Clams and Water Pumping Explain Phytoplankton Decline in San Francisco Estuary

Katherine E Kerlin — April 08, 2019 - 4:27pm

A combination of invasive clams and water pumping explains the drastic suppression of phytoplankton in the San Francisco Estuary, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.

Previous studies linked fish declines in the estuary in part to a limited supply of phytoplankton. These tiny microscopic algae make up the base of the food web: Fish eat zooplankton, which eat phytoplankton.

Plastic for Dinner: A Quarter of Fish Sold at Markets Contain Human-Made Debris

IET WebDev — September 24, 2015 - 9:05am

Roughly a quarter of the fish sampled from fish markets in California and Indonesia contained human-made debris — plastic or fibrous material — in their guts, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, and Hasanuddin University in Indonesia.

The study, published today in the journal Scientific Reports, is one of the first to directly link plastic and human-made debris to the fish on consumers’ dinner plates.

Aquatic Health Content

Clams and Water Pumping Explain Phytoplankton Decline in San Francisco Estuary

Plastic for Dinner: A Quarter of Fish Sold at Markets Contain Human-Made Debris