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

Life Sciences Commons

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

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Sulfur Isotope Variability Of Oceanic Dmsp Generation And Its Contributions To Marine Biogenic Sulfur Emissions, Kathryn L. Van Alstyne Dr., Harry Oduro, James Farquhar Jun 2012

Sulfur Isotope Variability Of Oceanic Dmsp Generation And Its Contributions To Marine Biogenic Sulfur Emissions, Kathryn L. Van Alstyne Dr., Harry Oduro, James Farquhar

Shannon Point Marine Center Faculty Publications

Oceanic dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is the precursor to dimethylsulfide (DMS), which plays a role in climate regulation through transformation to methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and nonseasalt sulfate (NSS-SO4 2−) aerosols. Here, we report measurements of the abundance and sulfur isotope compositions of DMSP from one phytoplankton species (Prorocentrum minimum) and five intertidal macroalgal species (Ulva lactuca, Ulva linza, Ulvaria obscura, Ulva prolifera, and Polysiphonia hendryi) in marine waters. We show that the sulfur isotope compositions (δ34S) of DMSP are depleted in 34S relative to the source seawater sulfate by ~1–3‰ and are …


Larval Dispersal: Vent Life In The Water Column, Diane K. Adams, Shawn M. Arellano, Breea Govenar Mar 2012

Larval Dispersal: Vent Life In The Water Column, Diane K. Adams, Shawn M. Arellano, Breea Govenar

Shannon Point Marine Center Faculty Publications

Visually striking faunal communities of high abundance and biomass cluster around hydrothermal vents, but these animals don’t spend all of their lives on the seafloor. Instead, they spend a portion of their lives as tiny larvae in the overlying water column. Dispersal of larvae among vent sites is critical for population maintenance, colonization of new vents, and recolonization of disturbed vents. Historically, studying larvae has been challenging, especially in the deep sea. Advances in the last decade in larval culturing technologies and more integrated, interdisciplinary time-series observations are providing new insights into how hydrothermal vent animals use the water column …


Rebuilding A Vent Community: Lessons From The Epr Integrated Study Site, Breea Govenar, Shawn Arellano, Diane K. Adams Jan 2012

Rebuilding A Vent Community: Lessons From The Epr Integrated Study Site, Breea Govenar, Shawn Arellano, Diane K. Adams

Shannon Point Marine Center Faculty Publications

The discovery of a seafloor eruption at the East Pacific Rise (EPR ) in 1991 presented an opportunity to examine the colonization and assembly of macrofaunal communities at newly formed diffuse-flow vents as well as to document the changes in community composition (Shank et al., 1998) in the context of temperature variation (Scheirer et al., 2006) and fluid chemistry (Von Damm and Lilley, 2004). The eruption site became a focus of the Ridge 2000 EPR Integrated Study Site (ISS) established to facilitate studies of the interaction of biological, geochemical, and/or physical processes associated with seafloor spreading. A second seafloor eruption …


Tidal Height And Immersion Time Impact Predator-Induced Morphological Shell Plasticity In Three Members Of The Genus Nucella, Caitlin E. O'Brien Jan 2012

Tidal Height And Immersion Time Impact Predator-Induced Morphological Shell Plasticity In Three Members Of The Genus Nucella, Caitlin E. O'Brien

WWU Graduate School Collection

The genus Nucella has long been used as a model to study phenotypic plasticity. Nucella lamellosa, N. canaliculata, and N. ostrina respond to waterborne cues from the predatory crab Cancer productus by thickening their shells at the apertural lip. This type of phenotypic plasticity is referred to as predator-induced morphological defense. The degree of constitutive and plastic lip thickening differs according to each species' native height in the intertidal: Nucella lamellosa lives lowest in the intertidal, typically produces the thickest shells and has the strongest response to crabs, while N. ostrina lives highest in the intertidal, has the thinnest shells, …


Non-Lethal Determination Of Heavy Metals In Spiny Dogfish (Squalus Suckleyi) Spines Using La-Icp-Ms, Clayton L. (Clayton Louis) Bailes Jan 2012

Non-Lethal Determination Of Heavy Metals In Spiny Dogfish (Squalus Suckleyi) Spines Using La-Icp-Ms, Clayton L. (Clayton Louis) Bailes

WWU Graduate School Collection

Biological structures that develop incremental growth patterns over time present a unique opportunity to study chronological aspects of the organism's chemical environment. Spiny Dogfish (Squalus suckleyi), an abundant shark species, develop two dorsal spines that exhibit this type of growth pattern. The growth patterns on these spines have been used extensively as indicators of age. However, the chronological patterns of trace metal deposits in these spines have yet to be assessed. The main goals of this study were to develop the methods for analyzing this chronology and to explore techniques to analyze these data. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass …


Lipids Of The Sea Anemone Anthopleura Elegantissima: Season And Symbiont Affect Content And Fractionation, Monica R. Ponce-Mcdermott Jan 2012

Lipids Of The Sea Anemone Anthopleura Elegantissima: Season And Symbiont Affect Content And Fractionation, Monica R. Ponce-Mcdermott

WWU Graduate School Collection

Anthopleura elegantissima, the common Pacific sea anemone, can host two very different algal endosymbionts: zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium muscatinei) and zoochlorellae (Elliptochloris marina). The photosynthetic carbon provided by the symbionts supplements the host's heterotrophic feeding, with zooxanthellae potentially translocating five times more carbon to the host than do zoochlorellae. We developed a method to measure lipid levels of zooxanthellate and zoochlorellate A. elegantissima in different seasons, focusing on non-polar lipids that are important components of gonad and gametes. In July 2009 and January 2010, zooxanthellate and zoochlorellate A. elegantissima were collected from the same habitat at the same tidal height. Non-polar lipids …