Coastal ecosystems are multidisciplinary research topics encompassing the structure, function, and dynamics of biological communities and physical environments at the land–sea interface, including salt marshes, mangroves, seagrass meadows, tidal flats, estuaries, rocky shores, and coastal dunes. Scientific study focuses on biogeochemical cycles, primary productivity, trophic interactions, sediment transport, and hydrodynamic forcing (tides, waves, currents) that shape habitat distribution and resilience. Research also examines nutrient loading, contaminant fate, habitat fragmentation, and climate-driven stressors such as sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and warming, often integrating remote sensing, numerical modeling, and long-term ecological monitoring to quantify ecosystem services and assess vulnerability to anthropogenic impacts.
Around 80 million years ago, a stretch of tropical coastline in what is now northeastern Italy was lashed by monsoon rains and tropical cyclones. Those storms swept dinosaur carcasses, crocodiles, plants and river mud onto ...
Paleontology & Fossils
3 hours ago
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On a pristine Rhode Island beach teeming with noisy seabirds, a group of biologists armed with nets sneak up on a pair of American oystercatcher chicks.
Ecology
Jul 20, 2026
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A summer beach day in Oregon often involves a cool, gray blanket of fog that not only shapes the experience of beachgoers but also affects the coastal and inland environment. Now, commercially available surfing webcams are ...
Environment
Jul 20, 2026
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Human activities are fundamentally altering the chemical makeup of coral reefs, according to a study led by the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and published in Nature Communications. The research team discovered that 25 contaminants ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 17, 2026
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A new United Nations report co-authored by researchers at the University of Portsmouth provides governments with a practical roadmap for building sustainable blue economies, as pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss ...
Environment
Jul 16, 2026
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Atlantic tarpon are famous for their long-distance migrations, traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles (hundreds to thousands of kilometers) along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. But where they feed along those journeys ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 15, 2026
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Marine scientists at UC Santa Barbara have found that disturbances to giant kelp forests have a major influence on their net primary productivity (NPP)—an indicator of an ecosystem's health and its ability to support its ...
Ecology
Jul 14, 2026
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When residents of two coastal communities along the Sea of Japan reported observing dolphins in nearby waters, it caught the attention of some scientists. The marine environment has been changing rapidly in the Sea of Japan, ...
Ecology
Jul 14, 2026
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Seagrass meadows play a largely overlooked role in providing nutrition for coastal communities, a new study published in Cell Reports Sustainability has found. The research, led by scientists at Project Seagrass and Stockholm ...
Ecology
Jul 9, 2026
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Scientists thought dead plant material was primarily powering the Everglades. Algae says not so fast.
Ecology
Jul 8, 2026
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