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The Peculiar Nature Of Florida’S Sandhill Wetlands, Ponds & Lakes— Their Ecohydrology, Relationship With The Regional Aquifer & Importance Within The Landscape., Renae Starr Nowicki

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the ecohydrology of Florida’s peculiar and poorly studied sandhill wetland and water features, particularly those located in west-central Florida. The primary research goals include: compilation and summarization of the available ecohydrologic information for features across Florida; comparison of water level and water geochemistry data between sandhill wetlands and waters and the regional aquifer to provide evidence of regional hydrologic control; and use of geophysical applications to examine the hydraulic connections between sandhill wetlands and waters and the regional aquifer.

From this research, a natural history of sandhill wetland and water ecohydrology is presented, highlighting: the differences between …

Short- And Long-Term Trends In Ecological Interactions: From Predator-Prey Interactions To Phanerozoic Diversification, Subhronil Mondal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the last two decades, a broad spectrum of short- and long-term studies on different taxonomic groups has enriched our understanding about how dynamics of taxonomic and ecological diversification have changed through geologic time. There are two major issues that have impacted these studies: the quality and quantity of data used are often insufficient in various ways and the methods used may produce results that are more equivocal than supposed. To investigate these issues more fully, this dissertation focuses on studies on two major aspects: 1) short-term studies examining the nature of successful and unsuccessful predatory attacks on Plio-Pleistocene bivalves; …

Ecology Of The Late Neogene Extinctions: Perspectives From The Plio-Pleistocene Of Florida, Shubhabrata Paul

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ecological impact of past extinction events is one of the central issues in paleobiology. In face of present environmental changes, a better understanding of past extinctions will enable us to identify the magnitude of biodiversity crises and their underlying processes. The Late Neogene was a time of extraordinary climatic reorganization, including Northern Hemisphere glaciation, the rise of the Central American Isthmus, and associated changes in environmental conditions. Therefore, the Late Neogene extinctions of marine molluscs of South Florida present an ideal platform to examine the interaction between environmental changes and biotic response. In the present study, three different aspects …