MSU part of GoM research team

An 11-member team of researchers from Auburn, Mississippi State, and NC State universities, plus the Dauphin Island (Ala.) Sea Lab, has launched a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association study to strengthen several declining species in the estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), and to understand damaging environmental factors on their sustainability. The $2.8M study, “Building Resilience for Oysters, Blue Crabs and Spotted Seatrout to Environmental Trends and Variability,” is part of the NOAA RESTORE program, which awarded about $15.6M to research teams studying trends in coastal and marine resources, and the processes, driving them in GoM region. “Oysters, blue crabs and spotted seatrout populations in the Gulf have suffered substantial declines,” said Latif Kalin, professor of hydrology at Auburn. But, the relationship between population trends and environmental factors are not well known. Through the project, “we hope to disentangle this relationship and provide an end-to-end perspective,” he is quoted in an AU news release. The results of the research, a partnership with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, and other stakeholders, will feed into resource management and restoration decisions toward holistic ecosystem management of Mobile Bay. The information will help resource managers in Mobile Bay, and the Gulf Coast, to make evidence-based decisions and best management strategies for estuarine ecosystem restorations under current and future climates. Lead researcher John Lehrter, a senior marine scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and an associate professor at the University of South Alabama, said he hopes the project leads to a better understanding of environmental variability and trends; and have an impact on the environment and economy. (Source: Alabama News Center 02/16/20)

https://alabamanewscenter.com/2020/02/16/auburn-university-usa-researchers-seek-to-ensure-resilience-of-gulf-species-to-environmental-changes/