{"id":61229,"date":"2013-07-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-rwu-seaweed-census-aims-to-track-invasive-species-monitor-changes-in-biodiversity\/"},"modified":"2013-07-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-03T00:00:00","slug":"uri-rwu-seaweed-census-aims-to-track-invasive-species-monitor-changes-in-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2013\/07\/uri-rwu-seaweed-census-aims-to-track-invasive-species-monitor-changes-in-biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站, RWU seaweed census aims to track invasive species, monitor changes in biodiversity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 3, 2013 \u2013 Increasing numbers of invasive species of seaweed are arriving on Rhode Island shorelines every year, potentially resulting in negative effects on tourism and the local economy. To keep track of these invaders and to document all of the native seaweed species in the region, scientists and students from the 溏心vlog免费B站 and Roger Williams University are conducting a statewide seaweed census and creating an online seaweed DNA database to track changes in biodiversity.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re essentially using seaweed as a sentinel to monitor the health of the coast,\u201d said Christopher Lane, 溏心vlog免费B站 assistant professor of biological sciences. \u201cBy keeping tabs on what\u2019s going on in the seaweed community, you can get a good idea of what\u2019s happening throughout the marine environment.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe project is being funded by a grant from the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe seaweed census is especially timely because of the recent arrival of Heterosiphonia japonica, an aggressive, red feather-like seaweed native to Japan that was reported in Rhode Island in 2010 and is smothering and replacing native seaweeds throughout the coast.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cIt grows right on top of everything else and could become a major problem,\u201d explained Lane. \u201cIt can form large mats on the seafloor, and when it becomes detached it washes up in large quantities on beaches. It also has the potential to clog aquaculture facilities. Since it has no natural herbivore around here, it\u2019s just running rampant.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tLane said when new species arrive in an environment there is always a period of instability, and there is little that can be done but wait until nature gets back into balance. \u201cUnfortunately, the transition might not be pleasant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n


\n\tIn addition to monitoring invasive species, Lane said the seaweed census also aims to identify changes in biodiversity caused by global warming.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cOne thing we\u2019re looking for is examples of seaweeds that are mediated by sea surface temperature,\u201d he said. \u201cSome species can\u2019t reproduce if temperatures get too warm, so we\u2019re keeping an eye on the water temperature to see how seaweeds are reacting to it. We could end up seeing a change in species composition.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe seaweed census began this spring and will continue throughout the coming year. Lane and his students are surveying the West Bay and south coast region, while Roger Williams University Associate Professor Brian Wysor is leading the effort in the East Bay. They walk beaches at low tide to collect samples and don scuba gear at high tide to search the intertidal zone and areas just off shore.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe samples they collect will be permanently archived, and a DNA sample from each species will be stored in a database accessible to scientists and the public.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe want it to be an accessible tool that anyone can use to understand what species we have here in Rhode Island,\u201d said Lane. <\/p>\n


\n\tThe data will also be shared with scientists undertaking a similar project for the entire New England region.<\/p>\n


\n\tOne of the challenges the scientists face is that it is extremely difficult to identify many seaweeds by the way they look. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThere are a lot of instances when there are two seaweeds that look the same but are very different or two that look very different but are the same species,\u201d Lane said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get a handle on how many fit into those categories so we know whether we\u2019re overestimating or underestimating how many species we have.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tOne outcome Lane expects at the end of the project is the identification of seaweed species completely new to science. A similar census he conducted in Bermuda over the last 10 years found 70 new species.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWhen you bring new technology to the question, you\u2019d be amazed at how much you can learn,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 3, 2013 \u2013 Increasing numbers of invasive species of seaweed are arriving on Rhode Island shorelines every year, potentially resulting in negative effects on tourism and the local economy. To keep track of these invaders and to document all of the native seaweed species in the region, scientists and students from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61229\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}