According to a recent study reported in the
Ecology and Evolution journal, the
American lobsters may be more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than previously believed. These species support the most precious fishery in North America.
Maura Niemisto, a research associate at Bigelow Laboratory in East Boothbay Maine, prepares a lobster sample in the lab. Niemisto is the lead author of a recent paper showing the effects of ocean warming and ocean acidification on postlarval lobsters. Image Credit: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
This latest discovery may allow fishery managers to expect the impacts of a prolonged climate change for one of the country’s most valuable natural resources.
A team of researchers from the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay and Maine Department of Marine Resources in West Boothbay Harbor recently published their research on the effects of ocean warming and acidification on gene expression in the earliest life stages of the American lobster.
The work was published in the scientific journal Ecology and Evolution with collaborators from the University of Prince Edward Island and Dalhousie University in Canada.
Leading the study was recent UMaine graduate student Maura Niemisto, who received her masterâs degree in marine science. Co-authors on the journal article were her advisers Richard Wahle, research professor in UMaineâs School of Marine Sciences and director of the Lobster Institute, and David Fields, senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
Baby lobsters may be adaptable to changes in Gulf of Maine, study shows
A team examined how post-larval lobsters genes react to the effects of ocean warming, acidification and the combination of both.
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Baby lobsters may be more adaptable to rapidly changing ocean conditions than previously thought, according to results of a new study conducted in Maine.
A juvenile lobster is shown in Harpswell in 2015. A research team has examined how post-larval lobsters genes reacted to the effects of ocean warming, acidification and the combination of both.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Researchers from the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole, the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay and the Maine Department of Marine Resources in West Boothbay Harbor teamed up to examine the effects of ocean warming and acidification on gene expression in the earliest life stages of the American lobster.