Category: Blog
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New book on metabolic ecology
I was lucky enough to be invited to coauthor a chapter in the now available book Metabolic Ecology: A Scaling Approach (available at Amazon in paperback and as an ebook!). “Most of ecology is about metabolism: the ways that organisms use energy and materials. The energy requirements of individuals – their metabolic rates – vary…
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Some Call it a Slingjaw
The marine environment hosts organisms with incredible shapes, sizes, and colors, yet we often don’t really know how those creatures obtained these interesting traits in the first place. On occasion researchers take these charismatic species from the wild into the lab to conduct studies that can elucidate some of the underlying causes of the incredible…
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Study finds forereef corals most susceptible to warming
Three of my UNC colleagues (including Karl Castillo and Justin Ries) just published an excellent paper in Nature Climate Change (Castillo et al. 2012) “Decline of forereef corals in response to recent warming linked to history of thermal exposure“. The team used a large pneumatic drill to extract cores from 13 colonies of Siderastrea siderea off…
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Yes, North Carolina sea level really is rising
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmW_EQzU_qI&[/youtube]
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Consensus statement on climate change and coral reefs
This comes from the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium, meeting in Cairns this week. I think the statement is largely accurate, although it exaggerates threats to corals from local factors like fishing and pollution. The second phrase of the final sentence (in bold) is demonstrably false; “A concerted effort to preserve reefs for the future…
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New science indicates climate change is the primary threat to coral reefs
Like so many other ecosystems, coral reefs are being greatly impacted by climate change. Greenhouse gases are trapping excess heat from the sun, and more than anything, are warming the oceans from tropical reefs to deep polar seas. Reef corals are sensitive to small amounts of warming. An increase of just a degree or two…
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Bahamas shark tagging: the movie
Check out how Dr. Neil Hammerschlag and his University Of Miami crew tag sharks in the Berry Islands, Bahamas to study their migration patterns and thus, better protect them. You can learn more about UM’s shark conservation program and follow Berry The Tiger Shark here: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjGcmlceOFs[/youtube]
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How did the BP oil spill impact salt marshes?
A new paper in PNAS (Silliman et al 2012) begins to answer that question. BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Exacerbated Existing Environmental Problems in Louisiana Marshes ScienceDaily (June 25, 2012) — The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill temporarily worsened existing human-made problems in Louisiana’s salt marshes such as erosion, but there may be cause for optimism,…
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Fish love GoPros
Marine ecologists have discovered the value of GoPro underwater cameras. In this video, Michael Gil’s GoPro is attacked by a hungry triggerfish (Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus). Read Michael’s description of the event below from his blog. HT to Adrian Stier and thanks to Michael. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m42HmBuNuAE&[/youtube] To pick up where I left off, after the Great Vermetid Surveys of 2012…
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A new study forecasts sea level rise based on 2C of warming and the picture isn’t pretty
Sea levels around the world can be expected to rise by several metres in coming centuries, if global warming carries on. Even if global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, global-mean sea level could continue to rise, reaching between 1.5 and 4 metres above present-day levels by the year 2300, with the best estimate…