In the several decades since sea otters began to recolonize their former habitat in Elkhorn Slough, a salt marsh-dominated coastal estuary in central California, remarkable changes have occurred in the landscape.
Tag: Coastal Ecosystems
Firsthand fieldwork: Getting mangroves into coastal models for better climate prediction
To better understand important dynamics at play in flood-prone coastal areas, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists working on simulations of Earth’s carbon and nutrient cycles paid a visit to experimentalists gathering data in a Texas wetland.
Noise harming ocean invertebrates and ecosystems
Noise from human activities is harming ocean invertebrates and ecosystems, new research shows.
FAU Harbor Branch Lands U.S. EPA Grant for ‘Hands-on’ Indian River Lagoon Field Trip
The project will host 125 field trips, which will educate as many as 3,125 socially disadvantaged middle and high school students about Florida’s natural resources and the importance of conserving them.
Climate Change Double Whammy Causes Unexpected Effects in Pacific Mussels
Comparative physiologists studied how two aspects of climate change—warming temperatures and increasingly acidic waters—may affect the ecologically important Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus), a foundational species in the intertidal environments of the northern Pacific Ocean.
Little rodent, big appetite
On an island 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco, a hoard of invasive house mice are packing an ecological wallop far larger than what their small statures would suggest.
The Pair of Orcas Deterring Great White Sharks – by Ripping Open Their Torsos for Livers
A pair of Orca (Killer Whales) that have been terrorizing and killing Great White Sharks off the coast of South Africa since 2017 has managed to drive large numbers of the sharks from their natural aggregation site.
Coastal Marsh Migration May Further Fuel Climate Change
As rising sea levels cause marshes to move inland in six mid-Atlantic states, the coastal zone will not continue to serve as a carbon sink but release more carbon into the atmosphere, a new modeling study led by researchers at Duke University finds.
URI launches ‘Plastics: Land to Sea’ web platform
A new University of Rhode Island web platform, “Plastics: Land to Sea,” has been launched as part of an ongoing collaborative initiative to provide the science community with a burgeoning array of data resources and tools designed to inform and support dialogue concerning research focused efforts to start addressing plastics pollution.
Surge in Nitrogen Has Turned Sargassum into the World’s Largest Harmful Algal Bloom
Scientists have discovered dramatic changes in the chemistry and composition of Sargassum, floating brown seaweed, transforming this vibrant living organism into a toxic “dead zone.” Results suggest that increased nitrogen availability from natural and anthropogenic sources, including sewage, is supporting blooms of Sargassum and turning a critical nursery habitat into harmful algal blooms with catastrophic impacts on coastal ecosystems, economies, and human health. Globally, harmful algal blooms are related to increased nutrient pollution.
PNNL Scientists Elected AAAS Fellows
Two Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers, one a world-leading authority on microorganisms and their impact on soil and human health, and the other an expert on coastal ecosystem restoration, have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.