46 research outputs found
Prospects For Gulf of Mexico Environmental Recovery and Restoration
Previous oil spills provide clear evidence that ecosystem restoration efforts are challenging, and recovery can take decades. Similar to the Ixtoc 1 well blowout in 1979, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill was enormous both in volume of oil spilled and duration, resulting in environmental impacts from the deep ocean to the Gulf of Mexico coastline. Data collected during the National Resource Damage Assessment showed significant damage to coastal areas (especially marshes), marine organisms, and deep-sea habitat. Previous spills have shown that disparate regions recover at different rates, with especially long-term effects in salt marshes and deepsea habitat. Environmental recovery and restoration in the northern Gulf of Mexico are dependent upon fundamental knowledge of ecosystem processes in the region. PostDWH research data provide a starting point for better understanding baselines and ecosystem processes. It is imperative to use the best science available to fully understand DWH environmental impacts and determine the appropriate means to ameliorate those impacts through restoration. Filling data gaps will be necessary to make better restoration decisions, and establishing new baselines will require long-term studies. Future research, especially via NOAAâs RESTORE Science Program and the state-based Centers of Excellence, should provide a path to understanding the potential for restoration and recovery of this vital marine ecosystem
Reversing a Tyranny of Cascading Shoreline-Protection Decisions Driving Coastal Habitat Loss
Abstract Shoreline hardening is a major driver of biodiversity and habitat loss in coastal ecosystems yet remains a common approach to coastal management globally. Using surveys of waterfront residents in North Carolina, USA, we sought to identify factors influencing individual shoreâprotection decisions and ultimately impacting coastal ecosystems, particularly coastal wetlands. We found that neighboring shore condition was the best predictor of respondent shore condition. Respondents with hardened shorelines were more likely to have neighbors with hardened shorelines, and to report that neighbors influenced their shoreâprotection choices than respondents with natural shorelines. Further, respondents who expressed climateâchange skepticism and preference for shoreline hardening were opposed to shorelineâhardening restrictions. Despite preferring hardening, respondents ranked wetlands as highly valuable for storm protection and other ecosystem services, suggesting a disconnect between the ecological knowledge of individuals and social norms of shoreâprotection decisions. However, our results also suggest that efforts to increase the installation of living shorelines have the potential to conserve and restore important coastal habitats and support biodiversity along shorelines that may otherwise be degraded by hardening. Further, encouraging waterfrontâproperty owners who have adopted living shorelines to recommend them to neighbors may be an effective strategy to initiate and reinforce proâconservation social norms
Response of Coastal Fishes to the Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster
The ecosystem-level impacts of the Deepwater Horizon disaster have been largely unpredictable due to the unique setting and magnitude of this spill. We used a five-year (2006â2010) data set within the oil-affected region to explore acute consequences for early-stage survival of fish species inhabiting seagrass nursery habitat. Although many of these species spawned during spring-summer, and produced larvae vulnerable to oil-polluted water, overall and species-by-species catch rates were high in 2010 after the spill (1,989±220 fishes km-towedâ1 [ÎŒ ± 1SE]) relative to the previous four years (1,080±43 fishes km-towedâ1). Also, several exploited species were characterized by notably higher juvenile catch rates during 2010 following large-scale fisheries closures in the northern Gulf, although overall statistical results for the effects of fishery closures on assemblage-wide CPUE data were ambiguous. We conclude that immediate, catastrophic losses of 2010 cohorts were largely avoided, and that no shifts in species composition occurred following the spill. The potential long-term impacts facing fishes as a result of chronic exposure and delayed, indirect effects now require attention
Latitude, temperature, and habitat complexity predict predation pressure in eelgrass beds across the Northern Hemisphere
Latitudinal gradients in species interactions are widely cited as potential causes or consequences of global patterns of biodiversity. However, mechanistic studies documenting changes in interactions across broad geographic ranges are limited. We surveyed predation intensity on common prey (live amphipods and gastropods) in communities of eelgrass (Zostera marina) at 48 sites across its Northern Hemisphere range, encompassing over 370 of latitude and four continental coastlines. Predation on amphipods declined with latitude on all coasts but declined more strongly along western ocean margins where temperature gradients are steeper. Whereas in situ water temperature at the time of the experiments was uncorrelated with predation, mean annual temperature strongly positively predicted predation, suggesting a more complex mechanism than simple increased metabolic activity at the time of predation. This large-scale biogeographic pattern was modified by local habitat characteristics; predation declined with higher shoot density both among and within sites. Predation rates on gastropods, by contrast, were uniformly low and varied little among sites. The high replication and geographic extent of our study not only provides additional evidence to support biogeographic variation in intensity, but also insight into the mechanisms that relate temperature and biogeographic gradients in species interactions
A Pleistocene legacy structures variation in modern seagrass ecosystems
Distribution of Earthâs biomes is structured by the match between climate and plant traits, which in turn shape associated communities and ecosystem processes and services. However, that climateâtrait match can be disrupted by historical events, with lasting ecosystem impacts. As Earthâs environment changes faster than at any time in human history, critical questions are whether and how organismal traits and ecosystems can adjust to altered conditions. We quantified the relative importance of current environmental forcing versus evolutionary history in shaping the growth form (stature and biomass) and associated community of eelgrass ( Zostera marina ), a widespread foundation plant of marine ecosystems along Northern Hemisphere coastlines, which experienced major shifts in distribution and genetic composition during the Pleistocene. We found that eelgrass stature and biomass retain a legacy of the Pleistocene colonization of the Atlantic from the ancestral Pacific range and of more recent within-basin bottlenecks and genetic differentiation. This evolutionary legacy in turn influences the biomass of associated algae and invertebrates that fuel coastal food webs, with effects comparable to or stronger than effects of current environmental forcing. Such historical lags in phenotypic acclimatization may constrain ecosystem adjustments to rapid anthropogenic climate change, thus altering predictions about the future functioning of ecosystems
Relative predation intensity within temperate seagrass habitat during June 2015 (Habitat_Fragmentation project)
Dataset: Nekton predation in seagrassOur investigation of seagrass edge effects on mesopredators and larger predators took place in Back Sound, North Carolina (34 degrees 40 minutes North, 76 degrees 34 minutes West). Predation-driven mortality (loss rates of tethered individuals) of blue crabs and pinfish were monitored within a 5,600 m2 seagrass meadow at Jack's Island along the southern rim of Back Sound. These predation measurements were collected during June-July, 2015, in connection with the global-scale Zostera Experimental Network study.
For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/714252NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-163595
Oyster spat site information from the Pamlico Sound, North Carolina from June to August 2012
Dataset: Oyster spat site informationThis dataset contains site information for oyster spat settlement experiments conducted in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina in 2012.
For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/719190NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-115560