WARC conducts relevant and objective research, develops new approaches and technologies, and disseminates scientific information needed to understand, manage, conserve, and restore wetlands and other aquatic and coastal ecosystems and their associated plant and animal communities throughout the nation and the world.
By tracking the health and stability of amphibian populations, the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) provides valuable information on environmental relationships and population dynamics.
Learn MoreHave you seen me? Report sightings of non-native and invasive aquatic plant and animal species to the Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) information resource.
Report SightingsCoastal Louisiana wetlands make up the seventh largest delta on Earth and support the largest commercial fishery in the lower 48 states. However, Louisiana currently undergoes ~90% of the total coastal wetland loss in the continental U.S.
Learn moreA new USGS-NASA study found widespread shoreline loss along heavily oiled areas of Louisiana's coast after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and compared the erosion from the spill with coastal changes Hurricane Isaac caused in 2012.
Fish Marks 36th Non-Native Marine Fish Species Found in State
Society has an increasing awareness that there are finite limits to what we can expect the planet to absorb and still provide goods and services at current rates1. Both historical reconstructions and contemporary events continue to remind us that ecological regime changes are often abrupt rather than gradual. This reality motivates researchers who seek to discover leading indicators for impending...
Plasticity in life history strategies can be advantageous for species that occupy spatially or temporally variable environments. We examined how phenotypic plasticity influences responses of the mole salamander, Ambystoma talpoideum, to disturbance events at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (SMNWR), FL, USA from 2009 to 2014. We observed periods of extensive drought early in the study, in...
Mangrove forests are highly productive tidal saline wetland ecosystems found along sheltered tropical and subtropical coasts. Ecologists have long assumed that climatic drivers (i.e., temperature and rainfall regimes) govern the global distribution, structure, and function of mangrove forests. However, data constraints have hindered the quantification of direct climate-mangrove linkages in many...