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Snook (Centropomus Undecimalis) Behavior And Accelerometer Telemetry In The Bahia Grande Of Texas, Jonathan Truett Cawlfield

Theses and Dissertations

There has been very little study of the Texas population of snook. No studies have have looked at behavior in the Texas snook population. In this study we look at behavioral patterns and activity level in Lower Laguna Madre snook utilizing accelerometer telemetry tags. Twenty-one common snook were surgically implanted with tags and monitored from summer and fall of 2019 until September 2020. The accelerometer tags which sum acceleration over the x, y, and z planes calculated (ODBA) which was used to estimate behavior. This behavior was then compared with environmental data like diel period, tidal period, water temperature, and …

Managing Water Resource And Land Use In Lower Rio Grande Valley Of South Texas Using A Groundwater Vulnerability Model, Leslie Soto Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) has three Metropolitan Statistical Areas. These are Brownsville-Harlingen, Laredo, and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, the latter with a population of around 1 million people and had an estimated growth of 62% from the period of 2010-2018 (Texas State Data Center, 2020). Low precipitations, intensive agricultures as well as growth in the manufacturing and tourism industries have resulted in an increasing concern of scarce water supply especially the region relies primarily on a single water source, the Rio Grande River. These circumstances could potentially disrupt economic development, negatively affecting the local manufacturing industry, agriculture, and the community. With …

Assessment And Monitoring Of Deltaic Wetlands And Fluvial Systems: Refining And Validating A Multimetric Index Of Resaca Ecosystem Health, David Lecusay Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Resacas are ancient distributary channels of the lower Rio Grande River historically serving as floodwater drainage pathways onto the Laguna Madre, Texas. Resacas provide numerous ecosystem services and critical habitat for many species. Mainly influenced by urbanization, integrating a multimetric index for assessing and monitoring resaca ecosystem health is required for adaptive management. The Resaca Health Index (RHI) integrates structural and functional components: (1) nonredundant metrics describing fish communities (Fish Community Index); (2) Trophic State Index derived from Secchi depth; (3) decay constant from riparian vegetation leaf litter decomposing in the water column; and (4) a riparian quality index based …

Assessing Long-Term Coral Coverage At East And West Flower Garden Banks, Rebekah Alicia Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

Coral reefs provide critical habitat for diverse benthic communities; however, more than 10% of existing reefs have been lost as a result of natural and anthropogenic stressors. While there has been a decline in reefs around the world, East and West Flower Garden Banks (FGBs), part of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS), have maintained > 50% live coral cover for over 27 years as revealed by the FGBNMS long-term monitoring (LTM) program. In the 1980’s, the LTM program at East and West FGBs was developed in response to the expansion of oil and gas exploration, anchoring, and fishing impacts …

Biochar Applications To The Remediation Of Lead And Polychlorinated Biphenyl Contaminated Water, Victory Itua Igberase

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the performance of biochar materials as adsorbents to remove Pb and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) in aqueous solutions. Batch adsorption and column experiment packed with biochar and geomaterials (pumice) in 1:1 volume ratio was evaluated to address the efficacy of biochar in removing Pb while only batch adsorption was employed for PCB removal with biochar materials. Overall, PT biochars performed the best (42–53 mg g−1) followed by BE biochars (10–32 mg g−1) and AB biochars (17–27 mg g−1) while high temperature biochars were favored in terms of maximum Pb adsorption capacity. Column Pb breakthrough showed similar results, with …

Investigation Of Techniques And Their Application For The Cryopreservation Of Algal Species, Jazmine Leija

Theses and Dissertations

An alternative source for petroleum-based crude oils are algae derived biofuels. Fossil fuels are harmful for the environment, expensive and becoming scarce. There has been an increase in research on environmentally sustainable energy, using lipids derived from microalgae, which can be converted into biofuel. The use of microalgae as a source for biofuels has a lot of benefits including decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, rapid fuel production, absorption of carbon dioxide, and production of a renewable source of energy.

Algae cryopreservation aids in the maintenance of the best algae strains selected for producing lipids for biofuels. Cryopreservation will help minimize genetic …