Large-scale oyster reef restoration in the Chesapeake Bay is successfully creating three-dimensional habitats that support larger, more diverse fish communities, according to new research led by UMBC’s Allison Tracy in collaboration with scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study merged GoPro video and sophisticated sonar imaging, offering a template for effective monitoring in murky estuaries. And, by studying reef habitat years after restoration, the team could "see how the efforts paid off—and they did pay off," Tracy says.

Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) supports a major commercial fishery along the U.S. East Coast and serves as essential prey for fishes, seabirds, and marine mammals, may be less able to sustain fishing pressure than some assessments suggest. A new study finds that a key estimate of deaths from natural causes was substantially overstated, potentially making the population appear more productive than its biology supports.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and the Institut de Biologie Structurale have determined the structure and molecular characteristics of a remarkably heat-stable enzyme which turns nitrogen gas into ammonia. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, highlight new insights on how nature breaks the exceptionally strong N₂ triple bond to generate this important fertiliser and biofuel.

New study highlights the importance of lived experience, local knowledge, and community voices in climate change communication. The researchers call for climate policies and communication strategies in the Global South to move beyond broad, one-size-fits-all approaches and instead recognise the lived realities of the communities most exposed to climate change.

A new review traces the development of carbohydrate-based medicines originating from marine organisms, from early bioactivity studies to approved products and current clinical trials. It links structural features such as sulfation, molecular weight and branching with therapeutic use, and outlines the production, quality-control, mechanistic and pharmacokinetic challenges that still limit clinical translation.

Four years of monitoring after the 2019 Brumadinho tailings dam collapse show that Brazil's Paraopeba River has not returned to a stable state. Bottom-dwelling invertebrate communities were reshuffled continuously at every site, and the reaches that received tailings show no sign of settling. Tributaries held most of the species, including many found nowhere else, and act as reservoirs that resupply the damaged channel. Protecting them is now the priority for restoring the basin.

Long before dinosaurs appeared on Earth, fierce predatory fish developed crushing jaws and sharp teeth to survive and diversify in ancient oceans.

Flinders University researchers have used a new combination of techniques to find out how these armoured fish called placoderms – the first vertebrates to evolve jaws and teeth more than 400 million years ago – caught their prey on an exotic ancient reef that once covered what is now northern Western Australia.