Marine reserves play an important role in sustaining ecosystem diversity and abundance. Their presence enables certain species to return to a natural size structure, which enables predators to control destructive prey.
Ecology
Jan 25, 2017
0
8
Thirty years ago a mysterious disease wiped out long-spined black sea urchins across the Caribbean, leading to massive algal overgrowth that smothered already overfished coral reefs. Now, marine biologists at the Smithsonian ...
Environment
Jan 5, 2017
0
47
When Brown University Professor Jon Witman returned this year to a small patch of coral off the Galápagos Islands that he had first marked off for study in 2000, he saw virtually nothing—and that told him a lot. An underwater ...
Environment
Dec 22, 2016
0
11
Some sea creatures cover themselves with hard shells and spines, while vertebrates build skeletons out of the same minerals. How do these animals get the calcium they need to build these strong mineral structures? Professors ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 5, 2016
0
5
A new study recently published in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles offers clues to the potential impact of ocean acidification deep-sea, shell-forming organisms.
Environment
Sep 14, 2016
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18
The balmy waters of the Caribbean could turn into a deadly heat trap for countless tiny creatures. Authors of a new study conducted at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama discovered that microscopic ...
Environment
Aug 15, 2016
1
16
Sea urchins are remarkable organisms. They can quickly regrow damaged spines and feet. Some species also live to extraordinary old ages and—even more remarkably—do so with no signs of poor health, such as a decline in ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 25, 2016
2
749
Researchers have uncovered a fossil sea urchin that pushes back a fork in its family tree by 10 million years, according to a new study.
Archaeology
Nov 4, 2015
0
74
Scientists have used computer simulations to reconstruct feeding in the common ancestor shared between humans and starfish, which lived over half a billion years ago.
Archaeology
Oct 28, 2015
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31
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham appear to have found a better way to grow shrimp that is also less expensive, and the new process could hold the key to unlocking future breakthroughs in environmental ...
Ecology
Oct 20, 2015
0
117
