to 30 percent. Click here

“This buffering temporarily brings seagrass environments back to preindustrial pH conditions, like what the ocean might have experienced around the year 1750,” said co-author Tessa Hill, a UC Davis professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Bodega Marine Laboratory.

Seagrasses naturally absorb carbon as they photosynthesize when the sun is out, which drives this buffering ability. Yet the researchers wondered, would seagrasses just re-release this carbon when the sun went down, cancelling out that day’s buffering? They tested that question and found a welcome and unique finding:

“What is shocking to everyone that has seen this result is that we see effects of amelioration during the night as well as during the day, even when there’s no photosynthesis,” Ricart said. “We also see periods of high pH lasting longer than 24 hours and sometimes longer than weeks, which is very exciting.”

Click here to read the paper