Wednesday, March 6, 2019Sunday, March 3, 2019

Imperiled Insects: Damsels and Dragons in Distress

A recent study revealed that insect species have experienced a staggering worldwide decline over the past 40 years (Sánchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys 2019). Researchers compiled decades of long-term Read More…

Monday, January 28, 2019Friday, January 25, 2019

Macroinvertebrates Meet Microplastics

Our planet is awash in plastic. It’s ubiquitous, takes hundreds of years to degrade, and more is constantly being produced. Numerous studies have assessed plastic making its Read More…

Monday, May 28, 2018Friday, May 25, 2018

Sheephead, Sea Urchins & Kelp: A Dynamic Food Chain

In ocean food webs, many organisms directly and indirectly rely on each other to bring balance to the surrounding environment. Food webs in ecosystems like kelp forests Read More…

Wednesday, May 17, 2017Thursday, May 11, 2017

The Lake Tahoe Takeover

While Lake Tahoe is famous for its clear blue waters, the ecosystem of the lake is far from untouched or pristine. Stocking and unintended introductions of non-native Read More…

Monday, November 14, 2016Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Disrupting the Delta Food-Web

When it comes to alien invaders (also known as invasive species) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the most damaging species generally fall into two categories: ecosystem engineers Read More…

Friday, July 22, 2016Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Stuck in the Middle: Insects in the Food Web

Macroinvertebrates are one of the smaller and often unnoticed organisms in the food web, but they play a vital role in stream ecosystems. As our staff have observed, Read More…

Friday, October 23, 2015Friday, October 23, 2015

The dish on fish guts

Food webs are important features of any ecosystem – but in an environment like the river or the ocean, how do you actually identify who eats who? Read More…

Monday, October 5, 2015Friday, October 2, 2015

Tiny Plastic Pieces Found in Seafood and Marine Life

Tiny bits of plastic, known as microplastics, are becoming a massive aquatic problem. It may be easy to think plastic poses no problem if it’s so tiny Read More…

Monday, June 8, 2015Monday, June 8, 2015

Shifting waters: California ocean grows warmer, less bountiful

On World Oceans Day today (June 8), we’re reflecting on the news that the California Current Ecosystem is changing. In this important marine environment off the West Read More…

Friday, March 20, 2015Thursday, March 19, 2015

The disappearing salmon carcass

When we attempt to document natural processes in the field through photo or video, we sometimes run into challenges when nature gets other ideas. During the Chinook Read More…