Training in marine community ecology
Menge received his zoology bachelor’s degree from Minnesota in 1965 and his ecology doctorate from Washington in 1970. His research encompasses marine communities, connections among ecosystems and physiological ecology, including climate change and ocean acidification.
References: [1]
Comparing coastlines
He has participated in PISCO and led or co-led collaborations on ocean acidification and biological communities in upwelling regions. These programmes connect local interactions with broader ocean conditions and comparisons across coastal sites.
References: [1]
Measuring recovery after disturbance
From 2011 to 2019 his team studied six rocky-shore sites in three Oregon regions. At each site, five plots measuring 0.5 metres on each side were cleared annually of visible organisms and photographed during recovery, testing stability through responses to disturbance.
References: [2]
Appearance and recovery can differ
Results reported in 2022 showed slower, more variable recovery despite relatively similar overall community structure. The findings suggest declining resilience; the researchers explicitly did not conclude that the sites were necessarily approaching an imminent ecological tipping point.
References: [2]