Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Miami

Theses/Dissertations

Ecology

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

The Spatial Ecology Of Black Groupers (Mycteroperca Bonaci) In The Upper Florida Keys, Veronique Koch Jun 2011

The Spatial Ecology Of Black Groupers (Mycteroperca Bonaci) In The Upper Florida Keys, Veronique Koch

Open Access Theses

Black groupers (Mycteroperca bonaci) are a critical component of coral reef ecosystems as well as South Florida fisheries. It is therefore of great concern that their essential fish habitat has not yet been fully defined. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the ecology of black groupers was characterized in the Upper Florida Keys. The first part of this study utilized acoustic telemetry. Self-contained acoustic receivers were placed in an array around Conch Reef and tracked 16 tagged black groupers for 483 days. Patterns of movement behavior and habitat usage were modeled using presence-absence data. The capture-recapture program MARK was used to estimate …


Evolution Of Dioecy In Echinocereus Coccineus: Relative Influence Of Pollinators, Resources And Elevation Over Multiple Spatial Scales, Summer Ann Scobell Apr 2008

Evolution Of Dioecy In Echinocereus Coccineus: Relative Influence Of Pollinators, Resources And Elevation Over Multiple Spatial Scales, Summer Ann Scobell

Open Access Dissertations

"Why have separate sexes?" is a fundamental question in biology and has been investigated intensively since Darwin first proposed two hypotheses: Separate sexes evolve 1) to avoid detrimental effects of self-fertilization or 2) to improve allocation of scarce resources to each sex's reproductive function. In animal-pollinated plants dioecy is hypothesized to be favored when small, generalized pollinators predominate because they increase self-fertilization rates of plants. I concurrently tested Darwin's hypotheses using Echinocereus coccineus (Cactaceae). I found, as predicted, when specialized pollinators (hummingbirds) were excluded from plants and only generalized pollinators (bees) visited, selfing rates of plants increased 238%. High selfing …


Ecophysiology Of The Gray Snapper (Lutjanus Griseus): Salinity Effects On Abundance, Physiology And Behavior, Xaymara M. Serrano Jan 2008

Ecophysiology Of The Gray Snapper (Lutjanus Griseus): Salinity Effects On Abundance, Physiology And Behavior, Xaymara M. Serrano

Open Access Theses

Mangroves and seagrass beds serve as essential fish habitat for many economically- and ecologically-valuable species. Depending on their location, these shallow-water habitats are often characterized by substantial fluctuation in salinity levels, which can represent a source of osmoregulatory stress for associated organisms. In South Florida, one of the most important fish species that utilizes these habitats is the gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus). Although this species constitutes a significant portion of the region?s total recreational fishery harvest, the effects of salinity on its distribution, physiology and behavior remain poorly understood. The main goal of this thesis was then to investigate the …