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Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Understanding Ecosystems for a Sustainable Future

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Global Warming Gives Plants A Nitrogen Boost

What's the perfect temperature to bake your soil? Postdoc Genevieve Noyce found out in a futuristic global warming experiment. (Photo: Sairah Malkin/Horn Point Laboratory)
Director's Letter: Surprising Side Effects of Being Human

"As scientists, we're constantly surprised. Research has a way of revealing hidden connections or unexpected consequences we never imagined until we took a closer look."
Q&A: How Do Parents Help Their Offspring Adapt Before Birth?

Postdoc Sarah Donelan shows how parents give offspring clues about the world before they enter it, and how today's rapid change could be throwing parents off. (Photo: Patricia Donelan)
Blue Crab Dads Stretched Thin In Chesapeake Bay

Without enough male crabs to go around, some female blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay aren't getting enough sperm to fertilize all their eggs.
High Carbon Dioxide Can Create "Shrinking Stems" In Marshes

In a new study, scientists discovered higher carbon dioxide can spur marsh sedges to grow more stems, but they're shorter and thinner. The reason: A shortage of nitrogen.

The SERC campus and trails will be closed to the public for winter forest management on the following Saturdays: Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14, 21, and 28, and Jan. 4, 11, 18 and 25.

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Female Blue Crabs Risk Sperm Shortage in Bay
Global Warming Gives Plants A Nitrogen Boost

Photo: Sairah Malkin/Horn Point Lab
High CO2 Can Create “Shrinking Stems” in Marshes

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Leafy green rosette of downy rattlesnake plantain

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50 Years of Discovery

For half a century, SERC scientists have taken on environmental issues on Chesapeake Bay and around the world and uncovered new ways to protect the planet. Learn more about SERC’s history and discoveries.