Pelagic Ecosystems Lab wins BC Conservation & Biodiversity Award
The award will fund a project to provide high resolution zooplankton biodiversity data by integrating eDNA, and the Zooscan imaging system, to establish a biodiversity benchmark for the wider BC coast.
Environmental DNA in nearshore ecosystems in urban & non-urban environments
Student profile: Grace Melchers, MSc student in the Pelagic Ecosystems Lab
PICES Symposium brought together science from all around the world
Several IOF members presented at the symposium, with Research Associate Dr. Anna McLaskey, winning the best oral presentation in the Biological Oceanography Committee section.
Dr. Brian Hunt receives NSERC Discovery Grant to research the impacts of urbanization on the coastal ocean
Dr. Brian Hunt will receive an NSERC Discovery Grant for work on the impacts of urbanization on coastal oceans, specifically regarding ocean cities.
Jellyfish size might influence their nutritional value, UBC study finds
Researchers confirmed what was already known: jellyfish eat bigger prey as they grow, which means they also occupy a higher position in the food web as they grow. They also found that some of the concentrations of ‘healthy fats,’ increase as jellyfish grow. These changes might be influenced by their diet, and as they feed on bigger prey with higher levels of fatty acids, the jellyfish accumulate more of these fatty acids.
Food quality matters for southern resident killer whales, UBC study states
If southern resident killer whales ate just low-lipid salmon, they would have to eat around 80,000 more Chinook salmon every year than if they just ate high-lipid salmon.
Food quality might be key for juvenile sockeye salmon growth and survival
The quality of food sockeye salmon eat along their migration routes is more important to their growth and condition than quantity, a new study has found, highlighting concerns about the effects of climate change on ocean conditions and salmon.
Expect shorter food chains in more productive coastal ecosystems
“We provided evidence for bottom-up omnivory in nutrient-rich temperate pelagic ecosystems, where food chain length is determined by the level of diatom production,” said Jacob Lerner. “This is very different from the global model for pelagic ecosystems.”
International Year of the Salmon Expedition helps IOF researchers map North Pacific food webs
For scientists in the IOF’s Pelagic Ecosystems Lab, the trip represents a chance to trace the outline of North Pacific food webs, in which salmon play a central role as both predator and prey.
Researchers deploy a new tool to study Chinook salmon fat content on the Fraser River
A Chinook with a short migration to Harrison Lake may offer half the calories to a resident killer whale as a similarly sized Chinook headed to the headwaters of the Fraser River.