Remote Environments – envirobites

Nineteenth-century whalers questioned why sperm whales were getting drastically more challenging to capture. At the time, whalers of the North Pacific Ocean kept detailed logbooks about sperm whale sightings and harpoon strikes. These logbooks could help provide answers to the problem whalers faced in the 1800s and to the sperm whale populations struggling to recover today. Sperm whales that have encountered whalers might communicate to other sperm whales how to avoid the dangerous whalers. This information transfer between whales could help them adapt to rapidly changing environments.

Climate Remote Environments Science through time

The churning seas are slowing down: The Atlantic Ocean circulation at its weakest in millennia

April 10, 2021April 10, 2021 Lucila Bloemendaal 0 Comments circulation, Climate Change, Ocean

In the Atlantic Ocean there is a giant “river” that affects many aspects of life for us terrestrial dwellers, from the regional climates we enjoy to the sea level at our shore. This “river” is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), one of the planet’s major ocean circulation systems. The ocean has been churning for millenia through this circulation system, but now there are signs of change.

Environmental Science Remote Environments

Plastic Pollution and Penguins?

November 10, 2020November 10, 2020 Elisabeth Lang 0 Comments Antarctica, plastic ocean pollution

Many people may see plastic pollution as a local issue, but did you know that small pieces of plastic have made their way to super remote locations? Plastic pollution has been documented in Antarctica, one of the most remote locations on the planet, for decades. Now though, scientists are finding out that microplastics, which are harmful to marine life, are also making their way to Antarctica. Researchers documented similar levels of microplastics in Antarctica as other, less remote locations globally. While many come from marine industry, we can all help solve the problem by putting less plastic into the environment.

Ecosystems Environmental Science Remote Environments

Some Soil Microbes Don’t Mind Our Camping Trips

October 6, 2020October 6, 2020 Brianne Palmer 0 Comments Arizona, camping, desert, microbial ecology, soil microbes

Have you ever thought about the microorganisms living under your tent while you’re camping? It may seem like setting up the tent and trampling all over the campsite may harm the organisms that live in the soil but new study in the Arizona savanna turns that idea on its head. Read on to learn about camping resistant plants, microbes, and resiliency of this awesome ecosystem.

Animal behavior Ecosystems Environmental Science Remote Environments

Fear the dead: Animal carcasses attract life and death for the wider food web

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 Andrew Abraham 0 Comments

On the 26th August 2016, as storm clouds gather above the alpine plateau of Hardangervidda in southcentral Norway, a herd of wild tundra reindeer grouped together for protection. A split second later, in a moment of miserable luck, the herd fell to the ground dead, having been struck by a bolt of lightning. Norwegian ecologists took this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study how the mass die-off of 323 reindeer has since impacted the local ecology and food web.

Ecosystems Remote Environments

The Soil, Sand, and Sea: The Journey of Microplastics

August 28, 2020August 28, 2020 Lucila Bloemendaal 0 Comments Chemicals, marine pollution, microplastics, oceans, plastic, toxicology

As we approach the start of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in 2021, it is time we face our unseen but ubiquitous problem: microplastics. What do we know about them, where can we find them, and what does the science say on its impacts on our hydrosphere and biosphere?

Animal behavior Remote Environments

Holding Your Breath: Surviving the Heart of Marine Darkness

April 30, 2020June 11, 2020 Lucila Bloemendaal 0 Comments deep-sea, fish, fish biology, ocean exploration, physiology

As you swim through a coral reef, you see parrot fish, clams and other colorful aquatic creatures swimming elegantly and going about their lives. While you, with your snorkel, are confined to the surface of the water and the occasional dive for as long and as deep as you can hold your breath, the fish “breathe” easily with their gills (or lungs in the cases of some evolutionarily interesting fish). But do they breathe that easily? Living in and getting oxygen from a high-pressure aquatic environment is difficult and metabolically demanding, and some fish have found special ways to make it easier.

Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science Remote Environments

Bring on the (prescribed) fire!!!

April 29, 2020April 29, 2020 Luiza Aparecido 0 Comments

Prescribed burns should be applied not only to avoid uncontrolled wildfires, but also to maintain open vegetation types and their biodiversity as fundamental pieces of savannas and grasslands, threatened by fire suppression or modified fire regimes. (Modified from Durigan et al. (2020))

Ecosystems Remote Environments

Bugs from the deep: hyporheic stoneflies contribute much to their Ozark streams

March 16, 2020March 16, 2020 Garrett Frandson 0 Comments insects, Ozarks, secondary production, water

Buried beneath the streambed is another environment home to a population of bugs more important to their local streams than ever before thought!

Case Studies Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science Remote Environments Science through time Toxicology

Unleashing Pollutants: Environmental Fate of Antarctica In a Warmer World

February 7, 2020 Anita Masse 0 Comments Antarctica, Climate Change, Global Warming, Pollution

Antarctica has been a depository for pollutants for decades. The brutal cold has kept them dormant and unable to inflict harmful effects on nature. As temperatures rise and ice melts, what is the fate of these pollutants in this unique landscape?

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