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Patterns Of Habitat Use And Trophic Structure In Turtle Grass (Thalassia Testudinum)-Dominated Systems Across The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Christian Hayes Aug 2021

Patterns Of Habitat Use And Trophic Structure In Turtle Grass (Thalassia Testudinum)-Dominated Systems Across The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Christian Hayes

Dissertations

Seagrass structural complexity is a primary driver of nekton recruitment and faunal community structure. Few studies, however, have quantified the role of seagrass complexity on habitat use and trophic structures over large spatial scales. A large-scale simultaneous survey was conducted to assess relationships of multiple seagrass morphological complexity metrics to nekton habitat use, trophic dynamics, and blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) growth and mortality across the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Seagrass morphological and nekton community characteristics depended on site and season, and regional variation in seagrass morphology was an important driver of juvenile nekton abundance, species richness, beta diversity, …


Dissolved Nitrogen Cycling In The Eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago From Stable Isotopic Data, Holly Westbrook Jul 2021

Dissolved Nitrogen Cycling In The Eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago From Stable Isotopic Data, Holly Westbrook

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is expected to drastically alter the input of inorganic nitrogen (N) sources in the Eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago (ECAA) with increasing discharge from glacial meltwater and permafrost thawing. Since dissolved inorganic N is generally depleted in surface waters, dissolved organic N (DON) could represent a significant source of nutrients limiting primary production in Arctic ecosystems. Yet, few DON data for this region exist. We analyzed stable isotopes (δ15N and δ 18O of DON and NO3-) to investigate dissolved nitrogen cycling in glacial rivers and marine surface samples collected in the ECAA during summer …