Water Articles in American Scientist Magazine
Feature Articles
* Articles where free full-text access is restricted to members, affiliates and subscribers.
January-February 2008
Volume: 96 Number: 1 Page: 28
The Phenotypic Plasticity of Death Valley's Pupfish
Desert fish are revealing how the environment alters development to modify body shape and behavior
Sean C. Lema
September-October 2006
Volume: 94 Number: 5 Page: 430
Algae-Dominated Reefs *
Numerous reports suggest that reefs must be dominated by coral to be healthy, but many thriving reefs depend more on algae
Peter S. Vroom, Kimberly N. Page, Jean C. Kenyon, Russell E. Brainard
January-February 2006
Volume: 94 Number: 1 Page: 58
Ancient Lakes of the Sahara *
The Sahara was once a savannah teeming with life. The story of how the climate changed, and how humans coped, is still being unraveled
Kevin White, David J. Mattingly
July-August 2005
Volume: 93 Number: 4 Page: 322
Climate and the Collapse of Maya Civilization
A series of multi-year droughts helped to doom an ancient culture
Larry C. Peterson, Gerald H. Haug
January-February 2005
Volume: 93 Number: 1 Page: 42
The Home of Blue Water Fish *
Rather than singly inhabiting the trackless ocean, pelagic fish species travel together in groups, which migrate between hidden, productive oases
A. Peter Klimley, John E. Richert, Salvador J. Jorgensen
November-December 2004
Volume: 92 Number: 6 Page: 548
The Decline of the Blue Crab *
Changing weather patterns and a suffocating parasite may have reduced the numbers of this species along the Eastern seaboard
Richard F. Lee, Marc E. Frischer
March-April 2004
Volume: 92 Number: 2 Page: 130
Internal Tides and the Continental Slope
Curious waves coursing beneath the surface of the sea may shape the margins of the world's landmasses
David A. Cacchione, Lincoln F. Pratson
March-April 2004
Volume: 92 Number: 2 Page: 158
The Artificial Nile *
The Aswan High Dam blocked and diverted nutrients and destroyed a Mediterranean fishery, but human activities may have revived it
Scott W. Nixon
January-February 2004
Volume: 92 Number: 1 Page: 54
Salt Marshes Under Siege *
Agricultural practices, land development and overharvesting of the seas explain complex ecological cascades that threaten our shorelines
Mark Bertness, Brian Reed Silliman, Robert Jefferies
March-April 2003
Volume: 91 Number: 2 Page: 150
Ecologically Sustainable Yield
Marine conservation requires a new ecosystem-based concept for fisheries management that looks beyond sustainable yield for individual fish species
Richard W. Zabel, Chris J. Harvey, Steven L. Katz, Thomas P. Good, Phillip S. Levin
January-February 2003
Volume: 91 Number: 1 Page: 44
Mud, Marine Snow and Coral Reefs *
The survival of coral reefs requires integrated watershed-based management activities and marine conservation
Eric Wolanski, Robert Richmond, Laurence McCook, Hugh Sweatman
January-February 2003
Volume: 91 Number: 1 Page: 60
H2O *
Experiments in black and white: A photoessay describing connections between the author's work and science and incorporating pictures that explore the physicality of water.
David Goldes
September-October 2002
Volume: 90 Number: 5 Page: 428
Ethnoclimatology in the Andes *
A cross-disciplinary study uncovers a scientific basis for the scheme Andean potato farmers traditionally use to predict the coming rains
Benjamin S. Orlove, John C. H. Chiang, Mark A. Cane
September-October 2002
Volume: 90 Number: 5 Page: 436
Deep-Ocean Life Where Oxygen Is Scarce *
Oxygen-deprived zones are common and might become more so with climate change. Here life hangs on, with some unusual adaptations
Lisa A. Levin
March-April 2002
Volume: 90 Number: 2 Page: 148
The Rise and Fall of Rudist Reefs *
Reefs of the dinosaur era were dominated not by corals but by odd mollusks, which died off at the end of the Cretaceous from causes yet to be discovered
Claudia Johnson
March-April 2002
Volume: 90 Number: 2 Page: 154
Manatees, Bioacoustics and Boats
Hearing tests, environmental measurements and acoustic phenomena may together explain why boats and animals collide
Edmund R. Gerstein
January-February 2002
Volume: 90 Number: 1 Page: 32
The Eurasian Arctic During the Last Ice Age
A vast ice sheet once covered the Barents Sea. Its sudden disappearance 100 centuries ago provides a lesson about western Antarctica today
Martin J. Siegert, Julian A. Dowdeswell, John-Inge Svendsen, Anders Elverhøi
January-February 2002
Volume: 90 Number: 1 Page: 64
Probing the Depths of Crater Lake *
During much of its 100 years of National Park status, this national treasure saw little scientific study, despite significant environmental threats
Douglas W. Larson
November-December 2001
Volume: 89 Number: 6 Page: 524
The Challenge of Siphonous Green Algae *
One imagines that an organism composed of one big cell would prove quite fragile. Yet these single-celled marine plants are surprisingly robust
Peter S. Vroom, Celia M. Smith
September-October 2001
Volume: 89 Number: 5 Page: 422
Life After Death in the Deep Sea *
Following immolation by volcanic eruption, the community around a hydrothermal vent recovers spectacularly
Richard A. Lutz, Timothy M. Shank, Robert Evans
May-June 2001
Volume: 89 Number: 3 Page: 220
Preserving Salmon Biodiversity
The number of Pacific salmon has declined dramatically. But the loss of genetic diversity may be a bigger problem
Phillip S. Levin, Michael H. Schiewe
January-February 2000
Volume: 88 Number: 1 Page: 26
Impacts of Industrial Animal Production on Rivers and Estuaries *
Animal-waste lagoons and sprayfields near aquatic environments may significantly degrade water quality and endanger health
Michael A. Mallin
January-February 2000
Volume: 88 Number: 1 Page: 46
Fishing Down Aquatic Food Webs
Industrial fishing over the past half-century has noticeably depleted the topmost links in aquatic food chains
Daniel Pauly, Villy Christensen, Rainer Froese, Maria Lourdes Palomares
November-December 1999
Volume: 87 Number: 6 Page: 510
Antarctica's Lake Vostok *
Specialists in disciplines ranging from glaciology to engineering are preparing to explore the world's largest subglacial lake
Martin J. Siegert
November-December 1999
Volume: 87 Number: 6 Page: 526
Water, Migration and the Serengeti Ecosystem
Understanding the mechanisms that control the timing of wildlife migrations may prove vital to successful management
Eric Wolanski, Emmanuel Gereta, Markus Borner, Simon Mduma
May-June 1998
Volume: 86 Number: 3 Page: 254
Chemical Ecology in Antarctic Seas *
Chemical interactions can lead to unusual arrangements between species
James McClintock, Bill Baker
Columns
Computing Science
November-December 2006
Up a Lazy River
Meandering through a classic theory of why rivers meander
Brian Hayes
Engineering
January-February 2006
Levees and Other Raised Ground
Engineering offers options for rebuilding New Orleans, but engineers won't choose which one
Henry Petroski
Macroscope
January-February 2008
Reliably Safe
The history of a problematic dam in Oregon teaches how not to manage risk
Douglas W. Larson
Marginalia
March-April 2002
No One Checked: Natural Arsenic in Wells
Philip Morrison, Phylis Morrison
Science Observer
March-April 2007
Banking on Mitigation
New regulations might change the landscape of national wetlands policy
Amos Esty
September-October 2005
Water Fight
At very short time scales, is water still H2O?
Fenella Saunders
July-August 2004
Sea Change
Reflection seismology, a tool of geologists, proves useful to oceanographers
David Schneider
September-October 1998
Jöklhlaup
The spectacle of an Icelandic glacial flood
David Schoonmaker