 |
 |
|
| 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?
|
 |
|
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 ....>>>
|
|
|
|
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.
Palmer Station is featured in the December 21 issue of The New Yorker . The Ice Retreat: Global warming and the Adélie penguin, by Fen Montaigne, reports the research of William Fraser and quotes Hugh Ducklow, Ecosystems Center director and Palmer LTER principal investigator. Additional information is available on The New Yorker's audio slideshow and podcast.
For more Ecosystems Center scientists in the media, >>>.
SEMINARS
February 9:
Anton Post, Bay Paul Center, MBL. N-Stress responses and niche adaptation in marine cyanobacteria. 12:15, Speck Auditorium
February 23:
Nathan Wilson, Encyclopedia of Life, MBL. EOL: Not just a website. 12:15, Speck Auditorium
Complete list of Spring 2010 seminars.
FEATURES
 |
|
| Sampling at the waterfall in Panama |
|
MBL Ecosystems Center scientists studying Panama’s tropical ecosystems have returned to their field site at the Liquid Jungle Laboratory (LJL) on the island of Canales de Tierra, Veraguas Province.... >>>
More Ecosystems Center News
|
|
STAFF NEWS
Gillian Galford receives congratulations from her advisors, Jerry Melillo of the Ecosystems Center (left) and Jack Mustard of Brown University. Gillian successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation on November 24.
|
|
Gillian Galford, graduate student of Jerry Melillo of the Ecosystems Center and Jack Mustard of Brown University, received her Ph.D. on November 24. She and Erika Lasek-Nesselquist, who both entered the Brown-MBL graduate program at its start in 2004, were honored at a reception December 9.
Gillian’s thesis was titled "Biogeochemical Consequences of Land-Cover and Land-Use Change in the Agricultural Frontier of the Brazilian Amazon,” She will begin a post-doctoral fellowship at the Earth Institute at Columbia University in January, 2010 where she will be studying the biogeochemical impacts of agricultural intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa, applying the tools developed in her dissertation work to issues of food scarcity and adaptation to future climate change.
While completing her Ph.D., Gillian was the recipient of the inaugural Stanley Watson Fellowship, which provides support for graduate students carrying out dissertation research with an MBL scientist or support for graduate or post-doctoral students enrolled in one of the advanced MBL courses. |
|
|
|
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Full Publications List
|
|
