ERF scientists are gathering at the International 20^th Biennial Conference in Providence to convene a scientific meeting that integrates science, management, and society so as to better understand and steward our estuaries and coasts. Results from investigations on a range of Hot Topics will be presented to help discover new approaches to a number of pressing environmental issues (see below).

The keynote speaker will be Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. Before joining the University of Michigan, Dr. Bierbaum served both the U.S. Congress and the U.S. President through twenty years of science policy leadership in Washington, D.C., including as Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for the Clinton Administration. Her keynote address will be “The Impact of Climate Change on Estuarine and Coastal Environments” (abstract).

The featured plenary speakers are:

• Dr. Andrew Rosenberg is a member of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy

• Dr. Eugene (Geno) Olmi is an ecologist with the NOAA Coastal Services Center in Charleston, South Carolina.

• Dr. Robert Twilley is Distinguished Professor in Louisiana Environmental Studies in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University, and serves as Associate Vice Chancellor of Research and Economic Development to develop the 'Coastal Systems and Society' program at LSU.

• Dr. Margaret Palmer is the Director of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

• Dr. James Sanders is head of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, a campus of the University System of Georgia.

Hot Topics at the Conference

For each topic, an ERF member has volunteered to be a media contact to answer questions.

Climate Change and Wetlands

Global climate change (the increase of global temperatures and alteration of the world’s climate due to human development) threatens to cause widespread detrimental effects on coastal communities and ecosystems worldwide. Uncertainty over the direction and magnitude of future climate change and its impact on coastal ecosystems complicates efforts at effective coastal management. Recent research by ERF scientists are helping to understand this phenomena and devise ways to combat acute levels of climate change and lessen global impacts.

Media Contact: John Day <johnday@lsu.edu> (bio)

Invasive Species

Aquatic invasive species can alter the ecological balance in coastal, marine and estuarine environments, often to the detriment of native species within these environments. ERF scientists are helping to understand the impacts of invasive species on coastal habitats. They are devising approaches to eradicate invasive species or avoid their introduction.

Media Contact: Greg Ruiz <ruizg@si.edu> (not at meeting) (bio)

Sudden Wetland Dieback

Sudden wetland dieback (SWD), first observed in the panhandle of Florida in 1990, has since occurred in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Georgia, South Carolina and Massachusetts. SWD begins with the onset of drought and is characterized by the rapid loss of tidal marsh vegetation within several months. ERF scientists were some of the first researchers to identify this potential threat to salt marshes and are working to understand the extent and causes of this mysterious condition.

Media Contacts: Ron Rozsa <ron.rozsa@po.state.ct.us>, Merryl Alber <malber@uga.edu>, Irv Mendelsson <imendel@lsu.edu> (bio)

Seagrasses

Seagrasses are underwater flowering plants that often occur in vast nearshore meadows, providing nurseries, shelter, and food for a variety of commercially, recreationally, and ecologically important species. Additionally, seagrasses filter estuarine and coastal waters of nutrients and contaminants helping to increase coastal water quality. Seagrasses are threatened by numerous anthropogenic impacts. ERF scientists are working to understand the importance of seagrasses to coastal habitats and communities as well as their vulnerability to major stressors.

Media Contact: Fred Short <fred.short@unh.edu> (bio)

Ecosystem Quality and the Role of Bivalves

Bivalves have been dubbed "ecosystem engineers" for their ability to provide a substrate for biogenic reef generation for other species, as well as their ability to regulate water quality through filtration and nutrient cycling. ERF scientists are working to characterize and estimate the importance of the services provided by these “ecosystem engineers” to reef habitats and coastal water quality.

Media Contact: Rob Brumbaugh <rbrumbaugh@tnc.org> (bio)

Urban Estuaries

Coastal communities have enormous impacts on adjacent estuaries due to alteration of land use patterns in watersheds, inputs of pollutants, and modification of shoreline and subtidal habitats. Escalating eutrophication problems in estuaries have resulted in severely degraded biological and ecosystem functions, especially in coastal ponds and lagoons. ERF scientists have advanced our understanding of the environmental impact of nutrient over-enrichment of estuaries at scales ranging from local to regional. They have also demonstrated how anthropogenic nutrient loading, together with natural influences, are causing serious deleterious changes in these systems. Estuarine and coastal scientists are now working closely with managers to protect and restore these affected environments.

Media Contact: Michael Kennish <kennish@marine.rutgers.edu> (bio), Hans Paerl <hans_paerl@unc.edu> (bio)

Nutrient Loading and Coastal Water Quality Effects

Nutrient related eutrophication is a serious problem in coastal waters of the U.S. and other nations. Inputs of nutrients, especially nitrogen, from watershed point and non-point sources lead to excessive algal growth, low dissolved oxygen, loss of submerged grasses, and occurrences of nuisance and toxic algal blooms. ERF scientists and managers are working to address eutrophication both within the U.S. and as well as on a global basis. They are working to quantify impacts of human use and socioeconomic costs of eutrophication. These scientists also produce tools for mangers to implement innovative management of degraded coastal environments.

Media Contact: Robert Howarth <rwh2@cornell.edu> (bio)

Coastal Models of Hypoxia

Eutrophication has resulted in “dead zones”, large regions of bottom water hypoxia in normally productive coastal ecosystems around the world (including the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound and the Baltic Sea). ERF scientists are investigating the short-term and long-term impacts of the these dead zones on the resident organisms and the adjacent communities dependent on these waters for their livelihood They are developing ways to predict and, eventually mitigate the extent and impact of these hypoxic dead zones on coastal resources.

Media Contact: Alan Lewitus <Alan.Lewitus@NOAA.gov> (bio)