Effective management of rare species, including endangered native species and recently introduced nonindigenous species, requires the detection of populations at low density. For endangered species, detecting the localized distribution makes it possible to identify and protect critical habitat to enhance ...

The continental shelf of the northern Gulf of Mexico receives high dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus loads from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. The nutrient load results in high primary production in the river plumes and contributes to the development ...

We hypothesized that the grazing on phytoplankton by the microzooplankton community is size-dependent and, therefore, the top-down control on phytoplankton by microzooplankton community could be one possible mechanism explaining why small phytoplankton become less abundant than large phytoplankton in eutrophic ...

Simulation models coupling physics to biological processes in the ocean are central to many current programs. Ocean physical models have approached a high level of sophistication; the physical relationships are canonical, and modern computational technology for fluid mechanics has advanced ...

Coupled biological/physical models of marine systems serve many purposes including the synthesis of information, hypothesis generation, and as a tool for numerical experimentation. However, marine system models are increasingly used for prediction to support high-stakes decision-making. In such applications it ...

A numerical hydrodynamic simulation of the Texas-Louisiana continental shelf circulation is compared with hydrographic and moored observations of temperature, salinity, and current velocity. The spatial and temporal structure of the model error suggests that the model is able to reproduce ...

Since 2012, NOAA has generated model guidance for the probability of occurrence of the harmful marine bacteria Vibrio vulnificus in Chesapeake Bay. The system employs NOAAs Operational Forecast System for Chesapeake Bay (CBOFS) to force a statistical model developed by ...

Seasonal hypoxia [dissolved oxygen (DO)???2 mg?l?1] occurs over large regions of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf during the summer months (June–August) as a result of nutrient enrichment from the Mississippi–Atchafalaya River system. We characterized the community structure of ...

A series of studies was initiated to assess the condition of benthic macroinfauna and chemical contaminant levels in sediments and biota of the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) and nearby shelf waters off the coast of Georgia. Four key ...

Coral reefs are vibrant, productive ecosystems that face a variety of threats, including disease, temperature stress and pollution. In order to effectively manage coral reef resources, adequate data are required to assess status and track change in these systems. The ...