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Ecosystem Fragmentation Drives Increased Diet Variation In An Endemic Livebearing Fish Of The Bahamas, Marcio S. Araujo, R. Brian Langerhans, Sean T. Giery, Craig A. Layman

Department of Biological Sciences

One consequence of human-driven habitat degradation in general, and habitat fragmentation in particular, is loss of biodiversity. An often-underappreciated aspect of habitat fragmentation relates to changes in the ecology of species that persist in altered habitats. In Bahamian wetlands, ecosystem fragmentation causes disruption of hydrological connectivity between inland fragmented wetlands and adjacent marine areas, with the consequent loss of marine piscivores from fragmented sections. We took advantage of this environmental gradient to investigate effects of ecosystem fragmentation on patterns of resource use in the livebearing fish Gambusia hubbsi (Family Poeciliidae), using both population- and individual-level perspectives. We show that fragmentation-induced …

Multi-Tissue Stable Isotope Analysis And Acoustic Telemetry Reveal Seasonal Variability In The Trophic Interactions Of Juvenile Bull Sharks In A Coastal Estuary, Philip Matich, Michael R. Heithaus

FCE LTER Journal Articles

1. Understanding how natural and anthropogenic drivers affect extant food webs is critical to predicting the impacts of climate change and habitat alterations on ecosystem dynamics.
2. In the Florida Everglades, seasonal reductions in freshwater flow and precipitation lead to annual migrations of aquatic taxa from marsh habitats to deep-water refugia in estuaries. The timing and intensity of freshwater reductions, however, will be modified by ongoing ecosystem restoration and predicted climate change.
3. Understanding the importance of seasonally pulsed resources to predators is critical to predicting the impacts of management and climate change on their populations. As with many large predators, however, it …