Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

About: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Castroville, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Upwelling & Population. The organization has 630 authors who have published 2068 publications receiving 119899 citations. The organization is also known as: Monterey Bay Aquarium and Research Institute & MBARI.

Surficial evidence of fluid expulsion from the Costa Rica Accretionary Prism

Abstract: The nature and distribution of authigenic carbonates, chemosynthetic bacterial mats, and unique macrobenthic chemosynthetic communities of bivalves and tube worms are important for evaluating and reconstructing present and past fluid venting of accretionary complexes. This paper describes the authigenic carbonates, chemosynthetic fauna, and fluid venting observed at the four tectonic regions of the Costa Rica accretionary wedge in February 1994 during an ALVIN diving program of 20 submersible dives. We found no surficial evidence of highly focused fluid venting at the toe of the prism (outermost 3 km), as implied by the absence of authigenic carbonates and chemosynthetic fauna. The absence of vent communities on the lower 3 km of the prism and the relatively elevated heat flow with respect to the adjacent, incoming Cocos plate (Langseth and Silver, this issue), suggests diffuse, rather than focused flow through the toe of the prism. Twelve active and relict vent sites marked by small clusters of live vesicomyid clams are localized at the bases and tops of out-of-sequence-thrusts, implicating fracture permeability as the fluid conduit in the lower slope region (but upslope from the toe). Vast authigenic carbonates and seven active and relict vent sites marked by large, dense clusters of chemosynthetic organisms predominate the largest mud diapir in the mid-slope region. Fluid expulsion appears to be more restricted on the upper slope, with only 2 small but dense vents marked by chemosynthetic fauna observed at one wall of one canyon.

ATOC/Pioneer Seamount cable after 8 years on the seafloor: Observations, environmental impact

Abstract: A study was conducted on the impacts of the presence of the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC)/Pioneer Seamount cable on the benthos from nearshore waters adjacent to its origin at Pillar Point Air Force Station in Half Moon Bay, California to its terminus 95 km along its length on Pioneer Seamount. The coaxial Type SD cable was installed, unburied on the seafloor in 1995. Thirteen sites along the cable route were surveyed using the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) ROVs Ventana and Tiburon equipped with cable-tracking tools. Quantitative comparisons of biological communities and seafloor features between cable and control sites were performed at nine stations. Forty-two hours of video footage and 138 push cores were collected over 15.1 km of seafloor. Approximately 12.1 km of the cable was observed (13% of the cable route). This study documents the appearance and condition of the cable and the underlying seafloor, and the effects of the cable on biological communities along its route. Limited self-burial of the cable has occurred during the 8-year deployment, particularly over the continental shelf and upper slope. Cable strumming by nearshore wave action has incised rocky siltstone outcrops. Several observations of kinks and snags in the cable on the upper slope (∼240 m depth) suggest contact with trawling gear. Few changes in the abundance or distribution of benthic fauna were detectable from video observations (epifaunal) and sediment core samples (infauna). Of 17 megafaunal groups and 19 infaunal taxa, no tests evaluating the overall effect of the cable were statistically significant. While these results indicate that the biological impacts of the cable are minor at most, three megafaunal groups exhibited cable-related changes at one or more stations. Actiniarians (sea anemones) colonized the cable when it was exposed on the seafloor, and were therefore generally more abundant on the cable than in surrounding, sediment-dominated seafloor habitats. Some fishes were also more abundant near the cable, apparently due to the higher habitat complexity provided by the cable. The study also documents general changes in the benthos across the Central California continental margin.

Phosphorus Cycling in the Red Tide Incubator Region of Monterey Bay in Response to Upwelling

Abstract: This study explores the cycling of phosphorus (P) in the euphotic zone following upwelling in northeastern Monterey Bay (the Red Tide Incubator region) of coastal California, with particular emphasis on how bacteria and phytoplankton that form harmful algal blooms mediate and respond to changes in P availability. In situ measurements of nutrient concentrations, phytoplankton community composition, and cell-specific alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity (determined via enzyme-labeled fluorescence assay) were measured during three cruises. Upwelling led to a 10-fold increase in dissolved inorganic (DIP) in surface waters, reaching ∼0.5 μmol L −1 . This DIP was drawn down rapidly as upwelling relaxed over a period of 1 week. Ratios of nitrate to DIP drawdown (∼5:1, calculated as the change in nitrate divided by the change in DIP) were lower than the Redfield ratio of 16:1, suggesting that luxury P uptake was occurring as phytoplankton bloomed. Dissolved organic (DOP) remained relatively constant (∼0.3 μmol L −1 ) before and immediately following upwelling, but doubled as upwelling relaxed, likely due to phytoplankton excretion and release during grazing. This transition from a relatively high DIP:DOP ratio to lower DIP:DOP ratio was accompanied by a decline in the abundance of diatoms, which had low AP activity, toward localized, spatially heterogeneous blooms of dinoflagellates in the genera Prorocentrum, Ceratium, Dinophysis, Alexandrium, and Scrippsiella that showed high AP activity regardless of ambient DIP levels. A nutrient addition incubation experiment showed that phytoplankton growth was primarily limited by nitrate, followed by DIP and DOP, suggesting that P regulates phytoplankton physiology and competition, but is not a limiting nutrient in this region. AP activity was observed in bacteria associated with lysed cell debris and aggregates of particulate organic material, where it may serve to facilitate P regeneration, as well as affixed to the surfaces of intact phytoplankton cells, possibly indicative of close, beneficial phytoplankton–bacteria interactions.

Research Priorities for Achieving Healthy Marine Ecosystems and Human Communities in a Changing Climate

Abstract: The health of coastal human communities and marine ecosystems are at risk from a host of anthropogenic stressors, in particular, climate change. Because ecological health and human well-being are inextricably connected, effective and positive responses to current risks require multidisciplinary solutions. Yet, the complexity of coupled social–ecological systems has left many potential solutions unidentified or insufficiently explored. The urgent need to achieve positive social and ecological outcomes across local and global scales necessitates rapid and targeted multidisciplinary research to identify solutions that have the greatest chance of promoting benefits for both people and nature. To address these challenges, we conducted a forecasting exercise with a diverse, multidisciplinary team to identify priority research questions needed to promote sustainable and just marine social–ecological systems now and into the future, within the context of climate change and population growth. In contrast to the traditional reactive cycle of science and management, we aimed to generate questions that focus on what we need to know, before we need to know it. Participants were presented with the question, “If we were managing oceans in 2050 and looking back, what research, primary or synthetic, would wish we had invested in today?” We first identified major social and ecological events over the past 60 years that shaped current human relationships with coasts and oceans. We then used a modified Delphi approach to identify nine priority research areas and 46 questions focused on increasing sustainability and well-being in marine social–ecological systems. The research areas we identified include relationships between ecological and human health, access to resources, equity, governance, economics, resilience, and technology. Most questions require increased collaboration across traditionally distinct disciplines and sectors for successful study and implementation. By identifying these questions, we hope to facilitate the discourse, research, and policies needed to rapidly promote healthy marine ecosystems and the human communities that depend upon them. © Copyright © 2020 Friedman, Halpern, McLeod, Beck, Duarte, Kappel, Levine, Sluka, Adler, O’Hara, Sterling, Tapia-Lewin, Losada, McClanahan, Pendleton, Spring, Toomey, Weiss, Possingham and Montambault.