California

...now browsing by category

How Scientists Responded to Cannibalism, and the Surprising Comeback of California’s Most Unwanted Crab

Friday, July 9th, 2021

by Marissa Sandoval

Young woman on dock holds up a green crab

Julie Gonzalez, a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, holds up an invasive European green crab. (Credit: SERC)

In an artificially created estuary near San Francisco Bay, called Seadrift Lagoon, a very real problem arose when European green crabs (Carcinus maenas) arrived in the 1990s. After taking up residency, the invasive species population grew immensely as the crabs feasted on Dungeness crabs, clams, and oysters—a grim problem for the native animals and migratory shorebirds that rely on them.

The stark situation demanded major intervention. In 2009, researchers from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)’s Marine Invasions Lab, the University of California, Davis, and Portland State University partnered to eradicate the local European crab population through intensive trapping.

But their efforts accidentally led to even more green crabs. Now, over a decade later, the teams who addressed the problem head-on have published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on what they learned from a conservation effort gone awry. Led by Ted Grosholz of the University of California, Davis, the new study advocates for major caution when working with invasive species whose life history is similar to European green crabs. Click to continue »

Posted in California, Ecology, Invasive Species, Participatory Science, Publications, Tidings from the Sunset Coast, Volunteers | 1 Response »

Repurposing Nature To Restore The San Francisco Shoreline

Friday, August 14th, 2020

by Aliya Uteuova

Four scientists in face masks on a rocky shore, with their arms outstretched to show the distance between each other

Left to right: Jeff Blumenthal, Acy Wood, Chela Zabin and Corryn Knapp do field work in Point Orient, a study site southwest from the team’s main living shorelines restoration site, Giant Marsh. (Credit: Ted Grosholz)

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting research the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center is continuing to do amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and adaptations its staff have been making in a more socially distant world.

Along the outer coast of San Francisco Bay, rocky, wave-crashing coastline gives way to acres of reefs. As the tides retreat, castle-like formations made of sand, oyster shells and cement reveal a living shoreline.

Since 2012, the San Francisco Bay Living Shorelines Project has used a nature-based approach to reinforce the shoreline and minimize coastal erosion while restoring critical eelgrass, Olympia oysters, and tidal marsh plant habitats. As a California State Coastal Conservancy public works project, it also falls under “critical infrastructure.” This meant scientists could still do socially distant fieldwork amidst the global pandemic.

“The shoreline protection might not seem too critical in 2020, but will be critical in 2050,” said Jeff Blumenthal, a technician with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s San Francisco branch, or “SERC-West.”

Click to continue »

Posted in California, Ecology, Research Amid COVID, SERC Sites and Scenes, Tidings from the Sunset Coast | Comments Off on Repurposing Nature To Restore The San Francisco Shoreline

Intern Jessenia Suarez Talks Heatwave Biology, Being Latina in STEM

Friday, February 14th, 2020

by Alison Haigh

Young woman in a blue jacket standing on hill overlooking ocean

Jessenia Suarez (Credit: Alison Haigh/SERC)

Science comes with some wacky challenges. In the world of marine invasions, that might include sunburns from afternoons tying equipment to docks or worrying about how much seafood powder to feed a plate of invertebrates. But when someone dons a lab coat, they don’t shed their homelife, background, and personal responsibilities. At SERC-West, intern Jessenia Suarez got to know some of those unique challenges while working on her research project. But one of her biggest challenges was outside the lab.

Suarez is a senior marine biology major at San Francisco State University who found her passion for biology in her second year at community college. In summer 2019, she studied how a group of underwater creatures known as the fouling community responds to changes in water temperature. She found the work exciting and refreshing—but she admits that her biggest challenges were balancing the internship with a two-hour commute and finding childcare for her two-year-old daughter, Leia.

“I would spend about an hour and a half with her when I got home, and then it would be time to sleep,” she said. “Not only that, but I was still working my other job [as a CVS pharmacy technician]—very few hours, but it’s still time away from her. It was hard for me, and it was hard for her too.”

Besides caring for her daughter and working a second job, she also had to balance classes. Yet despite a heavier workload than the average intern, Suarez loved the internship experience, and she’s passionate about pursuing research after her degree.

“I had an idea that I liked doing research, but being in charge of my own project brought it to a whole new level, ” Suarez said. “I now know what to expect, and have a feeling that I can handle it.” Click to continue »

Posted in California, Climate Change, Ecology, Extreme Weather, Fisheries, Interns, Tidings from the Sunset Coast | Comments Off on Intern Jessenia Suarez Talks Heatwave Biology, Being Latina in STEM

Could Seaweed Save Oysters? Teacher-Fellow Jason Thomas Brings Science From Beach To Classroom

Friday, February 14th, 2020

Man standing on hill overlooking the ocean

Jason Thomas (Credit: Alison Haigh/SERC)

by Alison Haigh

If there’s any constant in SERC research fellow Jason Thomas’ diverse career, it’s that he’s always looking for opportunities to learn something new. He’s a science teacher, and that’s one thing that brought him to education: It keeps him in a constant state of learning.

Originally, though, he wanted to be a doctor. After getting a bachelor’s in sociology and a post-baccalaureate in biology, he worked in a molecular lab analyzing octopus eyes, and then in a mosquito hatchery. He then got a medical doctorate—but after having trouble securing a residency, he found himself going back to school for a master’s in teaching.

“Once, someone called me ‘Graduation Jason’ because all I do is graduate,” Thomas joked. Now that he’s a science teacher at Browning High School in Long Beach, California, he’s helping his students graduate with the skills they need to pursue careers in STEM.

But even on his summer breaks, he’s still learning. This summer, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s West Coast lab in Tiburon, California, hosted Thomas through the state’s STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) program. The program gives early-career science teachers authentic research opportunities. Now that he’s back at school in Long Beach, he’ll bring two summers of research experiences to inspire his students. Click to continue »

Posted in California, Ecology, Fisheries, Tidings from the Sunset Coast | Comments Off on Could Seaweed Save Oysters? Teacher-Fellow Jason Thomas Brings Science From Beach To Classroom

Invader ID Volunteers Are Deploying Tiles in Chesapeake Bay

Monday, June 3rd, 2019

By Stephanie Fox

Each year, thousands of invasive organisms cling to the bottoms of boats, traveling hundreds of miles to distant bays. It’s proven difficult and time consuming for scientists to investigate all the harbors being invaded. So researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) are looking to citizen scientists for help.

Over the last year, volunteers assisted from the comfort of their homes, helping identify invasive species using images online. But this summer, a small group of Invader ID volunteers will get their hands dirty doing experiments of their own in the Chesapeake Bay. Click to continue »

Posted in California, Ecology, Invasive Species, Participatory Science, Volunteers | Comments Off on Invader ID Volunteers Are Deploying Tiles in Chesapeake Bay

These Creatures Crossed the Pacific on Plastic Tsunami Debris. Now, a New Struggle for Survival.

Tuesday, January 29th, 2019

Black mussels, pink barnacles and other sea creatures on buoy

Mediterranean mussels, acorn barnacles and anemones crossed the Pacific on this buoy found in Long Beach, Washington, in February 2017. (Photo: Nancy Treneman)

by Kristen Minogue

On March 11, 2011, a 125-foot tsunami struck Japan’s Tōhoku coast, triggered by a massive earthquake just hours earlier. The cost in human life and property damage was devastating. When it receded, it set in motion another chain of events—one scientists are still watching unfold eight years later. It’s a story of millions of pieces of plastic that journeyed across the ocean, and the plants and animals that rafted with them.

Click to continue »

Posted in Alaska, California, Ecology, Invasive Species, Publications, Tidings from the Sunset Coast | Comments Off on These Creatures Crossed the Pacific on Plastic Tsunami Debris. Now, a New Struggle for Survival.

How Golden Star Tunicates Make Themselves at Home in an Alien Ecosystem

Friday, October 26th, 2018

By Philip Kiefer

Roughly half of the species living in the San Francisco Bay are newcomers, brought (often unintentionally) by humans. The Bay has been an international shipping hub for over a century, and it’s accumulated biological detritus from around the world. But not everything that’s brought here sticks: It’s something of a mystery why some species proliferate in an alien environment while others die off.

Intern Kenyan Pappe pulls up a fouling panel at a local marina.
(Jenny Parr/SERC)

This summer, two interns at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s West Coast branch (SERC-West), investigated how one invader cements itself in the environment during environmental chaos. Jenny Par and Kenyan Pappe looked at the golden star tunicate Botryllus schlosseri, a type of marine invertebrate that often lives around marinas.

Click to continue »

Posted in California, Interns | Comments Off on How Golden Star Tunicates Make Themselves at Home in an Alien Ecosystem

Wanted: The Hunt for Chinese Mitten Crabs Is Back On

Tuesday, May 15th, 2018

Chinese mitten crab held in outstretched hand

A Chinese mitten crab found in Chesapeake Beach, Md., in 2007. Chinese mitten crabs are most recognizable by their brown, spiny shells and furry “mittened” claws. (Credit: SERC)

by Kristen Minogue

An army of invading crabs has disappeared. But scientists are skeptical about whether they’re gone for good, or just hiding. As warmer temps lure people onto the water, Smithsonian scientists are asking boaters to report any sightings of the elusive Chinese mitten crab.

In 1992, a team of fishermen unexpectedly caught a Chinese mitten crab while trawling for shrimp in southern San Francisco Bay. From there, sightings of the brown, furry-clawed crustaceans exploded. In 1998, nearly three quarters of a million appeared in the North Bay alone. The mitten crabs threatened to collapse river banks with their burrows and made fishing nearly impossible in some places, as they clogged gear, stole bait or ate trapped fish.

“It was spectacularly abundant. A true outbreak,” said Greg Ruiz, a biologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). “And it clogged the water intakes. Water is the economy in California.”

Mitten crab numbers remained high through 2005. And then they vanished. Chinese mitten crabs haven’t been seen in California since 2010. Click to continue »

Posted in California, Ecology, Invasive Species | 2 Responses »

Invader ID: Help Spot Invaders With Your Smart Phone

Wednesday, March 21st, 2018

by Kristen Minogue

Woman on docks holding plate with marine life, similar to the plates seen on Invader ID

SERC marine biologist Brianna Tracy holds a plate with marine life pulled from a dock in San Francisco. (Photo: Kristen Minogue/SERC)

Strange things grow on the bottoms of docks: brightly colored sponges, mat-like tunicates, and wispy, flower-shaped anemones. Many of these mysterious life forms are invasive species. This spring, Smithsonian marine biologists launched Invader ID, an online citizen science project calling on anyone with an Internet connection to help detect them.

The project centers on San Francisco Bay. With over 200 non-native species, it’s the most invaded estuary in North America. “The majority of the species that we identify in the San Francisco Bay are invasive,” said Brianna Tracy, a biologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Click to continue »

Posted in California, Ecology, Invasive Species, Participatory Science, Volunteers | Comments Off on Invader ID: Help Spot Invaders With Your Smart Phone

In San Francisco, One Wet Winter Can Switch Up Bay’s Invasive Species

Thursday, December 7th, 2017

Winter rains make Bay less salty, knocking back some invaders

by Kristen Minogue

Marine ecologist Andrew Chang tracks invasive species in California, and is discovering ways climate change and extreme weather can alter the playing field. (Credit: Julia Blum)

For many Californians, last year’s wet winter triggered a case of whiplash. After five years of drought, rain from October 2016 to February 2017 broke more than a century of records thanks to a series of “Pineapple Express” storms, referring to atmospheric rivers that ferry moisture from Hawaii to the Pacific Coast. In San Francisco Bay, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center biologists discovered a hidden side effect: All that freshwater rain can turn the tables on some of the bay’s invasive species.

“As you get wetter and wetter, there are fewer and fewer [marine] species that can tolerate those conditions,” said Andrew Chang, lead author of the new study published Dec. 7 in Global Change Biology.

Click to continue »

Posted in California, Climate Change, Ecology, Extreme Weather, Invasive Species, Publications, Tidings from the Sunset Coast | Comments Off on In San Francisco, One Wet Winter Can Switch Up Bay’s Invasive Species

Life and science at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

California

...now browsing by category