A shift towards ecosystem-based management in recent decades has led to new analytical tools such as end-to-end marine ecosystem models. End-to-end models are complex and typically simulate full ecosystems from oceanography to foodwebs and fisheries, operate on a spatial framework, ...

Assessing the potential of marine organisms to adapt genetically to increasing oceanic CO2 levels requires proxies such as heritability of fitness-related traits under ocean acidification (OA). We applied a quantitative genetic method to derive the first heritability estimate of survival ...

Increased nutrient loading into estuaries causes the accumulation of algal biomass, and microbial degradation of this organic matter decreases oxygen levels and contributes towards hypoxia. A second, often overlooked consequence of microbial degradation of organic matter is the production of ...

The 2016 Patterns in Deep-Sea Corals expedition set out aboard the NOAA Ship Shearwater in August to study the distribution, ecology, and health of deep-water (30-300 m) gorgonian corals in response to the 2015 El Niño event. The research team ...

Less than 50% of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary seafloor has been mapped using multibeam echosounders to produce habitat characterizations at a map resolution suitable for resource management. This is important because deep-sea coral and sponge communities are known ...

Diurnal variations in pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations are common seasonal phenomena in many eutrophic estuaries, yet few studies have investigated the concurrent effects of low pH and low DO on marine organisms inhabiting these coastal systems. Here, we ...

This study assessed the effects of constant and diurnally fluctuating acidification and hypoxia on the survival, growth, and development of larval stages of 3 bivalves indigenous to the east coast of North America: bay scallops Argopecten irradians, hard clams Mercenaria ...

Given projected changes in river flow to coastal regions worldwide due to climate change and increasing human freshwater demands, it is necessary to determine the role hydrology plays in regulating the biogeochemistry of estuaries. A climatic gradient exists along the ...

Ocean acidification (OA) has the potential to restructure ecosystems due to variation in species sensitivity to the projected changes in ocean carbon chemistry. Ecological models can be forced with scenarios of OA to help scientists, managers, and other stakeholders understand ...

Studies of estuarine eutrophication have tended to focus on systems with continually flowing rivers, while little is known about estuaries from semi-arid/arid regions. Here we report results from an assessment of water quality conditions in Baffin Bay, Texas, a shallow ...