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Guilty: Crabs are killing N.E. saltmarshes

By Guest PostMay 29, 2014Environmentancient buddhist sites, brown university, buddhist king, cape cod, corporate contributioins, crabs, data, ecosystem dynamics, favoour, geographic modeling, herbivory, list of billionaires, long island, mark bertness, mauryan dynasty, monica smith, policy making, proclamations of ashoka, substrate, thomas gillespie, tyler coverdale

Two newly published studies by a team of Brown University researchers provide ample new evidence that the reason coastal saltmarshes are dying from Long Island to Cape Cod is that hungry crabs, left unchecked by a lack of predators, are eating the cordgrass. (See sidebar on marsh die-off and greenhouse gasses.)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A marathon summer of field work by Mark Bertness, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and a squadron of students may finally help settle the heated debate about what’s killing the coastal saltmarshes of southern New England and Long Island. The group’s work has yielded two new papers that offer clear evidence of the cause. (more…)

Post-Sandy Survey Shows a Polluted but Generally Intact Barrier System off Long Island

By Guest PostDecember 16, 2013Environmentadelphi university, american geophysical union, austin, barrier system, chirp, data, disaster, erosion, galveston, higher frequency, hurricane sandy, jamie austin, john goff, long island, metro area, new york, offshore barrier systems, post sandy survey, sea-level rise, seafloor mapping system, stony brook university, toxin, university of texas

AUSTIN, Texas — As coastal communities continue to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, scientists at last week’s annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union offer some encouraging news: The storm did not seriously damage the offshore barrier system that controls erosion on Long Island. Long-term concerns remain about the effects on the region of sea-level rise, pollutants churned up by the storm within back-barrier estuaries, and the damage closer to shore, but in the near-term, Long Island residents can rebuild knowing that Hurricane Sandy did not significantly alter the offshore barrier systems that control coastal erosion on the island. (more…)

First Harmful Algal Bloom Species Genome Sequenced

By Guest PostFebruary 27, 2011Environmentaureococcus anophagefferens, blooms, brown tides, christopher gobbler, chronic, coastal ecosystems, don anderson, eastern united states, ecogenomic approach, economic losses, ecosystems, excess nutrients, fertilizer runoff, genome sequencing, habs, harmful algal bloom, long island, louie wurch, marine phytoplankton, microscopic phytoplankton, ny, organic matter, photosynthetic microalga, poison humans, pollutants, sea grass beds, shellfisheries, sonya dyhrman, South Africa, toxin

*Brown Tide Culprit Uniquely Suited to Thrive in Environmentally Impacted Estuaries*

The microscopic phytoplankton Aureococcus anophagefferens, which causes devastating brown tides, may be tiny but it’s a fierce competitor.

In the first genome sequencing of a harmful algal bloom species, researchers found that Aureococcus’ unique gene complement allows it to outcompete other marine phytoplankton and thrive in human-modified ecosystems, which could help explain the global increases in harmful algal blooms (HABs). (more…)

Tag Archives: long island

Guilty: Crabs are killing N.E. saltmarshes

Post-Sandy Survey Shows a Polluted but Generally Intact Barrier System off Long Island

First Harmful Algal Bloom Species Genome Sequenced