Life Sciences Commons^™

Social Control Of Reproduction And Breeding Monopolization In The Eusocial Snapping Shrimp Synalpheus Elizabethae, Stc Chak, Dr Rubenstein, Je Duffy

VIMS Articles

Understanding why individuals within altruistic societies forgo reproduction to raise others' offspring has fascinated scientists since Darwin. Although worker polymorphism is thought to have evolved only in sterile workers, worker subcastes appear to be common among social invertebrates and vertebrates. We asked whether sterility accompanies eusociality and morphological differentiation in snapping shrimps (Synalpheus)-the only known marine eusocial group. We show that workers in Synalpheus elizabethae are reproductively totipotent and that female-but not male-gonadal development and mating are mediated by the presence of a queen, apparently without physical aggression. In queenless experimental colonies, a single immature female worker typically became ovigerous, …

Squidpops: A Simple Tool To Crowdsource A Global Map Of Marine Predation Intensity, J. Emmett Duffy, Shelby L. Zeigler, Justin E. Campbell, Paige M. Bippus, Jonathan S. Lefcheck

VIMS Articles

We present a simple, standardized assay, the squidpop, for measuring the relative feeding intensity of generalist predators in aquatic systems. The assay consists of a 1.3-cm diameter disk of dried squid mantle tethered to a rod, which is either inserted in the sediment in soft-bottom habitats or secured to existing structure. Each replicate squidpop is scored as present or absent after 1 and 24 hours, and the data for analysis are proportions of replicate units consumed at each time. Tests in several habitats of the temperate southeastern USA (Virginia and North Carolina) and tropical Central America (Belize) confirmed the assay’s …

Modeling Estuarine Response To Load Reductions In A Warmer Climate: York River Estuary, Virginia, Usa, Samuel J. Lake, Mark Brush

VIMS Articles

The impact of climate warming on shallow tributary estuaries will be influenced by the complex cycling of nutrients and organic matter, diversity of primary producers, and enhanced benthic-pelagic coupling typical of these systems, along with advection of nutrients, organic matter, and hypoxic water from adjacent systems. This study utilized a parsimonious, reduced-complexity model that combines mechanistic equations with robust, data-driven, empirical formulations to predict how phytoplankton net primary production (NPP), net ecosystem metabolism (NEM), and hypoxia will change under a range of warmer conditions in the York River Estuary, VA, USA, a sub-estuary of Chesapeake Bay. Modeled NPP peaked earlier …

Suspended Particulate Matter Longitudinal Survey – Currituck Sound, Nc; Oct 13-15, 2015, Cruise: Cs151013-15, Chsd Stations: S5566-5587, Grace M. Massey, Kelsey A. Fall

Data

Dataset consists of water column and bottom burst data, PICS, and light attenuation data collected as part of a 21 station longitudinal survey of the Currituck Sound, NC along a ~60 km transect northward from the Wright Memorial Bridge.

Diel Vertical Distribution Patterns Of Zooplankton Along The Western Antarctic Peninsula, Patricia S. Thibodeau, John A. Conroy, Deborah K. Steinberg

Presentations

The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a region that has undergone significant change over the past several decades due to unprecedented increases sea surface temperature and decreases in sea ice cover. The ongoing Palmer Antarctica Long-Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER) study shows that these environmental changes are significantly affecting the marine pelagic ecosystem along the WAP. The goal of this study was to analyze diel vertical distribution patterns of zooplankton along the WAP.

Ontogeny, Behavior, And Ecology Of The Sea Turtle "Lost Years", Kate L. Mansfield

Presentations

Very little is known about sea turtles during their first years at sea, a period described as the sea turtle “lost years”. Filling these data gaps required a new technological approach including the use of small, solar-powered satellite tags and novel tag attachment methods. Data from the first long-term tracks of oceanic stage "lost years" sea turtles provide new insights to early sea turtle life history and ontogeny, revolutionizing how we now perceive the sea turtle “lost years”.

Snorkeling A 323myo Paleozooic Bay Community Structure And Depositional Environment Of The Bear Gulch Limestone Of Montana, Eileen D. Grogan, Richard Lund

Presentations

The Carboniferous Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana preserves the fauna and flora of a shallow, tropical marine bay, providing a rare glimpse into bay ecology and community structure in deep time. We discuss how museum fish collections are vital resources that assist us in resurrecting the fossil fish and how we derived a depositional model that explains the quality of preservation in this lagerstatte and records the diversity of its fishes (chondrichthyan, sarcopterygian and actinopterygians).

Past, Present And Future Of Research At Vims, Mark Luckenbach

Presentations

Mark Luchenbach, Virginia Institute of Marine Science and School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary, Associate Dean of Research and Advisory Services, presents the research of the institute, highlighting the exponential growth of research output.

As part of the year-long 75th anniversary celebration, this symposium brings together presentations from both alumni and current students to provide a historical and forward-looking perspective on the impacts that members of the VIMS community have made to the world.

Detecting And Understanding Threats To Eelgrass In The Gulf Of Maine: The Times, They Are A-Changin’, Hillary A. Neckles

Presentations

Eelgrass forms extensive meadows in coastal and estuarine waters throughout northern New England and Atlantic Canada. Threats to ecosystem stability include indirect impacts of watershed development and direct physical alterations associated with coastal construction, boating operations, and commercial fishing. Effects of human activities are exacerbated by natural disturbances such as severe weather events and biotic, geomorphic, and climatic processes. Spatial simulation models have shown even small scale disturbances in eelgrass meadows to require decades for full recovery. However, lack of consistent trend data of sufficient duration, spatial extent, and resolution often impedes anticipating threats before management solutions become cost prohibitive. …

Reflections From A (Mostly) Non-Academic Career: Looking Back And Moving Forward, Paul Sandifer

Presentations

Dr. Sandifer, retired Chief Science Advisor for NOAA's National Ocean Service, presents his experiences at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and his service as a scientist for government agencies.

As part of the year-long 75th anniversary celebration, this symposium brings together presentations from both alumni and current students to provide a historical and forward-looking perspective on the impacts that members of the VIMS community have made to the world.

School Of Marine Science History And Current Status, Linda Schaffner

Presentations

This presentation opened the VIMS 75th Anniversary Alumni Research Symposium. Dr. Linda Schaffner, VIMS Alumnus and Associate Dean of Academic Studies for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the School of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, presents history and current state of the school.

As part of the year-long 75th anniversary celebration, this symposium brings together presentations from both alumni and current students to provide a historical and forward-looking perspective on the impacts that members of the VIMS community have made to the world.

Multitrophic Functional Diversity Predicts Ecosystem Functioning In Experimental Assemblages Of Estuarine Consumers, Js Lefcheck, Je Duffy

VIMS Articles

The use of functional traits to explain how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning has attracted intense interest, yet few studies have a priori altered functional diversity, especially in multitrophic communities. Here, we manipulated multivariate functional diversity of estuarine grazers and predators within multiple levels of species richness to test how species richness and functional diversity predicted ecosystem functioning in a multitrophic food web. Community functional diversity was a better predictor than species richness for the majority of ecosystem properties, based on generalized linear mixed-effects models. Combining inferences from eight traits into a single multivariate index increased prediction accuracy of these models …

Phylogeographic Perspective On The Distribution And Dispersal Of A Marine Pathogen, The Oyster Parasite Bonamia Exitiosa, Kristina M. Hill-Spanik, Jan Mcdowell, Kimberly S. Reece, Eugene M. Burreson, Ryan B. Carnegie

VIMS Articles

The significance of infectious disease has intensified as our marine ecosystems are increasingly altered, with molluscan taxa being among the affected. One of the important pathogens to emerge in recent years, the oyster parasite Bonamia exitiosa,has a broad geographic distribution and has been found to infect a number of oyster species. In order to better understand how B. exitiosa achieved this wide distribution, a gene genealogy was constructed using internal transcribed spacer region ribosomal DNA sequencing data from across the host species range.The analysis revealed population structure in the form of 4 well-defined groups of sequences: 3corresponding to geographic regions …

Comparison Of Surface Chlorophyll, Primary Production, And Satellite Imagery In Hydrographically Different Sounds Off Southern New England, Lindsey Fields, Jeffrey Mercer, Kimberly Hyde, Mark Brush, Et Al

VIMS Articles

Block Island Sound (BIS) and Rhode Island Sound (RIS) are adjacent inner continental shelf ecosystems with contrasting hydrographic regimes. BIS exhibits more energetic tidal mixing, and water column stratification remains weak but persists year-round due to nearby estuarine exchange flow; RIS is less influenced by estuaries, and more seasonal with strong stratification in summer. We compared annual cycles of phytoplankton biomass and primary production in BIS and RIS using measurements (surface chlorophyll, ¹⁴C primary production), primary production models (Webb/Platt and BZE models), and satellite ocean color products. During 22 mo of sampling, measured surface chlorophyll was not significantly different …

Roles Of Dispersal And Predation In Determining Seedling Recruitment Patterns In A Foundational Marine Angiosperm, Stephen R. Manley, Robert J. Orth, Leonardo Ruiz-Montoya

VIMS Articles

: Seed dispersal and seed predation are 2 important processes in the early life history of plants. These mechanisms have been described extensively in terrestrial plants and have resulted in the creation of various models to describe seedling recruitment with increasing distance from the parent plant. However, it is unclear whether theoretical models derived from terrestrial studies apply to marine angiosperms. We performed observational and experimental tests of seed dispersal mechanisms in a marine environment to elucidate patterns of seed dispersal and predation in a foundational marine angiosperm, eelgrass Zostera marina. We also modeled seed dispersal and predation to explore …

Historical Summer Distribution Of The Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena Glacialis): A Hypothesis Based On Environmental Preferences Of A Congeneric Species, Sophie Monserrat, Maria G. Pennino, Tim D. Smith, Randall R. Reeves, Christine N. Meynard, David M. Kaplan, Ana S.L. Rodrigues

VIMS Articles

Aim: To obtain a plausible hypothesis for the historical distribution of North Atlantic right whales (NARWs) (Eubalaena glacialis) in their summer feeding grounds. Previously widespread in the North Atlantic, after centuries of hunt- ing, these whales survive as a small population off eastern North America. Because their exploitation began before formal records started, information about their historical distribution is fragmentary.

Composition And Temporal Patterns Of Larval Fish Communities In Chesapeake And Delaware Bays, Usa, Filipe Ribeiro, Edward Hale, Eric J. Hilton, Todd R. Clardy, Alison L. Deary, Timothy E. Targett, John E. Olney

VIMS Articles

Comparing larval fish assemblages in different estuaries provides insights about the coastal distribution of larval populations, larval transport, and adult spawning locations. We simultaneously compared the larval fish assemblages entering 2 Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) estuaries(Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay, USA) through weekly sampling from 2007 to 2009. In total,43 taxa (32 families) and 36 taxa (24 families) were collected in Delaware and Chesapeake Bays,respectively. Mean taxonomic diversity, mean richness, and evenness were generally lower in Delaware Bay. Communities of both bays were dominated by Anchoaspp., Gobiosomaspp.,Micropogonias undulatus, and Brevoortia tyrannus; Paralichthys spp. was more abundant in Delaware Bay and …

Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 2014, Susanna Musick, Lewis Gillingham

Reports

Through 2014, the Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program has maintained a 19-year database of records for tagged and recaptured fish. The program is a cooperative project of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament (under the Virginia Marine Resources Commission-VMRC) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) of the College of William and Mary (under the VIMS Marine Advisory Program).

Estimating The Effects Of Seawater Intrusion On An Estuarine Nitrogen Cycle By Comparative Network Analysis, David E. Hines, Jessica A. Lisa, Bk Song, Craig R. Tobias, Stuart R. Borrett

VIMS Articles

Nitrogen (N) removal from estuaries is driven in part by sedimentary microbial processes. The processes of denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) remove N from estuaries by producing N₂ gas, and each can be coupled to N recycling pathways such as nitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Environmental conditions such as seawater intrusion influence sedimentary estuarine N cycling processes. This study investigated the potential effects of seawater intrusion on N cycling processes and their couplings through a comparative modeling approach. We applied environ analysis, a form of ecosystem network analysis, to 2 N cycling mass-balance network models …

A Gillnet Survey Of Charlotte Harbor, Summer 2014, K. Omori, L. Ailloud, J. Hoenig, R. Hueter, J. Morris

Reports

We conducted a gillnet survey from May through September 2014, at two locations in Charlotte Harbor, Florida: Long Point (LP) and Pine Island (PI). Elasmobranchs and teleosts were sampled using two different methodologies: 1) the same methodology as a previous survey conducted by Mote Marine Laboratory from 1995 to 2004 and in 2013; and 2) the methodology used in the NMFS-coordinated Gulf of Mexico Shark Pupping and Nursery (GULFSPAN) program. The goals of our study were to characterize changes in abundance and species composition of coastal sharks between the two survey periods (1995-2004 vs. 2013-2014); evaluate the potential of the …

Mucous Contribution To Gut Nutrient Content In American Gizzard Shad Dorosoma Cepedianum, L. L. Holley, M K. Heidman, Randolph Chambers, S. Laurie Sanderson

Arts & Sciences Articles

This study developed and applied an approach to calculate the proportion of fish gut content composed of mucus secreted by the oropharyngeal cavity and gut. The amount of nitrogen in the contents of the foregut (oesophagus and gizzard) and the epibranchial organs of suspension‐feeding American gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum was significantly higher than the nitrogen in the homogeneous food source. Using data collected from suspension‐feeding experiments and the nitrogen content of D. cepedianum mucus, a series of equations illustrated that mucus constituted c. 10% of D. cepedianum foregut content and 12% of epibranchial organ content by dry mass. Future quantification …

Trophic Transfer In Seagrass Systems: Estimating Seasonal Production Of An Abundant Seagrass Fish, Bairdiella Chrysoura, In Lower Chesapeake Bay, Kathryn L. Sobocinski, Robert J. Latour

VIMS Articles

Silver perch Bairdiella chrysoura is a seasonally abundant fish in lower Chesapeake Bay seagrass habitats. Young-of-the-year fish recruit to these habitats in June and rear for the remainder of the summer before migrating to deeper habitats in the Bay and offshore as seawater cools in the fall. This species has been shown to be abundant in seagrass habitats, yet like many fishes in these habitats, little is known about its growth and production, and thus the contribution of this habitat type to overall production. We developed a bioenergetics model to estimate individual silver perch growth and calibrated this model using …

Representing Taxonomic, Phylogenetic And Functional Diversity: New Challenges For Mediterranean Marine-Protected Areas, Francois Guilhaumon, Camille Albouy, Et Al, Christine N. Meynard

VIMS Articles

To assess gaps in the representation of taxonomic, phylogenetic and func- tional diversity among coastal fishes in Mediterranean marine-protected areas (MPAs).

2014 Annual Awards, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Miscellaneous

The Annual Awards ceremony is an occasion in which new employees and volunteers are introduced, employee service is recognized and student and faculty awards are presented.

Vims 75 Years 1940-2015 : A Celebration Of 75 Years In Words And Images, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Miscellaneous

This booklet was prepared to mark the 75th anniversary of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Vims 75th Anniversary Postcards, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Miscellaneous

No abstract provided.

Vims 75th Anniversary Alumni Research Symposium : October 8-9, 2015, Gloucester Point, Virginia, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Presentations

Program brochure and agenda for the symposium. Also available online are some of the presentations and posters from the conference.

Anthropogenic Controls On Overwash Deposition: Evidence And Consequences, Laura J. Rogers, Laura J. Moore, Evan B. Goldstein, Christopher J. Hein, Jorge Lorenzo-Trueba, Andrew D. Ashton

VIMS Articles

Accelerated sea level rise and the potential for an increase in frequency of the most intense hurricanes due to climate change threaten the vitality and habitability of barrier islands by lowering their relative elevation and altering frequency of overwash. High-density development may further increase island vulnerability by restricting delivery of overwash to the subaerial island. We analyzed pre-Hurricane Sandy and post-Hurricane Sandy (2012) lidar surveys of the New Jersey coast to assess human influence on barrier overwash, comparing natural environments to two developed environments (commercial and residential) using shore-perpendicular topographic profiles. The volumes of overwash delivered to residential and commercial …

Phytoplankton Growth Rates In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, Anna F. Mosby, Walker O. Smith Jr.

VIMS Articles

The Ross Sea is a highly productive region of the Southern Ocean, but phytoplankton growth rates there are poorly constrained. Variability in growth rates was investigated on a January February 2012 cruise to the Ross Sea using 37 C-14 isotopic tracer incubations and 11 dilution experiments. We examined the effects of extended incubations on measured growth rates in C-14 incubations, quantified phytoplankton growth and grazing mortality rates through dilution experiments, and analyzed the effects of irradiance on carbon:chlorophyll ratios in dilution experiments. Growth rates in C-14 incubations ranged from 0.03 to 0.85 d(-1). We found that chlorophyll-based phytoplankton growth rates …

The Influence Of Environmental Factors And Resource Availability On Zostera Marina Flowering Intensity, Andrew J. Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Sexual reproduction and the production of seeds are important for the resilience of all angiosperm species. For clonal species, such as the seagrass Zostera marina, resource allocation is complicated because these species reproduce both asexually and sexually, and the factors contributing to allocation to these two processes remains unknown. The goal of this study was, therefore, to investigate the importance of critical light, nutrient, and rhizome resources on Z.

marina sexual reproduction and flowering intensity. To evaluate the importance of sediment nutrients on Z. marina flowering intensity two distinct field manipulative experiments and one field survey were initiated: 1. Sediments …