24 posts · 28,687 views
Commentary on a range of issues concerning the natural world. Topics discussed here are broadly centered around ecology, biogeography, environmental issues, and anthropogenic impacts, especially in the oceans. Politics and culture enter the fray as well.
Uncharted Atolls
24 posts
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- February 28, 2011
- 10:03 AM
- 1,782 views
Distinct communities on a Tyrrhenian seamount
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Using a Remotely Operated Vehicle, researchers surveyed a large seamount in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Italy, finding three distinct biological communities. Seamounts, undersea mountains, can hugely affect the way water flows in an area and can provide hard substrate for benthic animals. These features are generally acknowledged to be potential hotspots in [...]... Read more »
Bo M, Bertolino M, Borghini M, Castellano M, Covazzi Harriague A, Di Camillo CG, Gasparini G, Misic C, Povero P, Pusceddu A.... (2011) Characteristics of the mesophotic megabenthic assemblages of the vercelli seamount (north tyrrhenian sea). PloS one, 6(2). PMID: 21304906
Wessel, P, Sandwell, DT, & Kim, SS. (2010) The global seamount census. Oceanography, 23(1), 24-33. info:/
- March 23, 2011
- 09:15 AM
- 1,652 views
Crushing predators reinvade the Antarctic benthos
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
In Gotham, Batman drives a batmobile that shoots fire out the back and has all sorts of mechanical wizardry so he can catch fiends in style. Or something close to that, unless my childhood was dreadfully misinformed. He isn’t supposed … Continue reading →... Read more »
Aronson RB, Moody RM, Ivany LC, Blake DB, Werner JE, & Glass A. (2009) Climate change and trophic response of the Antarctic bottom fauna. PloS one, 4(2). PMID: 19194490
GILI, J., ARNTZ, W., PALANQUES, A., OREJAS, C., CLARKE, A., DAYTON, P., ISLA, E., TEIXIDO, N., ROSSI, S., & LOPEZGONZALEZ, P. (2006) A unique assemblage of epibenthic sessile suspension feeders with archaic features in the high-Antarctic. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 53(8-10), 1029-1052. DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2005.10.021
Clarke, A., Murphy, E., Meredith, M., King, J., Peck, L., Barnes, D., & Smith, R. (2007) Climate change and the marine ecosystem of the western Antarctic Peninsula. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 362(1477), 149-166. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2006.1958
Thatje, S., Anger, K., Calcagno, J., Lovrich, G., Pörtner, H., & Arntz, W. (2005) CHALLENGING THE COLD: CRABS RECONQUER THE ANTARCTIC. Ecology, 86(3), 619-625. DOI: 10.1890/04-0620
- February 10, 2010
- 11:16 PM
- 1,613 views
Plight of Staghorn Coral
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
With any luck, I’ll be discussing a specific anthozoan (or maybe groups of anthozoans) each week. Anthozoa is a class of marine organisms within the phylum Cnidaria, and consists of corals, anemones, and sea pens. There are over 6000 anthozoans (that we know of—likely lots more, particularly in the hugely undersampled deep-sea), and most Cnidarian [...]... Read more »
Hemond, E., & Vollmer, S. (2010) Genetic Diversity and Connectivity in the Threatened Staghorn Coral (Acropora cervicornis) in Florida. PLoS ONE, 5(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008652
- September 24, 2010
- 08:46 AM
- 1,535 views
Symbiotic Foreclosure: coral bleaching predictions and a potential acclimation mechanism
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—issued a press release on September 22nd declaring coral bleaching likely in the Caribbean. NOAA reports that: With temperatures above-average all year, NOAA’s models show a strong potential for bleaching in the southern and southeastern … Continue reading →... Read more »
Douglas AE. (2003) Coral bleaching--how and why?. Marine pollution bulletin, 46(4), 385-92. PMID: 12705909
Jones, A., & Berkelmans, R. (2010) Potential Costs of Acclimatization to a Warmer Climate: Growth of a Reef Coral with Heat Tolerant vs. Sensitive Symbiont Types. PLoS ONE, 5(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010437
- April 3, 2011
- 07:49 PM
- 1,494 views
Is the Earth’s sixth mass extinction looming near and large?
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Ideally, your expenses are offset by your paycheck, so as you spend money for say, rent and food, you have cash coming in. On the surface at least, this is similar to the dovetailing of extinction and speciation. The vast … Continue reading →... Read more »
Barnosky AD, Matzke N, Tomiya S, Wogan GO, Swartz B, Quental TB, Marshall C, McGuire JL, Lindsey EL, Maguire KC.... (2011) Has the Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived?. Nature, 471(7336), 51-7. PMID: 21368823
- December 10, 2010
- 10:29 AM
- 1,482 views
Boom: the destruction and rebirth of a marine ecosystem.
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
In 1883, the world shuddered as the loudest known sound in human history echoed from its epicenter in Indonesia. The noise generated by Krakatoa, a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait, was heard over 3,000 kilometers aways both to the … Continue reading →... Read more »
C. J. Starger, P. H. Barber, Ambariyanto, & A. C. Baker. (2010) The recovery of coral genetic diversity in the Sunda Strait following the 1883 eruption of Krakatau. Coral Reefs, 547-565. info:/10.1007/s00338-010-0609-2
- March 12, 2010
- 10:01 PM
- 1,448 views
Move over cows! Methane outgassing in the Arctic Sea
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Methane! Move over cow flatulence and burping, methane is leaking from under the Arctic in a big way. Methane, that innocuous-seeming molecule with 4 hydrogens and a carbon, is actually a more potent greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide molecule of greater fame–up to 25 times more potent actually. However, atmospheric methane concentrations are much [...]... Read more »
Shakhova, N., Semiletov, I., Salyuk, A., Yusupov, V., Kosmach, D., & Gustafsson, O. (2010) Extensive Methane Venting to the Atmosphere from Sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. Science, 327(5970), 1246-1250. DOI: 10.1126/science.1182221
- September 9, 2010
- 09:19 AM
- 1,437 views
Human sacrifices, uranium, and corals
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
The development of shrines and temple architecture associated with chiefdoms and early states is thought to be a slow process. In Mesoamerica, a sequence of architectural evolution took 1300 years, according to archaeological evidence. However, this may not always be … Continue reading →... Read more »
Sharp, W., Kahn, J., Polito, C., & Kirch, P. (2010) Rapid evolution of ritual architecture in central Polynesia indicated by precise 230Th/U coral dating. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(30), 13234-13239. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1005063107
- March 16, 2011
- 09:36 AM
- 1,407 views
Frontiers: The deep sea and climate
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
When we think about climate change and the ocean, many minds turn immediately to images of shallow-water corals, bleached white from the lack of zooxanthellae (internal, photosynthetic symbionts), driven away by heat and other types of stress. However, the consequences … Continue reading →... Read more »
Ramirez-Llodra, E., Brandt, A., Danovaro, R., Escobar, E., German, C., Levin, L., Martinez Arbizu, P., Menot, L., Buhl-Mortensen, P., Narayanaswamy, B.... (2010) Deep, diverse and definitely different: unique attributes of the world's largest ecosystem. Biogeosciences Discussions, 7(2), 2361-2485. DOI: 10.5194/bgd-7-2361-2010
Hoegh-Guldberg O, Mumby PJ, Hooten AJ, Steneck RS, Greenfield P, Gomez E, Harvell CD, Sale PF, Edwards AJ, Caldeira K.... (2007) Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science (New York, N.Y.), 318(5857), 1737-42. PMID: 18079392
Pearson PN, & Palmer MR. (2000) Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over the past 60 million years. Nature, 406(6797), 695-9. PMID: 10963587
Yasuhara M, Cronin TM, Demenocal PB, Okahashi H, & Linsley BK. (2008) Abrupt climate change and collapse of deep-sea ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(5), 1556-60. PMID: 18227517
Danovaro, R., Dell'Anno, A., & Pusceddu, A. (2004) Biodiversity response to climate change in a warm deep sea. Ecology Letters, 7(9), 821-828. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00634.x
- February 18, 2010
- 08:05 AM
- 1,399 views
MPAs reduce coral cover loss. Now we need more of them.
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Marine protected areas (MPAs) can be an effective means to conserve coral reef communities. These areas can provide refuges for larvae, help restore healthy food webs, and help mitigate overgrowth via macroalgae by preventing the overexploitation of grazers in coral reef ecosystems. This last point is an especially important one…for example, in the aftermath of [...]... Read more »
Carilli, J., Norris, R., Black, B., Walsh, S., & McField, M. (2009) Local Stressors Reduce Coral Resilience to Bleaching. PLoS ONE, 4(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006324
Mumby, P., & Harborne, A. (2010) Marine Reserves Enhance the Recovery of Corals on Caribbean Reefs. PLoS ONE, 5(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008657
Selig, E., & Bruno, J. (2010) A Global Analysis of the Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in Preventing Coral Loss. PLoS ONE, 5(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009278
- February 26, 2011
- 09:23 PM
- 1,379 views
Lunar cycles and reproduction in the deep sea
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Some biological patterns in marine species, particularly concerning reproduction, are related to the moon. Shallow-ocean corals, for example, undergo mass spawning events (the synchronous release of eggs and sperm into the water column to combine), the timing of which, are set to the lunar clock. Reef fishes, shallow-ocean echinoderms, mollusks and more, also time spawning [...]... Read more »
Mercier A, Sun Z, Baillon S, & Hamel JF. (2011) Lunar rhythms in the deep sea: evidence from the reproductive periodicity of several marine invertebrates. Journal of biological rhythms, 26(1), 82-6. PMID: 21252369
Ramirez-Llodra E, et al. (2010) Deep, diverse and definitely different: unique attributes of the world’s largest ecosystem. Biogeosciences, 7(9), 2851-2899. info:/10.5194/bgd-7-2361-2010
- October 20, 2010
- 02:02 PM
- 1,373 views
Whale poop can enhance ocean productivity
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
The biological pump, a way of moving nutrients and carbon down the water column, in the ocean is fairly straight-forward. Phytoplankton–tiny, photosynthesizing critters bobbing around in the surface ocean–are eaten by larger organisms, like zooplankton and fish. When the zooplankton … Continue reading →... Read more »
Roman J, & McCarthy JJ. (2010) The whale pump: marine mammals enhance primary productivity in a coastal basin. PloS one, 5(10). PMID: 20949007
- May 13, 2010
- 01:00 PM
- 1,326 views
Acidification and Extinctions
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
“Human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future. Within a few centuries, we are returning to the atmosphere and oceans the concentrated organic carbon stored in sedimentary rocks over hundreds of millions of years.” - [...]... Read more »
Veron, J. (2008) Mass extinctions and ocean acidification: biological constraints on geological dilemmas. Coral Reefs, 27(3), 459-472. DOI: 10.1007/s00338-008-0381-8
- September 21, 2010
- 10:06 AM
- 1,254 views
Seamount mythbusting
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Seamounts—mountains beneath the waves—may not be conventionally thought of as large habitats on the global ecological stage, compared to say, forests or estuaries. But there’s quite a bit of them to say the least, perhaps in the hundreds of thousands. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Etnoyer PJ, Wood J, Shirley TC. (2010) How large is the seamount biome?. Oceanography, 23(1), 206-209. info:/
Rowden, A., Dower, J., Schlacher, T., Consalvey, M., & Clark, M. (2010) Paradigms in seamount ecology: fact, fiction and future. Marine Ecology, 226-241. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00400.x
Tittensor, D., Baco, A., Hall-Spencer, J., Orr, J., & Rogers, A. (2010) Seamounts as refugia from ocean acidification for cold-water stony corals. Marine Ecology, 212-225. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00393.x
- February 6, 2010
- 07:12 PM
- 1,209 views
Emergent Conservation Issues
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
A recent article (Sutherland et al. 2010) from Trends in Ecology and Evolution provides insight on several emerging research areas through a practice called ‘horizon scanning’—really, a sciency way to say that the authors shortlisted environmental issues that they collectively felt were important, merited further discussion, and could effect biodiversity. The point is made that [...]... Read more »
Sutherland, W., Clout, M., Côté, I., Daszak, P., Depledge, M., Fellman, L., Fleishman, E., Garthwaite, R., Gibbons, D., & De Lurio, J. (2010) A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2010. Trends in Ecology , 25(1), 1-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2009.10.003
- February 4, 2010
- 03:41 PM
- 1,112 views
Ocean Acidification (Holy Carbonate Chemistry, Batman!)
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
A condensed review of ocean acidification and its proposed effects on scleractinian corals--a methodological focus.... Read more »
JURY, C., WHITEHEAD, R., & SZMANT, A. (2009) Effects of variations in carbonate chemistry on the calcification rates of Wells, 1973): bicarbonate concentrations best predict calcification rates . Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02057.x
Orr, J., Fabry, V., Aumont, O., Bopp, L., Doney, S., Feely, R., Gnanadesikan, A., Gruber, N., Ishida, A., Joos, F.... (2005) Anthropogenic ocean acidification over the twenty-first century and its impact on calcifying organisms. Nature, 437(7059), 681-686. DOI: 10.1038/nature04095
- August 13, 2011
- 01:38 PM
- 951 views
Beautiful intruders: the misplaced lionfish
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) populations have drastically exploded in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean in the past decade, and not without attracting some attention. The trouble is that these gorgeous fish sporting an array of venomous spines are invasive species. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Barbour AB, Allen MS, Frazer TK, & Sherman KD. (2011) Evaluating the potential efficacy of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) removals. PloS one, 6(5). PMID: 21572951
Betancur-R., R., Hines, A., Acero P., A., Ortí, G., Wilbur, A., & Freshwater, D. (2011) Reconstructing the lionfish invasion: insights into Greater Caribbean biogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 38(7), 1281-1293. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02496.x
Mumby PJ, Harborne AR, & Brumbaugh DR. (2011) Grouper as a natural biocontrol of invasive lionfish. PloS one, 6(6). PMID: 21731769
- October 17, 2010
- 09:15 PM
- 875 views
A cautiously-optimistic call to arms in coral reef science
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Coral reef ecosystems are under assault from multiple stressors. These range from local to global disturbances, some falling into the realm of naturally-induced. Some of these disturbances can be exacerbated through anthropogenic means. Some of the most insidious threats to these … Continue reading →... Read more »
Baker AC, Starger CJ, McClanahan TR, & Glynn PW. (2004) Coral reefs: corals' adaptive response to climate change. Nature, 430(7001), 741. PMID: 15306799
Coffroth MA, Poland DM, Petrou EL, Brazeau DA, & Holmberg JC. (2010) Environmental symbiont acquisition may not be the solution to warming seas for reef-building corals. PloS one, 5(10). PMID: 20949064
Hughes TP, Graham NA, Jackson JB, Mumby PJ, & Steneck RS. (2010) Rising to the challenge of sustaining coral reef resilience. Trends in ecology . PMID: 20800316
- August 20, 2011
- 05:40 PM
- 867 views
Human pathogen can cause coral disease
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Despite the resilience of corals as a taxonomic group through geologic time, warming oceans, shifting seawater chemistry, overfishing, pollution, and disease currently threaten these habitat-building invertebrates with many coral reef ecosystems in a state of decline. Researchers have identified a bacterium, Serratia marcescens as the cause … Continue reading →... Read more »
Sutherland, K., Shaban, S., Joyner, J., Porter, J., & Lipp, E. (2011) Human Pathogen Shown to Cause Disease in the Threatened Eklhorn Coral Acropora palmata. PLoS ONE, 6(8). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023468
- December 7, 2010
- 08:28 AM
- 843 views
Sea Lions and Adoption
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
Alloparental care among animal populations, or parents caring for young who are not directly related, is well known in mammal and bird species; however, the role of alloparental behavior on population demographics is largely unknown. Does such care actually allow … Continue reading →... Read more »
Flatz R, & Gerber LR. (2010) First evidence for adoption in California sea lions. PloS one, 5(11). PMID: 21079727
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