Tag: science
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Taking the tide out of tidal marshes
In a study recently published in Environmental Research: Ecology, researchers used vector autoregression and Granger causality testing to uncover how tide influences biogeochemistry in a salt marsh off the coast of Georgia, USA. Combining measurements from a low-cost dissolved CO2 (pCO2) sensor platform with tide gage observations throughout the course of one month allowed scientists…
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Slowing Climate Change with Coastal Enhanced Weathering
Coastal enhanced weathering is a nature-based climate solution in which sand reacts with seawater to store more carbon in the oceans. It works in marine ecosystems by increasing pH and thus pushing the carbonate equilibrium forward. The result is that ocean water becomes less acidic and can absorb more atmospheric CO2. The enhanced weathering reaction…
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How Diverse Canopies Absorb More Carbon
As the climate crisis becomes more dire, planting trees and turning green space into forest is no longer enough to balance carbon emissions. Negative emissions technologies need to be implemented, but also, existing forests and other ecosystems need to be optimized for maximum productivity. Managing forests and other ecosystems will allow them to perform photosynthesis…
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The Science of Depression
The mind is an incredibly powerful tool. Thoughts and beliefs can formulate individual actions, which can motivate people to make significant changes in society and the world. But what happens when peoples’ beliefs, crafted by very powerful minds, are the exact things holding them back? Although help exists for those experiencing clinical depression, a third…
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Recovering Carbon on the California Coast
As the world is increasingly impacted by climate change, people are turning to nature-based climate solutions to increase carbon storage and limit emissions from the world’s ecosystems. Restoring degraded wetlands is an especially popular natural climate solution in the state of California, where land is literally sinking due to the removal of groundwater. By measuring…
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Wetlands Stop Emitting Methane When Water Level Is Too High – But Is That a Good Thing?
High water levels result in higher wetland methane emissions for a couple reasons. First, more water on the wetland surface creates the ideal oxygen-deprived conditions for microbial growth down in the soil. Methanogenic microbes ramp up the process of methanogenesis, producing methane to send up through the water as diffuse gas. Second, wetland plants continue…
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Spooky Season
It’s that time of year when creepy pumpkins adorn porch steps, kids jump into piles of crispy leaves, and witches brew hard cider. It is what some like to call the “spooky season”. In the Northern Hemisphere, spooky season (i.e., meteorological fall) lasts from the first day of September to the last day of November.…
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A Sine of the Tides
My fourth week of fieldwork on Sapelo Island, Georgia started off with a drive through the small nearby town of Darien before we caught the ferry over to the long-term field site. The most popular place to grab a bite to eat in Darien, Georgia is probably Skippers’ Fish Camp, which offers all kinds of…
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Sapelo Island Week Three
Sea oats have everything you are looking for looking for in a plant: shade tolerance, perenniality, general hardiness. They provide food for small mammals and birds, can be used for bird nesting material, and host Skipper butterfly caterpillars. Gardeners and home decorators are encouraged to purchase sea oat seeds from nurseries rather than pick their…
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Sapelo Island Week Two
Dolphins look like sharks lingering near the shallows of Sapelo Island’s coastal estuary, where the marsh meets muddy brackish water. But if you look closely, the slow roll of their fin down into the water and then back up a few seconds later gives them away. That’s the point where I can breathe again and…
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