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Life Sciences

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The University of Maine

2018

Climate Change

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Climatic Range Filling Of North American Trees, Benjamin Seliger Dec 2018

Climatic Range Filling Of North American Trees, Benjamin Seliger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the degree to which species distributions are controlled by climate is crucial for forecasting biodiversity responses to climate change. Climatic equilibrium, when species are found in all places which are climatically suitable, is a fundamental assumption of species distribution models, but there is evidence in support of climate disequilibria in species ranges. Long-lived, sessile organisms such as trees may be especially vulnerable to being outpaced by climate change, and thus prone to disequilibrium. In this dissertation, I tested the degree to which North American trees are in equilibrium with their potential climatic ranges using the ‘range filling’ metric, which …


A Histological Assessment Of The Effects Of Elevated Temperature And Nitrogen On The Symbiodinium Of Palythoa Toxica (Walsh And Bowers 1971), Molly Westbrook May 2018

A Histological Assessment Of The Effects Of Elevated Temperature And Nitrogen On The Symbiodinium Of Palythoa Toxica (Walsh And Bowers 1971), Molly Westbrook

Honors College

Coral reefs around the world are suffering mass bleaching events caused by a combination of stressors, including rising ocean temperatures, acidity, pollution, increased suspended sediments, and increasing nitrogen levels. Corals harbor a complex microbial ecosystem consisting of bacteria, and algal symbionts known as Symbiodinium. This study examines the effects of elevated temperature, a known cause of bleaching, and elevated nitrogen, an increasingly important potential stressor for reefs, on the Symbiodinium of a zoanthid coral, Palythoa toxica. A total of 65 polyps were subjected to 5 different water treatments of 2 levels of elevated nitrogen, and 2 levels of …


Coastal Maine Climate Futures Report, University Of Maine Climate Change Institute Jan 2018

Coastal Maine Climate Futures Report, University Of Maine Climate Change Institute

General University of Maine Publications

Climate and weather exert a critical influence on the health of Maine’s people, ecosystems and economy. Across coastal communities, where fishing, forestry, tourism, and agriculture serve as the economic backbone, the changing climate poses near and long-term challenges. This report provides a basis for future planning by developing plausible climate scenarios for the next 20 years – the period 2020–2040. The plausible scenarios follow an examination of historical climate trends, climate–commodity connections, and sources of climate variability that affect Maine. This report was produced with generous support from the Russell Grinnell Memorial Trust.