Article
Environmental Sciences
Yang Xu, Ziman Wang, Yuehuan Zhang, Jian Liang, Guixiang He, Xiaolong Liu, Zhe Zheng, Yuewen Deng, Liqiang Zhao
Summary: This study investigates the molecular changes in threatened and vulnerable pearl oysters under different marine heatwaves scenarios using RNA-Seq. The results show that acute exposure to heatwaves significantly affects the expression of metabolic and immune-related genes in pearl oysters, but repeated exposure leads to evident acclimation responses.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Heather Welch, Matthew S. Savoca, Stephanie Brodie, Michael G. Jacox, Barbara A. Muhling, Thomas A. Clay, Megan A. Cimino, Scott R. Benson, Barbara A. Block, Melinda G. Conners, Daniel P. Costa, Fredrick D. Jordan, Andrew W. Leising, Chloe S. Mikles, Daniel M. Palacios, Scott A. Shaffer, Lesley H. Thorne, Jordan T. Watson, Rachel R. Holser, Lynn Dewitt, Steven J. Bograd, Elliott L. Hazen
Summary: Marine heatwaves have significant impacts on the environment, biology, and socio-economy, making them a major challenge for management in the 21st century. However, the variability of heatwaves and their effects on marine species remain poorly understood, hindering proactive management. This study models the effects of four recent heatwaves in the Northeastern Pacific on the distributions of 14 top predator species, highlighting the need for novel management solutions to respond to extreme climate events.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Leigh W. Tait, Francois Thoral, Matthew H. Pinkerton, Mads S. Thomsen, David R. Schiel
Summary: This study found that marine heatwaves had a significant impact on the coverage of giant kelp in New Zealand, especially following the most extreme event in 2017/18, with reductions observed across all regions. There was an important interaction between temperature and water clarity, showing that kelp loss was more severe when temperatures increased and water clarity was poor.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ana Carolina Felix-Loaiza, Lucia Mercedes Rodriguez-Bravo, Rodrigo Beas-Luna, Julio Lorda, Eliot de la Cruz-Gonzalez, Luis Malpica-Cruz
Summary: This study found that extreme warming events had a significant negative impact on kelp forests in the coast of Baja California, leading to a reduction in dominant kelp species and a shift to the dominance of invasive kelps.
Article
Ecology
Barbara J. Spiecker, Bruce A. Menge
Summary: El Ninos and marine heatwaves are expected to increase in frequency under greenhouse warming. The short-term impact of climate oscillations like El Nino-Southern Oscillation may mimic the long-term effects of climate change, making El Ninos a potential proxy for studying ecological responses to a more variable climate. This study analyzed the effects of the 2015-2016 El Nino and the overlapping 2014-2016 East Pacific MHW on intertidal kelp populations in Oregon. The results revealed a complex interplay between spatial, temporal, and biological factors that modified the effects of these thermal anomalies on kelp populations. Coastal upwelling was found to mitigate the adverse effects of warming, while also amplifying the detrimental effects of El Nino through increased shading and grazing.
ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Alissa V. Bass, Kathryn E. Smith, Dan A. Smale
Summary: This study investigated the impact of marine heatwaves and decreased light availability on the ecophysiological responses of three kelp species. The results showed that under low-light conditions, summer heatwaves significantly reduced biomass, blade surface area, and photosynthetic efficiency of L. digitata and L. hyperborea, to varying degrees. However, all species were generally resistant to heatwaves under high-light conditions and in some cases, heatwaves even promoted kelp performance.
JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Samuel Starko, Christopher J. Neufeld, Lianna Gendall, Brian Timmer, Lily Campbell, Jennifer Yakimishyn, Louis Druehl, Julia K. Baum
Summary: Marine heatwaves pose a threat to the persistence of kelp forests globally. However, the responses of kelp forests to these events vary greatly on local scales. Temperature variation at fine spatial scales is found to be a critical factor influencing kelp forest persistence. Biotic interactions and bottom substrate are also found to be associated with kelp forest persistence.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
James Ducker, Patrick W. S. Joyce, Laura J. Falkenberg
Summary: This study examined the responses of large and small Perna viridis mussels under exacerbated marine heatwave conditions. The results showed that after exposure to elevated temperatures, mussels exhibited increased heart rate and clearance rate, but these changes returned to normal after a recovery period. This suggests that P. viridis mussels have the ability to persist in future oceans.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fabian Wolf, Katja Seebass, Christian Pansch
Summary: Experimental ecology has recently focused on regional to local environmental fluctuations in the context of global climate change. Marine heatwaves pose significant threats to marine organisms, but studies including fluctuating thermal stress are rare and often lack long-term environmental data. This study evaluated 22-year high-resolution sea surface temperature data to assess the occurrence of heatwaves and cold-spells in a temperate coastal marine environment. The results demonstrate that heatwaves decrease feeding and activity of the common sea star Asterias rubens, with longer heatwaves having a more severe and lasting impact on feeding pressure and growth. Heatwaves with interruptions have a minor impact compared to continuous heatwaves, and the impact diminishes with repeated heatwave events.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Erik C. Krieger, Yaelle Sarid-Segal, Imke M. Boeoek, Aleluia Taise, Denisa Berbece, Christopher E. Cornwall
Summary: Marine heatwaves are important drivers of ocean change, but their interactions with other drivers and physiological mechanisms on species are poorly understood. This study simulated different durations, intensities, and irradiance conditions to examine the impacts on three important macroalgal species. The results showed that the studied species exhibited tolerance to prolonged and intense marine heatwaves, suggesting limited impacts on ecosystem functioning in New Zealand kelp forests.
Article
Ecology
Stanislao Bevilacqua, Ferdinando Boero, Francesco De Leo, Giuseppe Guarnieri, Vesna Macic, Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi, Antonio Terlizzi, Simonetta Fraschetti
Summary: By simulating a strong physical disturbance and comparing beta-diversity patterns and decay of similarity, we found that connectivity mediated by currents at larger spatial scales strongly contributed to shape community reassembly after disturbance. These results can help improve conservation planning to promote ecological connectivity within marine protected area networks and enhance their effectiveness in protecting marine communities against disturbances.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Physics, Nuclear
Evgeniy Tretyakov, Alexey Artamonov, Maria Grigorieva, Alexei Klimentov, Shawn McKee, Ilija Vukotic
Summary: The experiments at the Large Hadron Collider rely on a complex distributed computing infrastructure with WAN being a crucial component, with over 5PB of data transferred between WLCG sites daily. Monitoring and visualization efforts are being made to improve network performance and reliability.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS A
(2021)
Article
Biology
Zimei Wang, Adam Romanski, Vatsal Mehra, Yunfang Wang, Matthew Brannigan, Benjamin C. Campbell, Gregory A. Petsko, Pantelis Tsoulfas, Murray G. Blackmore
Summary: This study provides a method to rapidly analyze the entire supraspinal connectome in adult mice and disseminate the results as a web-based resource. The approach allows for understanding of topographic mapping between different spinal levels, measurement of population-specific sensitivity to spinal injury, and testing the relationship between neuronal sparing and functional recovery.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mingliang Zhang, Huawei Qin, Zhidong Wang, Bin Li, Yuanqing Ma
Summary: This study investigates the interaction between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) released by Saccharina japonica and the bacterial community, revealing the potential of carbon sequestration by macroalgae culture. The results show that S. japonica releases DOC containing both labile and refractory components, and the degradation of labile DOC by bacteria leads to changes in DOC composition and bacterial community succession. The study suggests that macroalgae culture has the ability to sequester carbon through the generation of refractory DOC.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Estelle Praet, Jostein Baeza-Alvarez, Diamela De Veer, Geraldine Holtmann-Ahumada, Jen S. Jones, Sarah Langford, Jessica Michel Dearte, John Schofield, Martin Thiel, Kayleigh J. Wyles
Summary: This study evaluates the use of story writing and surveys as an engagement activity to explore perceptions about marine plastic litter and encourage pro-environmental behaviors among schoolchildren. The findings show that the participants had awareness of the sources and impacts of plastic pollution, with a focus on bio-ecological impacts. Recycling was identified as the dominant solution. The activity resulted in increased knowledge and improved pro-environmental behaviors among the participants.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Henry F. Houskeeper, Stanford B. Hooker, Raphael M. Kudela
Summary: The study focused on the optically active component of dissolved organic material in aquatic ecosystems, or colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and explored remote sensing techniques for characterizing this parameter and retrieving chlorophyll a. Results demonstrated that end-member analysis (EMA) is a useful and robust approach for CDOM remote sensing in coastal and inland waters, providing increased accuracy and addressing challenges posed by optical complexity and bottom reflectance.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dennis J. I. Finger, Meredith L. McPherson, Henry F. Houskeeper, Raphael M. Kudela
Summary: The study tested the feasibility of using Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis for long-term monitoring of bull kelp canopy coverage in northern California, identifying a suitable MESMA model and investigating factors affecting monitoring. The results indicate that satellite remote sensing can serve as a broad remote measurement supplementing existing survey methods and increasing continuity of monitoring long-term trends.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lyall Bellquist, Vienna Saccomanno, Brice X. Semmens, Mary Gleason, Jono Wilson
Summary: Commercial, recreational, and indigenous fisheries are critical to coastal economies and communities in the United States. Despite federal recognition of fishery disasters, there is a lack of national syntheses regarding their dynamics, impacts, and causes. This study highlights the increasing frequency and changing causes of fishery disasters, calling for an evolution in the federal system for effective protection of fisheries sustainability and societal benefit as extreme environmental events become the main culprit.
Correction
Biology
Meredith L. McPherson, Dennis J. I. Finger, Henry F. Houskeeper, Tom W. Bell, Mark H. Carr, Laura Rogers-Bennett, Raphael M. Kudela
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
D. A. Siegel, T. DeVries, S. C. Doney, T. Bell
Summary: Ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies are important for achieving negative greenhouse gas emissions. These strategies involve injecting CO2 or organic carbon into the ocean, but the injected CO2 may eventually return to the surface due to ocean currents. Sequestration times vary depending on discharge location, with deeper locations sequestering CO2 longer than shallower ones, and different ocean basins have different sequestration times. Around 70% of carbon injected into the upper ocean ecosystem will be transported back to the surface within 50 years.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Biology
S. L. Hamilton, V. R. Saccomanno, W. N. Heady, A. L. Gehman, S. Lonhart, R. Beas-Luna, F. T. Francis, L. Lee, L. Rogers-Bennett, A. K. Salomon, S. A. Gravem
Summary: The prevalence of disease-driven mass mortality events is increasing, with poorly resolved understanding of spatial variation in magnitude, timing, and triggers. A study on sea star wasting disease found that it affected the sunflower sea star more severely in the southern half of its range, leading to population declines and a lack of evidence for recovery. Temperature became more important in predicting the sea star distribution post-outbreak, indicating an interaction between disease severity and warmer waters in affecting outbreak severity.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Henry F. Houskeeper, Isaac S. Rosenthal, Katherine C. Cavanaugh, Camille Pawlak, Laura Trouille, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Tom W. Bell, Kyle C. Cavanaugh
Summary: Giant kelp populations, which are essential for productive coastal ecosystems, are vulnerable to changing climate conditions and human impacts. This study presents two approaches for automating the detection of giant kelp using satellite imagery and applies them to the Falkland Islands. The results show no evidence of long-term change in giant kelp canopy area, but recent declines should be carefully monitored.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tom W. Bell, David A. Siegel
Summary: The study shows that the spatiotemporal patterns of physiological condition in giant kelp, and thus growth and production, are regulated by different processes depending on the scale of observation. Nutrient supply affects physiological condition dynamics at a regional scale, while internal senescence processes related to canopy age demographics determine patterns of biomass loss at a local scale.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Stanford B. Hooker, Henry F. Houskeeper, Randall N. Lind, Raphael M. Kudela, Koji Suzuki
Summary: The hardware and software capabilities of the C-PHIRE instruments on a USV were evaluated. These instruments include multispectral microradiometers and a hyperspectral grating spectrometer, and their reliability and effectiveness were confirmed through data validation and consistency verification with other systems.
Article
Ecology
Max C. N. Castorani, Tom W. Bell, Jonathan A. Walter, Daniel C. Reuman, Kyle C. Cavanaugh, Lawrence W. Sheppard
Summary: Spatial synchrony is an important feature of population dynamics, but its factors and variations are not fully understood. By studying giant kelp populations, it was found that disturbance and resources interacted to produce synchrony across geography and timescales. The findings highlight the need to understand and predict synchrony by considering multiple environmental drivers.
Article
Optics
Henry F. Houskeeper, Stanford B. Hooker, Kyle C. Cavanaugh
Summary: The use of multispectral geostationary satellites improves the observation frequency and cloud obstruction in studying aquatic ecosystems, but there is currently no operational capability for coastal and inland waters in the United States. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites provides sub-hourly imagery and the opportunity to leverage existing aquatic observations. A spectrally simplified algorithm using ABI wave bands was used to estimate the diffuse attenuation coefficient for photosynthetically available radiation. Evaluation of the algorithm showed promising results, and comparisons with other satellite imagery indicated the potential for a sub-hourly, visible aquatic data product.
Article
Ecology
Vienna R. Saccomanno, Tom Bell, Camille Pawlak, Charlotte K. Stanley, Katherine C. Cavanaugh, Rietta Hohman, Kirk R. Klausmeyer, Kyle Cavanaugh, Abby Nickels, Waz Hewerdine, Corey Garza, Gary Fleener, Mary Gleason
Summary: Kelp forests are important underwater habitats that have been declining in abundance due to various stressors. To aid kelp restoration efforts in the North Coast of California, researchers conducted large-scale remote sensing surveys using UAVs to provide crucial data on kelp canopy changes. The results suggest that high spatial resolution UAV data have the potential to advance kelp restoration and management.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)