Sea Grant awards $820,000 for research under EPA's Long Island S...( STONY BROOK NY March 9 2009 -- Th...)

STONY BROOK, NY March 9, 2009 -- The Sea Grant programs of Connecticut and New York have awarded nearly $820,000 in Long Island Sound Study research grants to five projects that will look into some of the most serious threats to the ecological health of Long Island Sound, a water body designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as an Estuary of National Significance. This research addresses the historical problem of the Sound's low oxygen conditions as well as emerging issues of red tide and the effects of climate change on the Sound's ecosystem. Research results from the two-year projects are expected to provide valuable information to resource managers throughout the Long Island Sound watershed.

Several projects will examine hypoxia--the condition of low oxygen that presents numerous environmental challenges. "The focus on the important issue of hypoxia in Long Island Sound in many of these projects should greatly increase our understanding of the detailed causes of this problem and will be important in our efforts to solve it," said Dr. James Ammerman, director of New York Sea Grant.

Research will be conducted on the chemical, physical, and biological factors that contribute to the hypoxic or low-oxygen conditions at the bottom of Long Island Sound. Mark Altabet of the Department of Estuarine and Ocean Science, School of Marine and Technology, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth will look at the geochemistry of dissolved gases in the Sound to gain insight into oxygen exchange between surface and bottom waters. Robert Wilson and Brian Colle of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), Stony Brook University will partner with Daniel Codiga of the University of Rhode Island to evaluate the relationship between summertime storms and hypoxia.

Also at Stony Brook's SoMAS, Darcy Lonsdale and Christopher Gobler will look at seasonal temperature differences and the effects on the Sound's food web. Gobler will
'/>"/>