The effects of ocean acidification on the skeletons of marine species: systematic review

A systematic review was conducted using Web of Science from 1970 to 2015 to review the effects of ocean acidification on shark spinal cords. The following search terms “ocean acidification” and “skeleton” and “shell” produced 40 studies that were individually reviewed for relevance with some articles excluded. The inclusion of literature from other marine species was particularly important as very few articles have been published on this specific relationship, since, the effects of ocean acidification on skeletons is a relatively new dynamic. A subset of these studies were examined using a specific inclusion criteria. First, studies that focused on the measurement of water acidity whether in the lab or field in relation to a particular marine species. Second, studies that described a method of testing the effects on the skeleton or shell of an organism. Articles unrelated to species sampling that focused on statistical models were excluded from the subset. From the Web of Science categories, topics such as economics and agricultural economics policy were also excluded from the search. The remaining 35 studies were analysed individually for specific procedures based on the proposed research question. Papers that incorporated these guidelines were processed in order to provide data on method of acidity measurement, number of species tested as indicators, the associated class the marine species corresponds to in terms of classification, method of testing the effects on the skeleton or shell of an organism, and whether or not the experiment was performed in a lab or field setting or both. From all the studies that were used, around 80% of the articles were published in last 5 years which provides relevant information on the topic of skeleton formation in regards to acidification as well as the direction of the research in years to come.