A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examined nitrogen fixation among diazotrophs—microorganisms that can convert nitrogen into usable form for other plants and animals—living among sargassum.
Thanks to extremely high ocean temps, coral reefs are dying like we've never seen before. Research scientists are doing anything and everything to help - it's a race against time.
The climate crisis is severely affecting marine ecosystems around the world and the Mediterranean is not an exception. Marine heat waves associated with this crisis are causing massive mortality events throughout the basin.
New research published today in Nature has revealed the importance of mineral forms of iron in regulating the cycling of this bio-essential nutrient in the ocean.
The first-ever study to look at drivers of both marine heatwaves and cold spells in the shallow nearshore along the California Current.
This study provided the first demonstration that replacing forage fish with formulated diets could increase the amino acid content and alter the muscle fiber features in the muscle of largemouth bass. The experimental results shed light on the molecular basis of how formulated diets affect muscle characters, and lay the ground-work for future nutritional regulation and genetic improvements in the meat quality of largemouth bass.
The red swamp crayfish—found originally in tropical regions—has become a highly invasive species across the globe. Over the years, they have successfully colonized habitats much colder than their original habitats, but the factors determining their cold resistance have remained elusive. Recently, a group of researchers in Japan has discovered genes that may help the red swamp crayfish produce protective proteins and adapt to the cold.
With mighty jaws and plate-like teeth, the globally endangered whitespotted eagle ray can pretty much crunch on anything. Yet, little information is available on critical components of their life history in the U.S., such as their diet.
The pygmy right whale is an enigma in the whale world. Not only is it the smallest of the characteristically large filter-feeding baleen whales, but it’s also rarely sighted and seldom studied – partly because of its inconspicuous nature and resemblance to minke whales.
Resilient corals, often referred to as ‘super corals’, have recently been seen as potential saviours in the face of climate change and its detrimental effects on coral reefs. Now, a team of scientists is working to better understand these corals in order to develop strategies to protect fragile ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef.
University of Miami Rosenstiel School researchers Daniel Suman and Claire B. Paris-Limouzy are co-authors of a recent journal article that outlines ways to achieve greater equity in ocean governance and science in the global tropics. And one of those ways is by allowing residents to have a say in policy making.
Just in time for Shark Week, researchers are trawling deep underwater to learn more about the ghostlike fish that lurks on the ocean floor
A team of scientists have identified an ‘orphan’ gene—a gene with no identifiable homologous sequences in other species or lineages—in the seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis.
In a new study published in JMIRx Bio, one of JMIR Publications’ new overlay journals, scientist Floe Foxon explores whether the Loch Ness Monster, a creature in Scottish folklore, could be a giant eel. Using previous estimates of the monster’s size to predict the probability of encountering a large eel of a similar size, the study found that giant eels could not account for sightings of larger animals in Loch Ness, a freshwater lake in the Scottish Highlands.
Can biosurfactants increase microbiological oil degradation in North Sea seawater? An international research team from the universities of Stuttgart und Tübingen, together with the China West Normal University and the University of Georgia, have been exploring this question and the results have revealed the potential for a more effective and environmentally friendly oil spill response.
Tourists acting as citizen scientists have helped a research team detect microplastics on remote Arctic beaches.
Humanity has a long track record of making big changes with little forethought. From fossil fuels to AI, plastics to pesticides, we love innovating away our problems, only to find we’ve created different ones.
To learn more about the broadnose sevengill shark, Cal State Fullerton biological science student Ryan Le is using DNA to study its genetic diversity and breeding population throughout Southern California’s coast.
Researchers demonstrates the efficacy of curcumin, a natural antioxidant substance extracted from turmeric, in reducing coral bleaching, a phenomenon caused primarily by climate change.
No, oxygen didn’t catalyze the swift blossoming of Earth’s first multicellular organisms. The result defies a 70-year-old assumption about what caused an explosion of oceanic fauna hundreds of millions of years ago.
Fertilizer restrictions along Florida’s 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon were intended to reduce nutrient inputs from urban and agricultural land uses. The hope was that water quality would improve by reducing the nitrogen load. While these restrictions were well-intended, a study finds fertilizer use is not the root cause of the lagoon’s environmental issues. It’s sewage. For decades, fertilizer use was implicated for about 71 percent of the lagoon’s environmental impairments. In fact, current estimates show 79 percent of nitrogen loading is from septic systems; 21 percent is from residential fertilizer use.
For approximately 3,000 years, generations of green sea turtles have returned to the same seagrass meadows to eat.
Advanced simulations help researchers understand the processes underlying the projected warming of the Arabian Sea and the southeastern Indian Ocean.
In a new study, researchers have found that the restoration efforts of the critically endangered species elkhorn coral depend largely on the animal’s location, microbiome, and the right conditions to provide an abundance of food.
A new study reveals that even colonies affected by SCTLD can play a vital role in the assisted sexual reproduction for the restoration of SCTLD-susceptible species.
Rising ocean temperatures are sweeping the seas, breaking records and creating problematic conditions for marine life. Unlike heatwaves on land, periods of abrupt ocean warming can surge for months or years.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Catherine Royer, Constellation Chair Professor of Bioinformatics and Biocomputation at the Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) and professor of biological sciences, has received a grant of over $400,000 from the National Science Foundation to investigate enzymes from organisms living in deep sea environments.
Rates of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Pacific hake fishery rise during years when ocean temperatures are warmer, a signal that climate change and increased frequency of marine heatwaves could lead to higher bycatch rates, new research indicates.
Monika Wieland Shields, Director of the Orca Behavior Institute, has observed orcas in the Salish Sea, a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington, since 2000.
An international team of scientists examining the genetic history of sea snakes have found that the species has enhanced their colour vision in response to living in brighter and more colourful marine environments.
Researchers have finally settled a decades-long dispute about the evolutionary origins of the pygmy right whale.
Biologists attempting to conserve and restore denuded environments are limited by their scant knowledge of what those environments looked like before the arrival of humans.
A new study reveals the iconic extinct Megalodon, or ‘megatooth shark’, was a rather slow cruiser that used its warm-bloodedness to facilitate digestion and absorption of nutrients.
New research has found that the design of biodegradable fishing gear needs to improve if it is to help address the environmental and economic impacts of ‘ghost fishing’.
Cichlids represent the most diverse adaptions of vertebrates in the world, and most of them live in the freshwater African Great Lakes. Michael Pauers of UW-Milwaukee and Titus Phiri, at the Malawi Department of Fisheries, have added several new species of the colorful fish – in the genus Labeotropheus.
The invasive Asian clam is more common in the lower Columbia River than its native habitat of southeast Asia, according to a study of the clam’s abundance in the river.
We humans can be a scary acquaintance for whales in the wild. This includes marine biologists tagging them with measuring devices to understand them better.
New research led by the University of Washington uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how seabirds have fared in recent decades. The paper, published July 6 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, shows that persistent marine heat waves lead to massive seabird die-offs months later.
The extensive study assessed the movements of 7,137 individual birds from 77 species of petrel, a group of wide-ranging migratory seabirds including the Northern Fulmar and European Storm-petrel, and the Critically Endangered Newell’s Shearwater.
Changes in water conditions interact to affect how Trinidadian guppies protect themselves from predators, scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered.
In a study published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology, this international team of scientists, led by a University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa researcher, revealed a strategy for choosing a set of key coral species that will best maintain ecosystem functions critical for reef health.
Amazon river dolphins are under threat from fishing and proposed new dams and dredging, research shows. Scientists used satellite tags to track eight dolphins in the Peruvian Amazon, to discover where they went in relation to fishing areas and proposed dams and dredging sites.
New research by University of Utah biologists demonstrates how female zebrafish produce a sunblocking compound called gadusol and apply it to their eggs, providing embryonic fish protection from ultraviolet radiation.
Scientists studying endangered southern resident killer whales have observed a strong increase in the prevalence of skin disease in this population.
An analysis of oxygen levels in Earth’s oceans may provide some rare, good news about the health of the seas in a future, globally warmed world.
From growls to booms, whales, fish and crustaceans all produce sounds. Selecting the gregarious Goliath grouper, researchers deployed a novel automated detector and localization model to find underwater marine organisms using their low-frequency pulse sounds.
Magnetotactic bacteria, which can align with the Earth’s magnetic field, have been discovered in a new location.
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