Trophodynamic effects of climate change-induced alterations to primary production along the western Antarctic Peninsula
Under climate change, alterations in primary production and concomitant changes in community dynamics are expected in many marine ecosystems. We used an Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) marine ecosystem model of the western Antarctic Peninsula...
Will Climate Change Alter the Swimming Behavior of Larval Stone Crabs?: A Guided-Inquiry Lesson
The ocean has absorbed ~one third of the excess atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) released since the Industrial Revolution. When the ocean absorbs excess CO2, a series of chemical reactions occur that result in a reduction in seawater...
The connection between hurricane impact and public response to climate change – a study of Sarasota residents one year after Hurricane...
Hurricane Irma struck Sarasota, Florida, in September 2017, inflicting extensive damage throughout the community. Based on data from a survey conducted one year after the hurricane, this study tests whether the perceived impact of...
Heritable variation and lack of tradeoffs suggest adaptive capacity in Acropora cervicornis despite negative synergism under climate change scenarios
Knowledge of multi-stressor interactions and the potential for tradeoffs among tolerance traits is essential for developing intervention strategies for the conservation and restoration of reef ecosystems in a changing climate. Thermal...
Integrated planning: Policy and law tools for biodiversity conservation and climate change
This book explores emerging concepts, challenges, and key policy and law tools to help inform governments as they modernize public sector planning to better address 21st century change and advance their sustainable development goals....
Coral-bleaching responses to climate change across biological scales
The global impacts of climate change are evident in every marine ecosystem. On coral reefs, mass coral bleaching and mortality have emerged as ubiquitous responses to ocean warming, yet one of the greatest challenges of this epiphenomenon...
Alfred Goldstein Institute for Climate Change Studies
The Alfred Goldstein Institute for Climate Change Studies is part of Mote's Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration (IC2R3) on Summerland Key, Florida. The Institute was established thanks to...
Vulnerability to climate change of United States marine mammal stocks in the western North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean
Climate change and climate variability are affecting marine mammal species and these impacts are projected to continue in the coming decades. Vulnerability assessments provide a framework for evaluating climate impacts over a broad...
Donation expands Mote’s climate change studies ahead of its new Keys building ribbon cutting in May
Threatened coral reefs will have more powerful allies in the Florida Keys following the official opening of Mote Marine Laboratory’s International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration (IC2R3) on May 25 at Summerland Key,...
Donation expands Mote’s climate change studies ahead of its new Keys building ribbon cutting in May
Threatened coral reefs will have more powerful allies in the Florida Keys following the official opening of Mote Marine Laboratory’s International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration (IC2R3) on May 25 at Summerland Key,...
Mote-Israeli Workshop Advances Study of Ocean Acidification, Climate Change and Coral Reefs
Researchers from six nations gather for the 1st International Workshop on Impacts of Ocean Acidification and Climate Change on Corals and Coral Reefs, which was led by Mote Marine Laboratory and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine...
Human-influenced environmental changes can impact foraging and social behavior of wild bottlenose dolphins
With increased urbanization, habitat degradation and climate change, wild animals are resorting to riskier behaviours, such as foraging on food resources provided directly or inadvertently by humans. While human-centric foraging may...
The physiological responses of the Florida stone crab to changes in salinity
The Florida stone crab occupies habitats that can experience a range of salinities throughout the year, yet nothing is known about their salt balance physiology. We acclimated stone crabs for a week to conditions that mimic the range...
Predicting seagrass recovery times and their implications following an extreme climate event
Extreme temperature events are predicted to become more frequent and intense as climate change continues, with important implications for ecosystems. Accordingly, there has been growing interest in what drives resilience to climatic...
Climate-driven global redistribution of an ocean giant predicts increased threat from shipping
Climate change is shifting animal distributions. However, the extent to which future global habitats of threatened marine megafauna will overlap existing human threats remains unresolved. Here we use global climate models and habitat...
Eutrophication may compromise the resilience of the Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata to global change
Environmental stressors are adversely affecting coral reef ecosystems. There is ample evidence that scleractinian coral growth and physiology may be compromised by reduced pH, and elevated temperature, and that this is exacerbated...
Digging into the Geologic Record of Environmentally Driven Changes in Coral Reef Development
This lesson uses data based on real-world geological archives to guide students toward understanding how climate and oceanographic conditions have impacted coral reef growth over the last 5,000 years. The objective of the lesson is...
Cross-generational response of a tropical sea urchin to global change and a selection event in a 43-month mesocosm study
Long‐term experimental investigations of transgenerational plasticity (TGP) and transgenerational acclimatization to global change are sparse in marine invertebrates. Here, we test the effect of ocean warming and acidification over...
Synergistic response to climate stressors in coral is associated with genotypic variation in baseline expression
As environments are rapidly reshaped due to climate change, phenotypic plasticity plays an important role in the ability of organisms to persist and is considered an especially important acclimatization mechanism for longlived sessile...
Teachers: New resource helps students investigate corals and climate
High school and undergraduate educators can access a new, free lesson to help their students investigate the impacts of varying climate and other ocean conditions on coral reefs. The guided, inquiry-based lesson “How Do Upwelling...
New Study shows local environmental stressors reduce resiliency of Red Sea corals to global change
Ocean acidification (OA) is hard to describe. Many do not realize it's even there, but why would they? It doesn’t have a taste or smell. Despite its mysterious nature, OA is impacting the ocean at an exponential rate. Scientists...
Brevetoxicosis in Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris): Plasma proteomics for Florida red tide biomarkers
Florida manatees face recurring exposure to brevetoxins, a suite of neurotoxins produced by the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, through inhalation and forage. Near annual blooms in the Gulf of Mexico lead to repeated epizootics and...
Genotype and symbiont composition rather than environment influence susceptibility to stony coral tissue loss disease in coral restoration broodstock
Over the last several decades, Florida’s Coral Reef has been impacted by global and local stressors causing significant declines in living coral with no signs of natural recovery. Ocean warming, ocean acidification, and infectious...
More sustained, more severe blooms and shifting monthly patterns of the toxigenic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis on the West Florida Shelf
Various recent reports, based on different approaches, data sets and time periods, have yielded different conclusions with regard to whether blooms of the Florida red tide dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, have increased over time. Without...
Success of restoration strategies in preventing extirpation of 2 critically endangered coral species
An unprecedented marine heatwave in 2023 caused widespread coral bleaching and mortality throughout the Caribbean. In the Florida Keys (USA), 2 foundation species, elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) and staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis),...
Heat‑tolerant algal symbionts may prevent extirpation of the threatened elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, in Florida during intensifying...
The elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, was historically a major reef-building species in the Caribbean, but has suffered devastating declines in recent decades. Despite significant restoration efforts in Florida, the marine heatwave of...
Coral Biorepository Alliance – Importance of Biorepositories
Mission To create a network of coral conservation organizations and experts in support of a global coral biobank for coral restoration and research purposes achieved through standardized...
Mote Marine Laboratory Opens Three New Groundbreaking Seagrass Research Buildings
On Monday, August 25, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of three state-of-the-art research facilities designed to advance the restoration, resilience, and long-term...
Proactive assisted gene flow for Caribbean corals in an era of rapid coral reef decline
Coral reefs are one of the most well-documented marine ecosystems under increasing threat from climate change. Catastrophic episodes of coral bleaching and subsequent mortality caused by prolonged heat stress highlight the need to...