New models indicate how dams worldwide influence the mix of nutrients in river water reaching the ocean. As more dams are built, changing nutrient loads may adversely affect coastal ecosystems.
nutrients
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Lasting Legacy of Phosphorus Buried in Lakes
Research at an experimental lake suggests that phosphorus inputs from runoff may affect the health of aquatic ecosystems long after external additions of the nutrient are reduced.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Estuary Research Suffers from Scientific Bias
Researchers are calling for a closer look at nutrient cycling in tropical and low-nutrient estuaries, which have long been overlooked in the scientific literature.
Posted inNews
How Machine Learning Redraws the Map of Ocean Ecosystems
Using an unsupervised learning algorithm, scientists can create new maps of ecosystem provinces in the ocean, opening the possibility of sharper data collection and monitoring.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Will Climate Change Affect Arctic Stream Slime?
Rising temperatures and thawing permafrost will change nutrient concentrations in Arctic waterways, which will influence the growth of biogeochemically important biofilms.
Posted inNews
A Subglacial Lake in Antarctica Churns Out Nutrients
Eight hundred meters below the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, microbes in subglacial Lake Whillans create organic carbon that helps power the Southern Ocean’s vast food chain.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mapping Nutrient Inputs in the Great Lakes Basin
A new tool links nitrogen and phosphorus applications to land use classifications to better understand where and how much of the nutrients enter watersheds in the U.S. Great Lakes Basin.
Posted inNews
Could Wildfire Ash Feed the Ocean’s Tiniest Life-Forms?
Ash falling on the ocean after a wildfire could fuel plankton growth.
Posted inNews
Dust in the Atmosphere May Have Fertilized the Ancient Ocean
New research investigates dust’s role in primary production during the Carboniferous and Permian periods.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Stored Nutrients and Climate Warming Will Feed More Algal Blooms
High nutrient concentrations cause water quality problems in lakes, and as the climate warms, these issues will only get worse. A new model assesses future scenarios and explores solutions.