In the Tred Avon River, an important tributary of the Choptank River, we assessed the impacts of land use on the health of the aquatic ecosystem in a 3-year field study (2015-2017). In our analysis of information collected during the study, we looked for parallels between the conditions found and ...

This assessment explored linkages between land use and aquatic ecosystem health. Three watersheds (Corsica, Magothy, and Rhode rivers) with variable dominant land-use patterns (agriculture, suburban/residential, and mixed-use, respectively) were examined. The health of each habitat was assessed using a suite of observations focused on water quality and the health of ...

In coastal and estuarine regions, land use can have a profound impact on aquatic ecosystem health. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, agriculture and urbanization have transformed major portions of the landscape, though some areas of undeveloped land remain. This document assesses the health of six Bay tributaries with different land ...

Changes in delivery of river-borne nutrients such as dissolved phosphate, nitrate and silicate, owing to land-use changes and anthropogenic emissions, are known to result in eutrophication1— enhanced phytoplankton blooms—and more severe hypoxic events2–1 in many enclosed bays and seas. Although similar ecological effects might be expected on continental shelves, the ...

An activity book designed to introduce elementary school children to the animals, plant life, and ecology of the Louisiana coast ...

An activity book designed to introduce elementary school children to the animal and plant life and ecology of coastal North Carolina ...

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 carbon dioxide (CO2) and a lowering of seawater pH. To ...

Coastal wetlands are likely to lose productivity under increasing rates of sea-level rise (SLR). This study assessed a fluvial estuarine salt marsh system using the Hydro-MEM model under four SLR scenarios. The Hydro-MEM model was developed to apply the dynamics of SLR as well as capture the effects associated with ...

Given the global degradation of shallow-water coral reef ecosystems resulting from anthropogenic activities, mesophotic coral reef ecosystems (MCEs) are gaining attention because they are generally considered a de facto refuge for shallow-water species. Despite their inferred importance, MCEs remain one of the most understudied reef habitats, and basic information on ...

Considerations to introduce the Suminoe or Asian oyster Crassostrea ariakensis along the East Coast have raised many questions regarding ecology, economics, and human health. To date, research has focused primarily on the ecological and socioeconomic implications of this initiative, yet few studies have assessed its potential impact on public health ...

In this study, we directly compared two molecular techniques, sandwich hybridization assay (SHA) and quantitative PCR (qPCR), for quantifying laboratory cultures of the ichthyotoxic raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo. To maximize comparisons, all experiments entailed raising H. akashiwo in the laboratory, generating cellular homogenates then splitting them such that for each sample, ...

Shallow-water ( ...

Prior to this study, NOAA NCCOS has conducted previous efforts to characterize the ocean floor offshore NY. For example, as part of the NY Department of State’s renewable energy planning efforts and its Offshore Atlantic Ocean Study, released in July 2013, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) developed ...

Using historical (1994–2017) satellite-tracked surface drifter trajectory data, we conduct a probabilistic Lagrangian circulation study which sheds light on the connectivity of Pulley Ridge with other locations in the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent areas. The analysis reveals that Pulley Ridge is connected with the North Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, ...

Pollution in the marine environment has the potential to negatively impact ecosystem health, including adverse effects on fisheries species. This can occur through direct impacts, food web effects and habitat degradation. Vieques is an island municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, located 11 km off the east coast of ...

A mixing model derived from first principles describes the bulk density (BD) of intertidal wetland sediments as a function of loss on ignition (LOI). The model assumes that the bulk volume of sediment equates to the sum of self-packing volumes of organic and mineral components or BD = 1/[LOI/k1 + ...

We extend existing oceanographic sampling methodologies to sample an advecting feature of interest using autonomous robotic platforms. GPS-tracked Lagrangian drifters are used to tag and track a water patch of interest with position updates provided periodically to an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for surveys around the drifter as it moves ...

The health and continued existence of coral reef ecosystems are threatened by an increasing array of environmental and anthropogenic impacts. Coral disease is one of the prominent causes of increased mortality among reefs globally, particularly in the Caribbean. Although over 40 different coral diseases and syndromes have been reported worldwide, ...

An activity book designed to introduce elementary school children to coral reefs ...

The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities of southwestern Puerto Rico, primarily within the La Parguera Natural Reserve. The reserve is a multiuse area that spans the continental shelf from the extensive mangrove forests fringing the shoreline to the complex shelfedge coral reefs ...