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Movement of marine life follows speed and direction of climate change

By Guest PostSeptember 15, 2013Environmentbering sea, biological data, british columbia, changes in temperature, climate change, climate data, climate velocity, daniel pauly, direction, geological features, gulf of alaska, jorge sarmiento, malin pinsky, marine life, movement, ocean temperature move, predictions, princeton university, Rutgers University, simon levin, speed, survey data, temperature change, united states, university, warmer oceans

Scientists expect climate change and warmer oceans to push the fish that people rely on for food and income into new territory. Predictions of where and when species will relocate, however, are based on broad expectations about how animals will move and have often not played out in nature. New research based at Princeton University shows that the trick to more precise forecasts is to follow local temperature changes.

The researchers report in the journal Science the first evidence that sea creatures consistently keep pace with “climate velocity,” or the speed and direction in which changes such as ocean temperature move. They compiled 43 years of data related to the movement of 128 million animals from 360 species living around North America, including commercial staples such as lobster, shrimp and cod. They found that 70 percent of shifts in animals’ depth and 74 percent of changes in latitude correlated with regional-scale fluctuations in ocean temperature. (more…)

Genetic Patterns of Deep-Sea Coral Provide Insights into Evolution of Marine Life

By Guest PostNovember 17, 2012Environment, Natureancient, barnacles, biodiversity, biogeography, bivalves, bryozoans, bubblegum coral, canyons, circulation model, climate change, continental slopes, coral, cryptic species, csiro, deep sea coral, early pliocene, eastern north pacific, Epoch, fjords, gastropods, gene flow, genetic diversity pattern, geological features, global warming, historical pattern, hypothesis, juan sanchez, late-miocene, marine life, marine organism, migration, migration pattern, moss animals, niwa, north atlantic, ocean acidification, oceanic circulation, organism, paragorga arborea, pattern, period, ph, red algae, santiago herrera, sea stars, seagrass, seamounts, South Pacific, southern indian, species, spiny dogfishes, timothy shank, trans arctic interchange, western north pacific, whoi

Patterns Also Shed Light on How Environmental Disturbances Affect Aquatic Organisms

The ability of deep-sea corals to harbor a broad array of marine life, including commercially important fish species, make these habitat-forming organisms of immediate interest to conservationists, managers, and scientists. Understanding and protecting corals requires knowledge of the historical processes that have shaped their biodiversity and biogeography.

While little is known about these processes, new research described in the journal Molecular Ecology helps elucidate the historical patterns of deep-sea coral migration and gene flow, coincident with oceanic circulation patterns and events. The investigators propose a scenario that could explain the observed evolutionary and present-day patterns in certain coral species. The findings can help scientists determine how climate change and other global processes have affected ocean habitats in the past and how they might do so in the future. (more…)

Protecting People From Deadly Floods, Quakes in The Philippines

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2012Environment, Generaldisaster, earthquake, economic vulnerability, elizabeth renckens, flash flooding, flood zones, flooding, gavin shatkin, geological features, greater metropolitan manila, manila, marikina river, mudslides, natural, philippine, southeast asian, topography, typhoons, university of michigan, urban planning, william foreman

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Typhoons thrash the Philippines every year, causing flash flooding and mudslides that often kill hundreds of people in the Southeast Asian nation. Many blame the death and destruction on the wrath of nature. But Gavin Shatkin has a different view.

“Disasters are not natural,” said Shatkin, an associate professor of urban planning at the University of Michigan. “They happen because of social structures.” (more…)

Professor’s Research Helps Restore Sight to the Blind

By Guest PostJanuary 21, 2012Health, Scienceartificial retina project, artificial retinas, atmospheric blimps, autonomous robots, blind patients, boston university, cyclops, disease, electric stimulation patterns, electrochemical signals, eye, geological features, image processing software, kenneth lutchen, lake landers, macular degeneration, milliseconds, retinitis pigmentosa, robot, robotic surrogate, rovers, satellite, tier scalable reconnaissance, university of arizona, vision implant, wolfgang fink

*Wolfgang Fink’s research into artificial retinas helps restore some sight in blind patients with age-related macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa.*

University of Arizona College of Engineering professor Wolfgang Fink has been elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Fink is an associate professor in the UA department of electrical and computer engineering, where he is the founding director of the Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory and holds the Edward and Maria Keonjian Endowed Chair. Fink also has joint appointments in the departments of biomedical engineering, systems and industrial engineering, and ophthalmology and vision science. (more…)

Tag Archives: geological features

Movement of marine life follows speed and direction of climate change

Genetic Patterns of Deep-Sea Coral Provide Insights into Evolution of Marine Life

Protecting People From Deadly Floods, Quakes in The Philippines

Professor’s Research Helps Restore Sight to the Blind