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RESEARCH

The Ecosystems Center conducts research in projects from Alaska, Sweden and Russia in the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the streams and pastures of Brazil to the estuaries of New England... More>>>


EDUCATION

The Ecosystems Center is actively involved in education in a variety of ways....More>>>

Semester in Environmental Science
The Semester in Environmental Science (SES) is a 15-week fall semester at the Ecosystems Center.... More>>>

Brown/MBL Graduate Program
Three students are working with Ecosystems Center scientists in the MBL’s graduate program with Brown University... More>>>





Suzanne Thomas and Claire Lunch examine "living crusts," sand glued together by microscopic, photosynthetic organisms. (Zoe Cardon)

Why are the Cape Cod sand dunes crusty?

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View of Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown from the research site at the National Seashore. (Zoe Cardon)

Over the course of the last century, the inland parabolic, or U-shaped, sand dunes at Cape Cod National Seashore have marched from the northwest to the southeast, pushed by winter winds. Aerial photographs show that the dune fronts have moved 130 to 230 meters since 1938, some fronts even intersecting with Route 6.

Close-up of sand crust. (Zoe Cardon)

Distinct plant communities have developed as the dunes envelop trees and create moist troughs. The surface of the dunes is, in some places, surprisingly dark-colored and tough, and the darkened crust turns green with spring rains -- sand in the crust is glued ....>>>



More Ecosystems Center News



ECOSYSTEMS CENTER IN THE MEDIA

Well-known Alaskan author Bill Sherwonit reports on tundra fires in Alaska and research being conducted by Ecosystems Center scientists and others in Yale Environment 360: Arctic Tundra is Being Lost As Far North Quickly Warms.

WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station, featured interviews on its show The Point with Ecosystems Center scientists Hugh Ducklow and Christopher Neill on climate-caused changes to the polar ecosystems. Ducklow spoke live from the Palmer Station Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Antarctica and Neill was in the Woods Hole radio studio.

For more Ecosystems Center scientists in the media, >>>.

SEMINARS

March 23:
Osvaldo Sala, Brown University. Ecosystem sensitivity to climate change in the North American continent. 12:15, Candle House 104/105

March 30:
Kate Hendry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Glassy sponges and the marine silicon cycle. 12:15, Speck Auditorium

Complete list of Spring 2010 seminars.

FEATURES

Scientists studying the effects of deforestation in Panama pose at the Liquid Jungle Laboratory (LJL) on the island of Canales de Tierra, Veraguas Province. The group, led by Ivan Valiela and Anne Giblin, includes Jane Tucker, Rich McHorney, Rita Oliveira Monteiro and Sarah Wilkins from the Ecosystems Center, and researchers from the U. S. Geological Service, Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Universidad Nacional de Mar de Plata, and students from Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and Universidad de Panama.. More>>>

STAFF NEWS


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Jerry Melillo

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Christopher Neil

MBL Names Melillo Distinguished Scientist, Promotes Neill to Senior Scientist

The MBL has honored Jerry Melillo by naming him Distinguished Scientist, a title held by only three scientists in the laboratory's 122-year history. MBL director Gary Borisy praised Melillo, saying that he is "not only an outstanding scientist, but also an advocate with genuine concern for the conservation of nature, and a highly valued colleague and mentor." Melillo has been at the Ecosystems Center since 1976, serving as co-director until last year.

Christopher Neill was promoted to senior scientist. MBL Director Gary Borisy noted Neill's "high quality and diversity of research," along with his "scientific accomplishments and leadership in collaborative research, education and public outreach." Neill is currently a Bullard Fellow in Amazon Ecology at the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts... More>>>

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Germer, S, C. Neill, A. V. Krusche and H. Elsenbeer. 2010. Influence of land-use change on near-surface hydrological processes: Undisturbed forest to pasture. Journal of Hydrology 380:473-480.

Hasagawa, Y. and J. E. Hobbie. 2010. Application of molecular knowledge of microbes to studies of ecological processes: Why the integration is so challenging. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 91:68-79.

Herron, P.M., D. J. Gage and Z. G. Cardon. 2010. Micro-scale water potential gradients visualized in soil around plant root tips using microbiosensors. Plant, Cell, and Environment 33:199-210.

Koop-Jakobsen, K., and A. E. Giblin. 2010. The effect of increased nitrate loading on nitrate reduction via denitrification and DNRA in salt marsh sediments. Limnology and Oceanography 55: 789-802.

Moran, X. A. G., A. Calvo-Diaz, and H.W. Ducklow. 2010. Total and phytoplankton mediated bottom-up control of bacterioplankton change with temperature in NE Atlantic shelf waters. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 58:229-239.

Olsen, Y. S., S. E. Fox, E. K. Kinney, M. Teichberg, and I. Valiela. 2010. Differences in urbanization and degree of marine influence are reflected in δ13C and δ15N of producers and consumers in seagrass habitats of Puerto Rico. Marine Environmental Research 69: 198–206

Yano, Y., G. R. Shaver, A. E. Giblin and E. B. Rastetter. 2010. Depleted 15N in hydrolysable-N of arctic soils and its implication for mycorrhizal fungi-plant interaction. Biogeochemistry. 97 (2-3):183-194.

Full Publications List