Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and ecosystem restoration are gaining momentum worldwide, including in U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Ecosystem models are valuable tools for informing EBFM and restoration activities. In this paper, we provide guidance and a roadmap for ecosystem modeling in the GOM region, with an ...

As global fisheries management shifts towards ecosystem-based management, responsible organizations and governments must also address the socio-economic impacts of this shift. This study evaluates potential impacts of such management shift with a case study of Pulley Ridge (PR), an ecologically rich area in the Gulf of Mexico, on fishermen and ...

Recruitment, or the entry, of young coral reef fishes into benthic populations is essential to population survival, but because larvae typically spend several weeks in the plankton away from the reef environment, understanding the entire process encompassing adult spawning, larval dispersal, and final settlement to the reef has been challenging ...

The combined effects of anthropogenic and biological CO2 inputs may lead to more rapid acidification in coastal waters compared to the open ocean. It is less clear, however, how redox reactions would contribute to acidification. Here we report estuarine acidification dynamics based on oxygen, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), pH, dissolved inorganic ...

The demand for marine sand resources is increasing in the United States, as coastal and offshore sands are commonly used for beach renourishment and barrier island restoration. The dredging of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), and sand shoals in particular, is likely to increase in the near future because nearshore ...

Seasonal hypoxia of the northern Gulf of Mexico has been observed for more than 25 years. It is generally accepted that the variation in the areal extent of hypoxia is determined by changes in nutrient addition from the Mississippi River. In this study, we investigate the statistical relation between the ...

A two day workshop was convened on February 2-3, 1998 in Charleston, SC with 20 invited experts in various areas of sea turtle research. The goal of this workshop was to review current information on sea turtles with respect to health and identify data gaps. The use of a suite ...

Globally, estuaries are considered important CO2 sources to the atmosphere. However, estuarine water carbonate chemistry and CO2 flux studies have focused on temperate and high latitude regions, leaving a significant data gap in subtropical estuaries. In this study, we examined water column carbonate system and air–water CO2 flux in the ...

To investigate the response of a subtropical coastal phytoplankton community to tropical cyclones, we utilized high temporal resolution (hours) data from the Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) deployed in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2010, four tropical cyclones (two during June–July and two during September) struck the area. Passage of the cyclones ...

This dataset is based on archives from the University of Miami’s high-resolution (1/50 degrees, 1.8km) configuration of the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM-HYCOM 1/50) for the year of 2015. The GoM-HYCOM 1/50 used realistic river forcing parameterization with daily river discharge obtained from the ...

The Mississippi River and its delta and plume provide insights into research-informed approaches to managing river-dominated coastal zones ...

Robust estimates of hypoxic extent (both area and volume) are important for assessing the impacts of low dissolved oxygen on aquatic ecosystems at large spatial scales. Such estimates are also important for calibrating models linking hypoxia to causal factors, such as nutrient loading and stratification, and for informing management decisions ...

The benefits and ecosystem services that humans derive from the oceans are threatened by numerous global change stressors, one of which is ocean acidification. Here, we describe the effects of ocean acidification on an upwelling system that already experiences inherently low pH conditions, the California Current. We used an end-to-end ...

An activity book designed to introduce elementary school children to the animal, plant life and ecology of the Salish Sea ...

In 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched the Deep-Sea Coral Research and Technology Program (DSCRTP) following the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The goal of the DSCRTP is to provide scientific information needed to manage, conserve and protect deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems ...

This guidance manual provides technical assistance, outlines necessary steps, and provides useful tools for the development and implementation of sound scientific monitoring of coastal restoration efforts and offers a means to detect early warnings that the restoration is on track or not, to gauge how well a restoration site is ...

This guidance manual provides  technical assistance and useful tools for the development and implementation of sound scientific monitoring of coastal restoration efforts. It also provides detailed information of the habitats, an inventory of coastal restoration monitoring program, a review of monitoring techniques manuals and quality control/quality assurance documents, an overview of governmental acts affiliated ...

Coral reefs are subjected globally to a variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors that often act synergistically. Today, reversing ongoing and future coral reef degradation presents significant challenges and countering this negative trend will take considerable efforts and investments. Scientific knowledge can inform and guide the requisite decision-making process and ...

The University of Miami’s R/V Walton Smith Cruise No. WS1213 was conducted from August 14 to 25, 2012 on Pulley Ridge, a mesophotic reef in the Gulf of Mexico off southwestern Florida. This cruise was funded in part by the NOAA-NOS-NCCOS grant titled ‘Connectivity of the Pulley Ridge - South ...

Coastal hypoxia (dissolved oxygen ? 2 mg/L) is a growing problem worldwide that threatens marine ecosystem services, but little is known about economic effects on fisheries. Here, we provide evidence that hypoxia causes economic impacts on a major fishery. Ecological studies of hypoxia and marine fauna suggest multiple mechanisms through ...