New published research by scientists at the National Centers for Coastal Science demonstrates an improved approach for calculating and comparing bioeffects levels in different places. Using a single numerical score, rather than the traditional system based on 3 distinct data sets (benthic community structure, sediment contamination, and sediment toxicity, known as the sediment quality triad) [...]
Hypoxia is a major concern for many of the nation’s waters Hypoxia occurs when dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water becomes too low to support most life or compromises the growth, reproduction and immune responses of organisms. Although some hypoxic zones can develop naturally, many such zones have worsened (and many others initiated) by excess [...]
NOAA has awarded Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution $120,000 as part of an anticipated three-year, nearly $500,000 project, to determine how nitrogen and phosphorus promote brown tides on the East Coast. Funds were awarded through the interagency Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) program, represented at NOAA by the National Centers for Coastal [...]
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science researchers and their collaborators found that ten invasive tunicate species are fouling shellfish aquaculture operations along much of the U.S. East Coast, causing decreased growth rates, increased mortality, and high maintenance costs. The survey identified the locations of highest fouling, which will be used to develop a plan to [...]
A researcher with the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) presented the method of assessment and use of monitoring data by the National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment to the New Jersey Monitoring Coordinating Council. The Council requested NCCOS’s expertise to assist the state with the determination of criteria for nutrient monitoring and assessment in New [...]
Laboratory analysis of samples taken from the Hudson-Raritan Estuary before and after the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 indicates no significant change in the concentrations of two classes of contaminants: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (toxic byproducts of burning fuel or other carbon materials) and polychlorinated biphenyls (flame retardants from office furniture [...]