Aquatic biology is a subdiscipline of biological sciences focused on the structure, function, and interactions of organisms inhabiting freshwater and marine environments. It examines physiological adaptations to aquatic conditions, population and community dynamics, trophic interactions, and biogeochemical cycling within lakes, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, and oceans. Research in aquatic biology often integrates ecology, microbiology, evolutionary biology, and environmental chemistry to analyze primary productivity, nutrient fluxes, and responses of aquatic biota to abiotic drivers such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and contaminants. The field underpins aquatic ecosystem assessment, conservation, and management by providing mechanistic insight into biodiversity patterns and ecosystem processes.
Christopher Rounds is a scientist who studies walleye in Minnesota, but he doesn't use a boat or a net or even a laboratory.
Plants & Animals
Dec 16, 2025
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In most narratives, the story of evolution is the story of organisms emerging from the ocean and eventually populating the land. But for some species, that evolution also involved a return trip. Dozens of major mammal and ...
Evolution
Nov 20, 2025
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157
An international research team has developed an innovative model that explains how elongated amphibious animals—such as eels—coordinate movement both in water and on land. Their study is published in the Proceedings of the ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 5, 2025
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In 2023, researchers from many career stages and disciplines met at a field school in the Arctic to probe floating sea ice. It's an example of the kind of interdisciplinary training experience that authors of a new perspective ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 3, 2025
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12
A first database has been compiled of the frog and freshwater fish species on hundreds of Australian islands.
Plants & Animals
Aug 14, 2025
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25
For years, scientists at Washington State University's Puyallup Research & Extension Center have been working to untangle a mystery: Why do coho salmon in Puget Sound creeks seem to suffocate after rainstorms—rising to the ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 13, 2025
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191
Trevor Pitcher's students at the University of Windsor's Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research have made breakthroughs in the international effort to restore sturgeon populations in the Great Lakes.
Environment
Aug 11, 2025
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56
Africa's tropical belt, defined by the Guinean forests of west Africa and the Congo Basin of central Africa, is globally recognized for its astounding biodiversity.
Plants & Animals
Jul 14, 2025
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Queensland scientists have pioneered a new method to assess the long-term risks posed by toxicants such as insecticides in rivers and the ocean.
Ecology
Jun 23, 2025
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Inactive ingredients in agricultural, pharmaceutical, and other common products have typically been excluded from consideration as potential contaminants in drinking water. However, while these chemicals are inert in certain ...
Environment
Apr 15, 2025
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