Ocean Deoxygenation Conference | Kiel 2018

“Ecosystem services” is a construct to motivate people and institutions to preserve and steward ecosystems. As such, the concept has been much discussed, but has been difficult to integrate into mainstream policies, except for aspects that are readily monetized, such as income from harvest. This has been particularly true for services that are not readily apparent to the average person. Here we address a problem – ocean deoxygenation – increasing in scope and severity, but mostly invisible to the public. We consider aquatic ecosystem services that have, or will be, placed into jeopardy from oxygen loss. We take a case study approach, focusing on a number of well-known hypoxic regions (Baltic Sea, California OMZ, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Western Long Island Sound near New York City), as well as the emerging issue of coral reef deoxygenation events. We provide preliminary assessments, and also discuss how to communicate this information to policymakers as well as to the general public.