Estuarine ecosystems are transitional aquatic environments where freshwater from rivers mixes with saline marine waters, creating strong physicochemical gradients in salinity, turbidity, and nutrient concentrations. These systems encompass a mosaic of habitats, including tidal channels, mudflats, salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrass beds, and are characterized by high primary productivity and biogeochemical cycling. Estuaries function as critical nursery areas for many fish and invertebrate species, support complex food webs, and mediate material fluxes between terrestrial and coastal ocean systems. They also exhibit pronounced temporal variability driven by tides, river discharge, and seasonal processes, making them sensitive indicators of watershed- and climate-driven environmental change.
Oceans absorb roughly 25% to 30% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) that is released into the atmosphere. When this CO2 dissolves in seawater, it forms carbonic acid, making the water more acidic and altering its chemistry. Elevated ...
Ecology
Apr 14, 2026
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A crab named for mangrove forests is leaving them behind. New research from William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS shows that the Atlantic mangrove fiddler crab (Leptuca thayeri) is settling into temperate salt marshes along ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 8, 2026
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California's Bay Area may be a culinary hot spot for people, but food options for fish in the San Francisco Estuary have been limited and declining in recent decades. A new study from the University of California, Davis, ...
Ecology
Mar 29, 2026
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New research led by scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography is shining a spotlight on one of the ocean's most overlooked habitats: seagrass. Led by Scripps Oceanography Ph.D. candidate Rilee Sanders, ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 24, 2026
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Every time we do a load of laundry, tiny fibers of polyester escape from our clothes and slip down the drain. These microfibers, so small they can be invisible to the naked eye, are among the most common forms of microplastic ...
During the winters of 2024 and 2025, widespread "spinning fish" events swept through the Florida Keys, impacting more than 80 marine fish species and likely killing hundreds of endangered large juvenile and adult smalltooth ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 17, 2026
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The Chesapeake Bay's most popular crustacean has a dark streak. Cannibalism is the No. 1 killer of juvenile blue crabs in mid-salinity waters where they are known to congregate, according to a new study from the Smithsonian ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 16, 2026
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A prolonged drought in southeastern Connecticut reduced the stability of microorganisms responsible for a critical step in the nitrogen cycle in a coastal salt marsh, according to research led by a Connecticut College scientist ...
Ecology
Mar 3, 2026
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The gilthead seabream, a species of commercial interest that migrates seasonally, does not form independent local populations in the northwestern Mediterranean but instead constitutes a single, functionally connected population ...
Ecology
Feb 26, 2026
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13
New research has identified optimal design for artificial habitats to support restoration of oyster reefs, based on a detailed understanding of natural oyster reef geometry. Published in the global journal Nature, the Sydney-based ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 18, 2026
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