This research is part of a long-term project examining the causes and consequences of hypoxia in Lake Erie. The award will be presented at the annual International Association for Great Lakes Research conference June 2-6, 2013. For more information, contact Elizabeth.Turner@noaa.gov.

Two recently released reports gives that question new relevance.

1. A nine-year project in New England showed that fertilizer-based pollutants carried in the Mississippi River led to the collapse of salt marshes dominated by the plant species that is a signature to much of Louisiana’s southeast coast.

2. A review of research on Louisiana’s freshwater diversions by a panel of experts from outside the state concluded they could find no solid evidence the projects would improve adjacent wetlands over the long term. The study suggested that the state’s Coastal Master Plan, built around large sediment diversions, should use a science-based approach, with ongoing monitoring and adjustments in diversion strategies as needed. For more information, contact Alan.Lewitus@noaa.gov.

The reports provide new information for those who support other methods of coastal restoration, and scientists recommending more research before river water is released into the wetlands.

Related content on this topic available on the NCCOS website, The Lens and FOX8 WVUE.

NOAA researchers obtain a tissue sample from a tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument; the shark was released unharmed. Credit: Robert Schwemmer/NOAA

In a newly published study, NCCOS researcher link sharks and other top predators with primary producers (benthic algae) in pristine, healthy coral reef ecosystems.  “We used chemical signatures of carbon and nitrogen found in the tissues of the algae, invertebrates, fish, and sharks from the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) to trace the extent benthic algae influences the food chain of healthy coral reef ecosystems, dominated by apex-predators like sharks,” said Dr. Carolyn Currin, NCCOS scientists and lead co-author on the study.

Remote healthy coral reefs like those found in the PMNM are unique because they are dominated by large numbers of apex predators, the large carnivorous fishes such as sharks, jacks, and snapper. Like all coral reefs, the PMNM is supported by photosynthesis by algae

“Anything affecting native algal species, such as sedimentation, dredging, or the spread of non-native invasive algae, will ultimately impact the abundance of prized food fish such as snapper or jacks,” said Randall Kosaki, NOAA Deputy Superintendent of Papahānaumokuākea, and a co-author on the study.  “Taking care of the reef itself will help to ensure healthy fish populations.”

This study was a collaboration between researchers from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and PMNM of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.  For more information contact: Anna.Hilting@noaa.gov.

The study led by the National Science Foundation noted farming practices such as tillage and fertilizer, more intense weather and increased runoff events have injected more phosphorus into Lake Erie all as potential causes. Additionally, after the bloom began to form, an extended period of weak circulation and warm weather further promoted its growth. The study authors predict that all of these factors are likely to continue to occur in the future, increasing the chances of these toxic blooms in the region.

For more information, contact Elizabeth.Turner@noaa.gov.

Nearly 600 visitors came to learn about the Laboratory and its mission to bring together the unique combination of science, response, and management capabilities to improve and protect the ecological health of the Chesapeake Bay and provide science for ecosystem management relevant to ecosystems worldwide.

Visitor activities included interactions with scientists and rare Chesapeake Bay fish species, as well as hands-on experience building remote control underwater vessels, seining, touching and seeing bay critters up close, making T-shirt prints of local marine species, and learning about the health of the Chesapeake Bay. For more information contact: Gretchen.Messick@noaa.gov.

NCCOS-funded researchers performed a series of experiments to look at the days-to-months impacts of carbon dioxide (CO₂) on the larvae of northern quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria) and Atlantic bay scallops (Argopecten irradians), and found early that exposure of larvae (≤ 4 days old) to high CO₂ definitely killed more larvae than larvae first exposed at an older age.

The researchers also found larva exposure to elevated CO₂ during the first four days of  development resulted  in lower shell calcification rates which contributed to higher mortality.  For the larvae that did survived the early exposure to high CO₂, they grew to smaller-size adults compared to the adults of larvae that did not experience early exposure to high levels of CO_2. 

For more information, contact Elizabeth.Turner@noaa.gov.

Despite decades of nutrient pollution runoff reductions, harmful algal blooms and hypoxia (deadly zones of insufficient oxygen) have intensified in Lake Erie, the southernmost and shallowest of the Great Lakes.

Dr. Scavia, from the University of Michigan, gave his presentation at the Lake Erie Ecosystem Priority Science Synthesis Workshop, sponsored by the Great Lakes International Joint Commission, and held from February 25-26, 2013 in Windsor, Ontario.

Models developed under the project suggest that current nutrient load targets may not be sufficient to reduce harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. Watershed managers need to consider decreasing the loads, especially the soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) that can leach out of the watersheds emptying into the lake.

Refinement of loading by geographic area or watershed may also be necessary. Some watersheds may have mostly agriculture-derived phosphorus which builds up in the soil, so limiting the application of fertilizers may not immediately decrease the dissolved loads, because of phosphorus leaching from the soil. Other watersheds have more urban sources, so they may need to customize their approaches to manage each of them.

Compounding the problems are expected changes in rainfall and storms due to climate change, which make current best management practices inadequate. Future climate regimes may require stricter adherence to these practices, or even establish a whole new set of them.

The commission will consider these findings as they refine Lake Erie’s regional nutrient management strategy.

With a five-year, multi-million dollar study, NCCOS supports the Smithsonian Institution Environmental Research Center and six other universities, institutions and agencies in the region to quantatively evaluate how altered shorelines affect life in coastal bays of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.  The project, at mid-point, is producing important results.  Comparing six shoreline habitat types (bulkhead, riprap, rip-rap-sill, sandy beach, invasive Phragmites reed, and native Spartina cordgrass) preliminary findings show reduced fish densities, lower dissolved oxygen levels, and reduced egg laying at the hardened shorelines compared to the “living” shorelines.  This research has important implications regarding the future health of our nation’s coastal habitats and resources in the face of management actions to counter sea level rise.

Find out more about the project here.

Read about the University of Delaware’s project component in “University of Delaware Research.”

Read about specific results of shoreline type effects on Atlantic silversides in the journal “Estuaries and Coasts.”

Following the initial research phase and this transition to application project, a consortium of partners, including The Nature Conservancy and the Albermarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program, will provide ongoing operational support to update the maps and data in a one-stop “North Carolina Coastal Atlas” digital portal.  This will ensure that the results of the project continue to be used to support scientifically sound decisions by coastal managers faced with long-term decisions impacted by sea level rise.

Editor’s note: This research is sponsored by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Hypoxia Research Program.

via 11-28-12: The “DOOM” Lab Studies the Bay at Night | WYPR.

Congratulations to the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program(ESTCP) Projects of the Year, recognized for research and technology developments with significant benefits to the Department of Defense (DoD). These outstanding efforts are helping DoD achieve its mission while improving its environmental performance.

Resource Conservation and Climate Change, SERDP Project of the Year
SERDP’s Defense Coastal/Estuarine Research Program (DCERP)
Patricia Cunningham, RTI International
and the DCERP Project Team
Project Highlights

(excerpt) An unprecedented multi-year interdisciplinary ecological research program at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is helping the Department of Defense (DoD) manage its coastal installations in more effective and sustainable ways. The SERDP-sponsored effort, the Defense Coastal/Estuarine Research Program (DCERP), is using mission-relevant fundamental and applied research to produce ecosystem-based management tools that will enable the military both to continue using the installations for essential training and testing missions for decades and to sustain the environmental health of these coastal areas. At the same time, DCERP is serving as a model for ecological research management, by bringing together participants from multiple institutions and disciplines to work for several years at the landscape scale and ensuring the research is linked to practical management questions at coastal installations.

[Note: one member of this project team is Carolyn Currin from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science]

via Ecological Research Supports Training at Camp Lejeune.

See also: Ecological Study at Camp Lejeune Earns Department of Defense Award

The roll-out introduced the awardees to the internal NOAA investigators to provide better perspective on what is going on across NOAA.  There was a good discussion of how to integrate the extramural modeling with some of the internal NOAA monitoring and laboratory work.  The meeting also provided internal NOAA investigators opportunities to update each other on the monitoring cruises from the past year, the experimental facilities at the regional Fisheries Science Centers, and various workshops supported by the Ocean Acidification Program over the past year (e.g., data management, international monitoring network, communications).

The NOAA OA Program is a partnership between NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Ocean Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.  The program is national in scope and the research and monitoring requirements detailed in the OA Research Plan are designed to achieve tangible results.

“They say, ‘You’re with the NOAA lab, what are you doing on ocean acidification?’ ” Holderied said. “This is a coastal town that depends on this ocean, and this bay.”

This town in southwestern Alaska dubs itself the Halibut Fishing Capital of the World. But worries about the changing chemical balance of the ocean and its impact on the fish has made an arcane scientific buzzword common parlance here, along with the phrase “corrosive waters.”

In the past five years, the fact that human-generated carbon emissions are making the ocean more acidic has become an urgent cause of concern to the fishing industry and scientists.

via Ocean acidification emerges as new climate threat – The Washington Post.

Related video: Contributors to Alaska’s Kachemak Bay’s pH levels