The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s (NCCOS) Kasitsna Bay Laboratory helped organize and participated in the 2012 Kachemak Bay Marine Science Conference, held on March 8-10, 2012 in Homer, Alaska. The multidisciplinary conference focused on how the health and diversity of coastal resources in Kachemak Bay are critical for resilience in both natural and [...]
Management agencies are struggling to balance the pressures of coastal development with the conservation and protection of the coastal environment. Representatives of several management groups convened on February 29 to review progress on a NCCOS project studying the ecosystem effects of shoreline hardening, and offer suggestions on linking research results to regional management and policy. This marked the second [...]
While climate change is often associated with global warming and rising seawater temperatures, there are other climate-related anomalies that can adversely affect marine life. From February 27 to May 26, 2011, 37 bottlenose dolphins were found dead on South Carolina beaches primarily in the central and southern sections of the state. This level of mortality [...]
Being able to numerically determine how much food is produced by different habitats in relation to each other helps habitat restoration and conservation managers put a price on the value of ecological services provided by the habitats. Scientists at the University of North Carolina supported by the Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise Research Program developed data on habitat [...]
Climate change imperils human health, posing real and potential threats and costs. To gain a broader understanding of the health effects of climate change in the Southeastern United States and also to inform the 2013 National Climate Assessment report, a workshop under the auspices of the U.S. Global Change Research Program brought together biological, physical and social scientists and [...]
Dissolution of carbon dioxide (CO2) from rising atmospheric CO2 is acidifying ocean water; but a second environmental problem, eutrophication, is having a similar effect in coastal bottom waters. This occurs because anthropogenic inputs of nutrients fuel massive algal blooms, which deplete bottom waters of oxygen (O2) and release CO2 when the organic matter from these blooms is respired by [...]
Cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) are proliferating in the U.S. and worldwide, becoming a serious threat to freshwater resources and public health. Results from NCCOS harmful algal bloom programs are uncovering the secrets of why cyanobacteria are so successful so they can be used to develop new strategies to control them. Cyanobacteria, which have [...]
NCCOS-funded research into the ecosystem effects of climate change may improve management of the commercially important shellfish populations in a warming climate. Stone crabs (Menippe mercenaria), normally found only in South Atlantic estuaries, are moving northward into the mid-Atlantic due to warming temperatures. This pole-ward range shift is predicted to increase interactions between stone crabs [...]