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. In addition to teaching in the Semester in Environmental Science, center scientists serve as adjunct professors and advisors in the Brown-MBL Graduate Program, members of doctoral committees and mentors for postdoctoral scientists and undergraduate interns...More>>>

The Semester in Environmental Science has been offered by the Ecosystems Center since 1997. During the past 10 years, 168 students have completed the course.... More>>>

UPCOMING SEMINARS

September 23
Edward Rastetter, MBL Ecosystems Center
"The PLIRTLE model, the Ensemble Kalman Filter, and CO₂ fluxes from Arctic ecosystems" - Speck Auditorium, 12:15 PM

September 26
*Steward Pickett, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
"Urban ecology: Approach and insights as illustrated by the Baltimore Ecosystems Study Long-Term Ecological Research project" - Speck Auditorium, 3 PM

September 30
Peter Pollard, Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environmental Engineering, Griffith University, Australia “The missing carbon link: Terrestrial production meets aquatic microbial processes in freshwater ecosystems” - Speck Auditorium, 12:15 PM

October 7
Aaron M. Ellison, Harvard Forest, Harvard University “Detection and forecasting of thresholds in ecological systems: What do we need to know and when do we need to know it?" Candle House 104/105, 12:15 PM

October 14
Ruth Yanai, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse -TBA. Lillie Auditorium, 12:15 PM

October 21
Christopher Neill, MBL Ecosystems Center -
"From coastal plain ponds to coastal sandplains: The implications of soil seed banks for conservation and restoration in two endangered ecosystems of Massachusetts.” Candle House 104/105, 12:15 PM

*SES Distinguished Scientist Seminar

Complete seminar list for Fall 2008

NEWS

In the News: NY Times, NPR and Other News Stories by MBL Science Journalists Highlight Arctic Science

Ecosystems Center scientists are featured in recent articles and radio interviews by science writers and editors who spent two weeks this summer at the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project at Toolik Lake, Alaska....More>>>

DDT Found in Penguins Due to Melting Glaciers

The pesticide DDT was banned in much of the world in the 1970's, but Adélie penguins today carry the same levels as the species did 30 years ago, when DDT was heavily used world-wide for insect control. Research conducted by Ecosystems Center scientist Hugh Ducklow and his graduate student Heidi Geisz....More>>>

Science Minutes Inspire Young Reporters and Audiences
A group of urban high school students from Terrascope Youth Radio recently produced “Science Minutes” about research conducted by Ecosystems Center senior scientists Anne Giblin and Zoe Cardon..... More>>>

Effects of Land Use Changes on Alewife Population

Rita Oliveira Monteiro conducts her graduate research in some of Cape Cod’s most picturesque locations: Trunk River off Falmouth’s Surf Drive, Wing Pond ...More>>>

Alaska Fire Sparks New Research By Ecosystems Center Scientists
The tundra of the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site on the North Slope of Alaska sits above hundreds of meters of frozen ground (permafrost)...More>>>

RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

Bowden, W. B., M. N. Gooseff, A. Balser, A. Green, B. J. Peterson, and J. Bradford. 2008. Sediment and nutrient delivery from thermokarst features in the foothills of the North Slope, Alaska: Potential impacts on headwater stream ecosystems. J. Geophys. Res. 113, G02026, doi:10.1029/2007JG000470.

Bret-Harte, M. S., M. C. Mack, G. R. Goldsmith, D. B. Sloan, J. DeMarco, G. R. Shaver, P. M. Ray, Z. Biesinger and F. S. Chapin, III. 2008. Plant functional types do not predict biomass responses to removal and fertilization in Alaskan tussock tundra. Journal of Ecology 96 (4):713-726.

Cardon, Z. G., D. W. Gray, and L. A. Lewis. 2008. The green algal underground – evolutionary secrets of desert cells. BioScience 58(2): 114-122.

Chaves, J., C. Neill, H. Elsenbeer, A. Krusche, S. Germer and S. Gouveia Neto. 2008. Land management impacts on runoff sources in small Amazon watersheds. Hydrological Processes 22: 1766-1775.

Desai, A.R., A.N. Noormets, P.V. Bolstad, J. Chen, B.D. Cook, P.V. Curtis, K.J. Davis, E.S. Euskirchen, C. Gough, J.M. Martin, D.M. Ricciuto, H.P. Schmid, H. Su, J. Tang, C. Vogel, W. Wang, 2008. Influence of vegetation type, stand age and climate on carbon dioxide fluxes across the Upper Midwest, USA: Implications for regional scaling of carbon flux. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 148: 288-308.

Ewers, B.E., D.S. Mackay, J. Tang, P. Bolstad, S. Samanta, 2008. Intercomparison of sugar maple stand transpiration responses to environmental conditions from the western Great Lakes Region of the United States. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 148: 231-246.

Fox, S. E., E. Stieve, I. Valiela, J. Hauxwell, and J. McClelland. 2008. Macrophyte abundance in Waquoit Bay: Effects of land-derived nitrogen loads on seasonal and multi-year biomass patterns. Estuaries and Coasts 31 (3) : 532-541. 10.1007/s12237-008-9039-6.

Hobbie, E. A., and H. J. E. 2008. Natural abundance of ¹⁵N in nitrogen-limited forests and trundra can estimate nitrogen cycling through mycoorrhizal fungi: A review. Ecosystems 11:815-830.

Hobbie, J. E., and J. Laybourn-Parry. 2008. Heterotrophic microbial processes in polar lakes. Pages 197-212 in W. F. Vincent and J. Laybourn-Parry, editors. Polar Lakes and Rivers: Limnology of Arctic and Antarctic Aquatic Ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Knapp, A.K., J. M. Briggs, S.L. Collins, S.R. Archer, M.S. Bret-Harte, B.E. Ewers, D.P. Peters, D.R. Young, G.R. Shaver, E.Pendall, and M. B. Cleary. 2008. Shrub encroachment in North American grasslands: shift in growth form dominance rapidly alters control of ecosystem C inputs. Global Change Biology 14(3):615-623.

McClintock, J., H. Ducklow, and W. Fraser. 2008. Ecological responses to climate change on the Antarctic Peninsula. American Scientist 96: 302-310.

McKnight, D. M., M. N. Gooseff, W. F. Vincent, and B. J. Peterson. 2008. High-latitude rivers and streams. Pages 83-102 in W. F. Vincent and J. Laybourn-Parry, editors. Polar Lakes and Rivers: Limnology of Arctic and Antarctic Aquatic Ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

McNamara, J., D. Kane, J. Hobbie, and G. Kling. 2008. Hydrologic and biogeochemical controls on the spatial and temporal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Kuparuk River, arctic Alaska. Hydrological Processes doi:10.1002/hyp.6920.

Tang, J., P.V. Bolstad, A.R. Desai, J.G. Martin, B.D. Cook, K.J. Davis, E.V. Carey, 2008. Ecosystem respiration and its components in an old-growth forest in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 148: 171-185.

Valiela, I., and S. E. Fox. Managing Coastal Wetlands. 2008. Science 319: 290-291.

Vincent, W. F., J. E. Hobbie, and J. Laybourn-Parry. 2008. Introduction to the limnology of high-latitude lake and river ecosystems. Pages 1-23 in W. F. Vincent and. J. Laybourn-Parry, editors. Polar Lakes and Rivers: Limnology of Arctic and Antarctic Aquatic Ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Wan, Z., J. J. Vallino, and B. J. Peterson. 2008. Study of the inter-annual food web dynamics in the Kuparuk River with a first order approximation inverse model. Ecological Modelling 211:97-112.

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