Even tiny wetlands like Famosa Slough, San Diego, CA, when you take a closer look, host a #biodiversity of plants, and, when you take an even /closer/ look (belowground), store tons of #bluecarbon in their deep sediments (4 meters deep at this site!).

#Saltmarsh peat is important #habitat for not just the plants but also many other organisms, like these mussels and barnacles, in a patch of eroding Spartina alterniflora marsh in #JamaicaBay in Queens, NY. Let's make sure we don't lose any more coastal #wetland area!

Come hang with us & check out some of our fungal endophytes & other kooky salty marshy things 🌊🦀🍄🤪

In 2021 with WILDCOAST, I had a great time exploring and sampling the wetland sediments of San Dieguito Lagoon in CA, along with my colleague Carlos Callado. What is the #bluecarbon value of #wetlands that have gone through so much land use change and subsequent restoration?

One of my favorite #wetlands, Kendall-Frost Marsh, hemmed in by urban development and competing land use interests, this slice of extant wetland #ecosystem provides carbon sequestration, coastal protection, fisheries, recreational, cultural value, and scientific value.

fungi with a view

Check out the scale insects (I think--please reply if you know more) on these Spartina foliosa plants in San Dieguito Lagoon in Sept 2021. Even so, this is some of the tallest Spartina I've seen in San Diego County, a hopeful sign for meeting goals for #habitat rehabilitation.

In October 2021 I helped with a long-term student-run ecosystem monitoring project in the La Jolla Zostera pacifica #eelgrass bed and cored the edge of the LJ canyon to estimate the lateral fluxes of #bluecarbon from seagrass and kelp beds to the nearby seafloor. Scripps Institution of Oceanography

This #subway station in Portland, OR, is one of my favorites! It displays along the platform a core that shows the slice of Earth history conveyed in the layers of rocks and sediment extending from ground level down to the depths excavated to build the station. #Geology

On Patrol: Raccoon Invasion

Mudflats next to tidal #wetlands can gather plenty of #carbon! Check out the macroalgae and wetland and terrestrial plant material that piles up on these mudflats in Mission Bay, CA. How much of this stuff ends up stored as long-term #bluecarbon stocks vs. eaten or washed away?

Arid southern Jamaica's #mangroves can be tall and lush like the red mangroves growing (middle distance) along a creek fed by this freshwater spring, but, just meters away (foreground), the soil is hypersaline and only stunted black mangroves and small halophytes survive.

SHE DID IT AGAIN! Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, is back with a new partner and just laid yet another egg. At an approximate age of 74, the queen of seabirds returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge last week and began interacting with a male.

Looking for a new #postdoc in #Phycology & #Seaweed research on the methane mitigating #Asparagopsis Scripps Institution of Oceanography #climatesolutions #oceanbasedsolutions #algae Please share widely! Excited for next steps!

When #landusechange leads to reduction of freshwater flow to tidal wetlands in arid regions, like here on the southern coast of Jamaica, large areas of #mangrove forest can die back. It's encouraging to see the ability of these plants to regrow in this dried out, hypersaline mud.

Looping lianas, batman! I had never seen this much biomass of climbing plants in a #mangrove as I did in this white mangrove forest in Jamaica in 2022! I'm not sure of the species of the vine--maybe Cryptostegia madagascariensis?

Avicennia germinans, or black #mangrove, is a beautiful and amazing plant. Note the small white flowers (favored by bees and other pollinating insects), peach-colored propagules (seedlings waiting to be dispersed), and salt crystals left behind after salt excretion by the leaves.

This is revolting, not only because of the irreplaceable long-term #data collection (such as at Mauna Loa, HI) or archiving (in Ashville, NC) supported by NOAA, but the careers of scientists (real people) dedicated to research projects benefiting us all. nytimes.com/2025/03/14/cli…