Urban Oceans

In 2023 the Pelagic Ecosystems Lab started a new research direction to understand how urban environments interact with oceans, change their character, and impact their health. Our work is focusing on Vancouver as a study area. Read the project announcement here.

Current research questions being tackled are:

  1. What is the organic matter and inorganic nutrient content of stormwater, urban rivers and other urban inputs to the coastal ocean?
  2. What are the biogeochemical signatures of urban inputs to the nearshore ocean?
  3. What is the footprint of urban material inputs in the coastal ocean?
  4. What is the fate of urban material inputs in the coastal ocean?
  5. How do urban material inputs affect the health of individual organisms and the food webs that they are a part of, and how does this impact the ecosystem services that they provide?
  6. What is the effect of urbanization on marine biodiversity?

A map of study sites can be found here.

Collaborators

Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Metro Vancouver, Scholes Lab, Fisheries and Oceans Canada