The study, which was published in the journal PLOS Biology on February 3, looked at 91 studies on the impact of ocean acidification on fish behaviour. It discovered that higher-quality research revealed fewer effects on fish behaviour, and that the studies with the most striking results had tiny sample sizes, rendering them statistically unreliable.
Scientists have been warning for more than a decade that ocean acidification might devastate fish populations. Numerous studies indicated that acidification affected fish behaviour, making them less likely to dodge predators.
Climate activists took an apocalyptic tone as carbon emissions pushed pH levels higher and higher. Fewer fish means fewer fisheries, putting the lives of millions of fishermen throughout the world in jeopardy. It may also mean fewer medicines, as many are made from marine species.
These fears, according to a new study published in a prestigious scientific magazine, are greatly exaggerated.
The study, which was published in the journal PLOS Biology on February 3, looked at 91 studies on the impact of ocean acidification on fish behaviour. It discovered that higher-quality research revealed fewer effects on fish behaviour, and that the studies with the most striking results had tiny sample sizes, rendering them statistically unreliable.
Even if the studies are of inferior quality, they are “published in high-impact journals and have a disproportionate influence,” according to the authors. “We contend that ocean acidification has a negligible direct impact on fish behaviour.”
The work adds to a growing body of evidence for the so-called replication dilemma, in which scientific conclusions are found to be inconclusive when tested again. While the problem is regarded to be most serious in the social sciences, it has also impacted medicine and biology: for example, many cancer study findings do not reproduce.
The article published in PLOS Biology isn’t the first to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on ocean acidification. “Ocean acidification does not impair the behavior of coral reef fishes,” according to a study published in Nature in 2020.
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This study may be accurate, but it appears to be incomplete. It only focusses on fish reproduction but mentions no other possible effects of acidification of oceans, such as, the effect of acidification on marine creatures with shells, and corals, which are mainly composed of calcium which do not respond well to acidification. Very important effect not mentioned. Did I miss something?
Apologies for my mistake: Not fish reproduction but fish behaviour described above.
Denis Rothwell