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Conservation Genetics And Systematics Of Several Turtles Species In The Southeastern United States, Joshua Robert Ennen

Dissertations

Chelonians (i.e., turtles) are an imperiled group of reptiles with about 66% of the recognized species listed as threatened by the IUCN. Most chelonian species have a unique set of life history traits (i.e., longevity, delayed sexual maturity, and low juvenile survivorship), which makes their populations exceedingly sensitive to increases in adult and juvenile moralities. With numerous anthropogenic effects (e.g., habitat alteration, exploitation, and over harvesting) negatively influencing mortality rates, chelonians have experienced global precipitous declines and extinctions.

This dissertation focuses on species within two chelonian genera, Gopherus and Graptemys. Although these two genera are vastly different ecologically, they are …

Analysis Of Sediment And Gut Contents Of The Sand Dollars Mellita Tenuis, Encope Michelini, And Encope Aberrans Off The Central Florida Gulf Coast, Susan E. Hilber, John M. Lawrence

Gulf of Mexico Science

Sand dollars are conspicuous macroinvertebrates on particulate substrates in intertidal and shallow water environments. Their locomotion and feeding can have major effects on the sediment and infauna. We investigated the sediment and gut contents of three species of sand dollars off the central Florida gulf coast. Sediment comprised quartz particles at two sites and mixed quartz particles and carbonate shell hash at the third site. At all sites, gut particles were smaller than those of the sediment. This could have been the result of the teeth of the Aristotle’s lantern crushing the particles. However, particles in the food grooves of …

Macrofauna Associate With Ungrounded Prop Roots Of Rhizophora Mangle In Veracruz And Quintana Roo, Mexico, Kathryn D. Tunnell, Kim Withers

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The prop roots of the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) provide a solid substrate for diverse assemblages of marine organisms in areas typically characterized by soft bottoms (Bingham 1992, Farnsworth and Ellison 1996). Macrobenthic communities of mangroves have received little attention compared with other components of the ecosystem, largely due to sampling difficulties (Lee 2008). Mangrove root epifauna are likely used by predatory fish, especially juveniles. Thus, these organisms have the potential of being important links between mangroves and adjacent ecosystems. The fauna associated with red mangrove prop roots along Mexican Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and Caribbean shorelines has …