Data and Reports Explorer

An apparent link between upwelling-related physical signatures, macronutrients, and toxic diatom blooms in the various “hotspots” throughout California has motivated attempts to forecast harmful algal blooms (HABs) as a function of select environmental variables. Empirical models for predicting toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms in one such region, the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC), ...

There is increasing emphasis from funding agencies on transdisciplinary approaches to integrate science and end-users. However, transdisciplinary research can be laborious and costly and knowledge of effective collaborative processes in these endeavors is incomplete. More guidance grounded in actual project experiences is needed. Thus, this article describes and examines the ...

To support the development of indicators, methods and measures for the National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan, the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program sponsored a workshop for scientists to review the socioeconomic plan, validate and refine the indicators and develop secondary data measures. Held at the National Centers for Coastal Ocean ...

NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program is developing a national monitoring plan for all coral reefs under the US jurisdiction – including Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean. This National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP) builds upon a decade of work supported by CRCP and will focus on four monitoring themes: benthic ...

Given the dire state of many diadromous stocks and their potential as important agents in marine ecosystems, consideration should be given to the different roles stocks play and their relative importance within marine systems. In this report, diadromous stocks of North America's Atlantic coast are reviewed with a focus on ...

Diel sampling was conducted during June–September 2013, in the shore zone and adjacent nearshore zone of Delaware Bay, Delaware, to identify day and night changes in nekton density, species richness, and the species assemblage. Mean species richness and total nekton density in the shore zone were higher at night. A ...

Modification of natural coastlines is prevalent as human coastal populations swell and effects of global climate change become clearer. We investigated effects of shoreline hardening and environmental factors on benthic infauna and trophic structure in the Patuxent River, Maryland, a stressed mesohaline Chesapeake Bay tributary. We characterized differences in density, ...

Ongoing efforts to restore eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations in regions of low natural recruitment rely on stocking of juveniles (spat on shell) to rebuild populations. Often, remote setting is used, entailing releasing hatchery-produced larvae into recirculating tanks filled with oyster shells. Other restoration methods that rely on releasing C ...

A three-dimensional coupled hydrodynamic-sediment transport model for the Texas–Louisiana continental shelf was developed using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) and used to represent fluvial sediment transport and deposition for the year 1993. The model included water and sediment discharge from the Mississippi River and Atchafalaya Bay, seabed resuspension, and ...

We describe and evaluate an algorithm that uses a distance map to automatically calculate the biovolume of a planktonic organism from its two-dimensional boundary. Compared with existing approaches, this algorithm dramatically increases the speed and accuracy of biomass estimates from plankton images, and is thus especially suited for use with ...

Estuaries provide critical nursery habitat for many commercially and recreationally important fish and shellfish species. These productive, diverse ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to pollution because they serve as repositories for non–point-source contaminants from upland sources, such as pesticide runoff. Atrazine, among the most widely used pesticides in the United States, ...

Deep-sea corals in Southern California are diverse and abundant but subject to multiple stressors, including bottom-contact fisheries using mobile and fixed gear. There is a need for more information on the distribution of these taxa in relation to the distribution of demersal fishing effort, and the distribution of marine protected ...

The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), University of California Moss Landing Marine Lab (MLML), and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), conducted ecosystem monitoring and characterization studies within and between marine sanctuaries along ...

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 assess the effects of diurnal variations in pH and DO ...

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 mercenaria, and eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica. Bivalves were exposed to ...

Historically, cosmopolitan phytoplankton species were presumed to represent largely unstructured populations. However, the recent development of molecular tools to examine genetic diversity have revealed differences in phytoplankton taxa across geographic scales and provided insight into the physiology and ecology of blooms. Here we describe the genetic analysis of an extensive ...

In 2003, the Georges Bank stock of haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) experienced the largest recruitment event recorded during its assessed history. Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain recruitment variability in this much-scrutinized stock, including variability in the retention of eggs and larvae on Georges Bank, the timing of haddock spawning, ...

This paper provides a summary of the “state of knowledge” regarding behavioral impacts of domoic acid exposure on fish. Initial studies by authors of this paper suggested that fish are behaviorally impacted by domoic acid in the same way that birds and mammals are impacted during toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms. However, ...

Two-hundred and twenty seven satellite-tracked drifters were deployed in the Gulf of Maine (GoM) from 1988 to 2007, primarily during spring and summer. The archive of tracks includes over 100,000 km logged thus far. Statistics such as transit times, mean velocities, response to wind events, and preferred pathways are compiled ...

This report summarizes outcomes from a series of virtual workshops for researchers and managers in the southeast US and US Caribbean entitled Drones in the Coastal Zone ...