2 faculty positions in estuarine and marine processes (rank open)

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory

Target date for receipt of applications: December 20, 2010

We invite applications for two tenure-track faculty positions in marine biogeochemistry and marine / estuarine ecology that will complement and enhance our existing programs in biogeochemistry, ecology, fisheries science and ecotoxicology. We seek candidates who conduct trans-disciplinary research in cross-cutting areas such as the cycling and transformations of organic matter within and among marine and estuarine systems, including biogeochemical interactions in sediments.

Oceans acidify much faster than ever before in Earth’s history

Conference: More than 200 scientists from all over Europe discuss increasing ocean acidification

For four days the topic of ocean acidification will be the focus of marine and polar research. The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Hemholtz Association is hosting the conference and expects more than 200 scientists from all over Europe at the Conference Center Bremerhaven.

The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide not only leads to global climate warming, but also to increasing acidification of the oceans. Next week scientists will discuss the most recent results on ocean acidification at the first joint meeting of the three large coordinated projects, EPOCA (European Project on Ocean Acidification), the German project BIOACID (Biological Impacts of Ocean ACIDification) and UK project UKOARP (UK Ocean Acidification Research Program).

Climate change effects on fishes and fisheries: towards a cause-and-effect understanding

Ongoing climate change is predicted to affect individual organisms during all life stages, thereby affecting populations of a species, communities and the functioning of ecosystems. These effects of climate change can be direct, through changing water temperatures and associated phenologies, the lengths and frequency of hypoxia events, through ongoing ocean acidification trends or through shifts in hydrodynamics and in sea level. In some cases, climate interactions with a species will also, or mostly, be indirect and mediated through direct effects on key prey species which change the composition and dynamic coupling of food webs. Thus, the implications of climate change for marine fish populations can be seen to result from phenomena at four interlinked levels of biological organization: (1) organismal-level physiological changes will occur in response to changing environmental variables such as temperature, dissolved oxygen and ocean carbon dioxide levels. An integrated view of relevant effects, adaptation processes and tolerance limits is provided by the concept of oxygen and capacity-limited thermal tolerance (OCLT). (2) Individual-level behavioural changes may occur such as the avoidance of unfavourable conditions and, if possible, movement into suitable areas. (3) Population-level changes may be observed via changes in the balance between rates of mortality, growth and reproduction. This includes changes in the retention or dispersion of early life stages by ocean currents, which lead to the establishment of new populations in new areas or abandonment of traditional habitats. (4) Ecosystem-level changes in productivity and food web interactions will result from differing physiological responses by organisms at different levels of the food web. The shifts in biogeography and warming-induced biodiversity will affect species productivity and may, thus, explain changes in fisheries economies. This paper tries to establish links between various levels of biological organization by means of addressing the effective physiological principles at the cellular, tissue and whole organism levels.

UAB researchers receive grant to study Antarctic ocean acidification

The National Science Foundation awarded a $625,499 grant to the University of Alabama at Birmingham to study the effects of ocean acidification and rising sea surface temperatures on shallow-water benthic organisms in Antarctica on September 20, 2010.

This is a three year study that resulted from the work of James B McClintock (Department of Biology – Physiology & Ecology of Aquatic & Marine Invertebrates), Charles Amsler (marine algal ecophysiologist from the UAB Biology Department), and Robert Angus (Professor Biology – Endocrine disrupters in aquatic models).

Acidification of oceans may contribute to global declines of shellfish, study by Stony Brook scientists concludes

The acidification of the Earth’s oceans due to rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) may be contributing to a global decline of clams, scallops and other shellfish by interfering with the development of shellfish larvae, according to two Stony Brook University scientists, whose findings are published online and in the current issue of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) entitled, “Effects of past, present, and future ocean carbon dioxide concentrations on the growth and survival of larval shellfish.”