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Living Shorelines Achieve Functional Equivalence To Natural Fringe Marshes Across Multiple Ecological Metrics, Robert Isdell, Donna M. Bilkovic, Amanda Guthrie, Molly Mitchell, Randolph M. Chambers, Matthias Leu, Carl Hershner Jan 2021

Living Shorelines Achieve Functional Equivalence To Natural Fringe Marshes Across Multiple Ecological Metrics, Robert Isdell, Donna M. Bilkovic, Amanda Guthrie, Molly Mitchell, Randolph M. Chambers, Matthias Leu, Carl Hershner

VIMS Articles

Nature-based shoreline protection provides a welcome class of adaptations to promote ecological resilience in the face of climate change. Along coastlines, living shorelines are among the preferred adaptation strategies to both reduce erosion and provide ecological functions. As an alternative to shoreline armoring, living shorelines are viewed favorably among coastal managers and some private property owners, but they have yet to undergo a thorough examination of how their levels of ecosystem functions compare to their closest natural counterpart: fringing marshes. Here, we provide a synthesis of results from a multi-year, large-spatial-scale study in which we compared numerous ecological metrics (including …


Subgenome Dominance In An Interspecific Hybrid, Synthetic Allopolyploid, And A 140-Year-Old Naturally Established Neo-Allopolyploid Monkeyflower, Patrick P. Edger, Ronald Smith, Micheal R. Mckain, (...), Gregory D. Conradi Smith, Joshua R. Puzey Sep 2017

Subgenome Dominance In An Interspecific Hybrid, Synthetic Allopolyploid, And A 140-Year-Old Naturally Established Neo-Allopolyploid Monkeyflower, Patrick P. Edger, Ronald Smith, Micheal R. Mckain, (...), Gregory D. Conradi Smith, Joshua R. Puzey

Arts & Sciences Articles

Recent studies have shown that one of the parental subgenomes in ancient polyploids is generally more dominant, having retained more genes and being more highly expressed, a phenomenon termed subgenome dominance. The genomic features that determine how quickly and which subgenome dominates within a newly formed polyploid remain poorly understood. To investigate the rate of emergence of subgenome dominance, we examined gene expression, gene methylation, and transposable element (TE) methylation in a natural, <140-year-old allopolyploid (Mimulus peregrinus), a resynthesized interspecies triploid hybrid (M. robertsii), a resynthesized allopolyploid (M. peregrinus), and progenitor species (M. guttatus …


Intraspecific Intrusion At Bald Eagle Nests, Courtney Turrin, B. D. Watts Jul 2014

Intraspecific Intrusion At Bald Eagle Nests, Courtney Turrin, B. D. Watts

Arts & Sciences Articles

Competition for nesting territory has been shown to act as a density-dependent feedback mechanism influencing population growth rate. However, little is known about the nature of territorial interactions between established breeders and floaters. We examined territorial intrusion rates and associated behaviours at active Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus nests in the lower Chesapeake Bay in 2012 and 2013. The average intrusion rate experienced at study nests during the reproductive period was 0.28 ± 0.32 intrusions/h. Variance in intrusion rate was high and there was no apparent predictive pattern to these events. Juvenile intrusions occurred closer to the nest than adult intrusions, …


Structure, Drivers, And Trophic Interactions Of The Demersal Fish Community In Chesapeake Bay, Andre Buchheister Jan 2014

Structure, Drivers, And Trophic Interactions Of The Demersal Fish Community In Chesapeake Bay, Andre Buchheister

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Management of fisheries resources is increasingly broadening its scope from single-species approaches to more holistic, ecosystem-based approaches that account for interactions of fish with a variety of ecological factors, such as predators, prey, and habitat. This ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) approach requires thorough biological and ecological understanding of systems pertaining to community structure, habitat suitability, and food web interactions. to strengthen the ecological underpinnings of EBFM efforts in Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the USA, I conducted synoptic analyses examining the structure, function, and patterns of the bay's demersal fish community. This research relied on I0 years of …