Cimino
Megan A.
Cimino
Megan A.
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ArticleSatellite remote sensing and the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network: current science and future steps(Oceanography Society, 2021-11-09) Kavanaugh, Maria T. ; Bell, Tom W. ; Catlett, Dylan ; Cimino, Megan A. ; Doney, Scott C. ; Klajbor, Willem ; Messie, Monique ; Montes, Enrique ; Muller-Karger, Frank E. ; Otis, Daniel ; Santora, Jarrod A ; Schroeder, Isaac D. ; Trinanes, Joaquin ; Siegel, David A.Coastal ecosystems are rapidly changing due to human-caused global warming, rising sea level, changing circulation patterns, sea ice loss, and acidification that in turn alter the productivity and composition of marine biological communities. In addition, regional pressures associated with growing human populations and economies result in changes in infrastructure, land use, and other development; greater extraction of fisheries and other natural resources; alteration of benthic seascapes; increased pollution; and eutrophication. Understanding biodiversity is fundamental to assessing and managing human activities that sustain ecosystem health and services and mitigate humankind’s indiscretions. Remote-sensing observations provide rapid and synoptic data for assessing biophysical interactions at multiple spatial and temporal scales and thus are useful for monitoring biodiversity in critical coastal zones. However, many challenges remain because of complex bio-optical signals, poor signal retrieval, and suboptimal algorithms. Here, we highlight four approaches in remote sensing that complement the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON). MBON observations help quantify plankton community composition, foundation species, and unique species habitat relationships, as well as inform species distribution models. In concert with in situ observations across multiple platforms, these efforts contribute to monitoring biodiversity changes in complex coastal regions by providing oceanographic context, contributing to algorithm and indicator development, and creating linkages between long-term ecological studies, the next generations of satellite sensors, and marine ecosystem management.
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ArticleLong‐term patterns in ecosystem phenology near Palmer Station, Antarctica, from the perspective of the Adélie penguin(Ecological Society of America, 2023-02-10) Cimino, Megan A. ; Conroy, John A. ; Connors, Elizabeth ; Bowman, Jeff ; Corso, Andrew ; Ducklow, Hugh ; Fraser, William ; Friedlaender, Ari ; Kim, Heather Hyewon ; Larsen, Gregory D. ; Moffat, Carlos ; Nichols, Ross ; Pallin, Logan ; Patterson‐Fraser, Donna ; Roberts, Darren ; Roberts, Megan ; Steinberg, Deborah K. ; Thibodeau, Patricia ; Trinh, Rebecca ; Schofield, Oscar ; Stammerjohn, SharonClimate change is leading to phenological shifts across a wide range of species globally. Polar oceans are hotspots of rapid climate change where sea ice dynamics structure ecosystems and organismal life cycles are attuned to ice seasonality. To anticipate climate change impacts on populations and ecosystem services, it is critical to understand ecosystem phenology to determine species activity patterns, optimal environmental windows for processes like reproduction, and the ramifications of ecological mismatches. Since 1991, the Palmer Antarctica Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) program has monitored seasonal dynamics near Palmer Station. Here, we review the species that occupy this region as year‐round residents, seasonal breeders, or periodic visitors. We show that sea ice retreat and increasing photoperiod in the spring trigger a sequence of events from mid‐November to mid‐February, including Adélie penguin clutch initiation, snow melt, calm conditions (low winds and warm air/sea temperature), phytoplankton blooms, shallow mixed layer depths, particulate organic carbon flux, peak humpback whale abundances, nutrient drawdown, and bacterial accumulation. Subsequently, from May to June, snow accumulates, zooplankton indicator species appear, and sea ice advances. The standard deviation in the timing of most events ranged from ~20 to 45 days, which was striking compared with Adélie penguin clutch initiation that varied <1 week. In general, during late sea ice retreat years, events happened later (~5 to >30 days) than mean dates and the variability in timing was low (<20%) compared with early ice retreat years. Statistical models showed the timing of some events were informative predictors (but not sole drivers) of other events. From an Adélie penguin perspective, earlier sea ice retreat and shifts in the timing of suitable conditions or prey characteristics could lead to mismatches, or asynchronies, that ultimately influence chick survival via their mass at fledging. However, more work is needed to understand how phenological shifts affect chick thermoregulatory costs and the abundance, availability, and energy content of key prey species, which support chick growth and survival. While we did not detect many long‐term phenological trends, we expect that when sea ice trends become significant within our LTER time series, phenological trends and negative effects from ecological mismatches will follow.
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ArticleDivergent responses of highly migratory species to climate change in the California Current(Wiley Open Access, 2023-12-08) Lezama-Ochoa, Nerea ; Brodie, Stephanie ; Welch, Heather ; Jacox, Michael G. ; Pozo Buil, Mercedes ; Fiechter, Jerome ; Cimino, Megan A. ; Muhling, Barbara A. ; Dewar, Heidi ; Becker, Elizabeth A. ; Forney, Karin A. ; Costa, Daniel ; Benson, Scott R. ; Farchadi, Nima ; Braun, Camrin D. ; Lewison, Rebecca ; Bograd, Steven J. ; Hazen, Elliott L.Marine biodiversity faces unprecedented threats from anthropogenic climate change. Ecosystem responses to climate change have exhibited substantial variability in the direction and magnitude of redistribution, posing challenges for developing effective climate-adaptive marine management strategies.
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ArticleDynamic human, oceanographic, and ecological factors mediate transboundary fishery overlap across the Pacific high seas(Wiley, 2023-09-19) Frawley, Timothy H. ; Muhling, Barbara A. ; Brodie, Stephanie ; Blondin, Hannah ; Welch, Heather ; Arostegui, Martin C. ; Bograd, Steven J. ; Braun, Camrin D. ; Cimino, Megan A.The management and conservation of tuna and other transboundary marine species have to date been limited by an incomplete understanding of the oceanographic, ecological and socioeconomic factors mediating fishery overlap and interactions, and how these factors vary across expansive, open ocean habitats. Despite advances in fisheries monitoring and biologging technology, few attempts have been made to conduct integrated ecological analyses at basin scales relevant to pelagic fisheries and the highly migratory species they target. Here, we use vessel tracking data, archival tags, observer records, and machine learning to examine inter- and intra-annual variability in fisheries overlap (2013–2020) of five pelagic longline fishing fleets with North Pacific albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga, Scombridae). Although progressive declines in catch and biomass have been observed over the past several decades, the North Pacific albacore is one of the only Pacific tuna stocks primarily targeted by pelagic longlines not currently listed as overfished or experiencing overfishing. We find that fishery overlap varies significantly across time and space as mediated by (1) differences in habitat preferences between juvenile and adult albacore; (2) variation of oceanographic features known to aggregate pelagic biomass; and (3) the different spatial niches targeted by shallow-set and deep-set longline fishing gear. These findings may have significant implications for stock assessment in this and other transboundary fishery systems, particularly the reliance on fishery-dependent data to index abundance. Indeed, we argue that additional consideration of how overlap, catchability, and size selectivity parameters vary over time and space may be required to ensure the development of robust, equitable, and climate-resilient harvest control rules.
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ArticleSixty years of glacial retreat behind Palmer Station, Antarctica(Cambridge University Press, 2023-12-12) Cimino, Megan A. ; Goerke, Marissa A. ; Bent, Shavonna M.Palmer Station is the smallest of three US scientific research bases in Antarctica. It is located on the south-western coast of Anvers Island, which is mostly glaciated, on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Here, the temperature is considered mild (on average -4.7°C in winter and 1.9°C in summer from 1997 to 2023), but rapid warming is occurring despite high interannual variability (Jones et al. Reference Jones, Bromwich, Nicolas, Carrasco, Plavcová, Zou and Wang2019, Carrasco et al. Reference Carrasco, Bozkurt and Cordero2021). Palmer Station was constructed in 1968 to support scientific research, replacing ‘Old Palmer’ established in 1965 on Amsler Island (~2 km north-west of Palmer Station). The station was named after Nathaniel B. Palmer, an American sealer from Connecticut, who may have been the first person to see Antarctica during an exploratory voyage in 1820. Palmer Station is built on solid rock, and it has two main buildings and three smaller ones, two fuel tanks and a pier with a station maximum capacity of 44 people. In 1990, it was designated a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site (Smith et al. Reference Smith, Baker, Fraser, Hofmann, Karl and Klinck1995), but it also supports various research efforts on climate, aeronomy, astrophysics, glaciology and marine and terrestrial organisms. Behind Palmer Station sits the Marr Ice Piedmont, which once covered most of the rocky terrain (Fig. 1). Here, we present for the first time a 60 year record of glacial retreat behind Palmer Station from 1963 to 2023 (some years shown in McClintock et al. Reference McClintock, Ducklow and Fraser2008, Groff et al. Reference Groff, Beilman, Yu, Ford and Xia2023).