Life Sciences Commons^™

Natural Resources Outreach Coalition: Coordination And Program Delivery, Stone, A, Frank Mitchell, Amanda Stone

PREP Reports & Publications

The Natural Resources Outreach Coalition (NROC) is a multi-organizational initiative providing technical and educational assistance to communities in New Hampshire’s coastal watersheds dealing with the effects of growth. The NROC program offered to communities includes an initial educational public presentation, Dealing with Growth, followed by a series of follow-up meetings to help the community focus their goals, develop an action-oriented work plan, and provide the technical and educational assistance needed to help the community meet its goals.

2004 Support For Shellfish Program And Estuarine Education, Meeker, S & Reid, A, B. Sharon Meeker, Ann S. Reid

PREP Reports & Publications

Working within the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Cooperative Extension/Sea Grant Program, the Great Bay Coast Watch (GBCW) is New Hampshire’s most wide ranging program for direct citizen involvement in monitoring estuarine and coastal systems. GBCW has a fifteen year history of educating citizens about the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire Seacoast, and Gulf of Maine watershed through active participation in monitoring and an accompanying education program. Based in Durham, NH, GBCW coordinates over 100 volunteers drawn from 19 New Hampshire and Southern Maine communities. In 1990, volunteers began monitoring eight sites on a monthly basis April through October. Today, …

Dover Natural Resource Mapping And Community Outreach Initiative, Bird, Dover Planning Department

PREP Reports & Publications

The grant funding has allowed us to further address the continuing need for community awareness for open space and natural resource protection in the City of Dover. This funding has enabled the City of Dover Planning Department in partnership with the City of Dover Open Lands Committee to present several events throughout October and November 2004. The events offered participants information about natural resource and open space protection as well as an opportunity to enjoy nature. They increased public awareness about the Open Lands Committee and its function. Activities and workshops from October to November 2004 included Apple Harvest Day …

Wetlands Assessment, Inventory, And Prime Wetlands Designation Project In The Taylor River Watershed, Town Of Hampton, Hampton Conservation Commission, Rockingham County Conservation District

PREP Reports & Publications

The purpose of this project was to provide significant educational efforts on wetlands functions and values, prime wetlands designation, on-the-ground inventory findings, wildlife habitat, and New Hampshire's Prime Wetlands laws and rules for the two communities located within the project focus area. The focus area for this project was the Taylor River Watershed, which comprises the Taylor River as it flows through both

Hampton and Hampton Falls, a bit of Ash Brook and Old River as it flows through Hampton, and Grapevine Run as it flows through Hampton Falls. This project assessed over 152 wetland areas containing approximately 620 acres. …

On-Line Resource Clearinghouse For Rapidly Growing Communities, Amy Seif

PREP Reports & Publications

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, sprawl is among the biggest environmental challenges facing New England, where more than 1,200 acres of open space are lost to development each week. New Hampshire is the fastest growing state in New England, and much of this growth is located within the 42 community coastal watershed served by the New Hampshire Estuaries Project. The Resource Clearinghouse for Rapidly Growing Communities project was created out of an interest in getting community decision makers the information and access to resources that they need to make informed decisions in this challenging time. The clearinghouse is designed …

2004 Water Quality Education Onboard The Gundalow, Bolster, M, Molly Bolster

PREP Reports & Publications

The Gundalow Company (a non-profit 501(c)3 organization) sponsors maritime history and environmental educational programs for school groups and the public onboard the replica gundalow Captain Edward Adams from May through November in 12-15 riverfront locations in the Piscataqua region. The project funded by the NHEP in 2004 included the development of an expanded Gundalow Company education program curriculum in order to motivate all gundalow visitors to appreciate the relationship between regional maritime history, contemporary water quality issues and future stewardship responsibilities. The NHEP grant also supported the Gundalow Company’s efforts to bring the gundalow to Durham and Newmarket. The content …

Conservation Easement Outreach Project, Wenninger, Ray Wenninger

PREP Reports & Publications

Stratham voters approved a 5 million dollar conservation bond issue in 2002 to preserve open space through easement or outright purchase. The Ad-hoc Conservation Bond Subcommittee to the Conservation Commission is helping achieve Stratham’s open space goals and is continuing to reach out to landowners that have undeveloped land that may be suitable for Stratham’s open space initiative. It was an opportune time for the subcommittee to provide updated outreach materials when a grant by the Natural Resources Outreach Coalition (NROC) Implementation Grant Program became available. The grant, managed by the New Hampshire Estuaries Project, provided funding to produce and …

Coral Reef Ecosystem Restoration Off Southeast Florida, David S. Gilliam, Walter Jaap, Richard E. Dodge, Elizabeth Glynn Fahy, Jamie A. Monty, Brian K. Walker, Lauren F. Shuman, B. D. Ettinger, Daniel P. Fahy, Shaun M. Gill, Richard Shaul

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Significant coral reef community development along the eastern shelf of the United States continues northward of the Florida Keys through Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Martin Counties, Florida (to Latitude 27° N). These Southeast Florida high-latitude coral communities have approximately 30 species of stony corals, stony coral coverage of 2-3%, and a diverse assemblage of reef gorgonians, sponges, and fishes.

This system lays within 3 km of the coast offshore a highly urbanized area comprising a population of over 5 million people (the population of Broward County alone exceeds 1.7 million). These reefs are important economic assets: a 2001 economic …

Techniques For Restoring Gorgonians To Coral Reef Injury Areas, Lauren F. Shuman, David S. Gilliam, Richard E. Dodge, B. D. Ettinger, Daniel P. Fahy, Elizabeth Glynn Fahy, Shaun M. Gill, Jamie A. Monty, Brian K. Walker

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Great attention and energy has been spent investigating reattachment techniques for dislodged and fragmented scleractinian corals; however there has been a lack of controlled experimentation on how to restore dislodged gorgonians following a disturbance event, such as a ship grounding. Unfortunately, reef damage events occur frequently off southeast Florida. As an example, since 1998 at least five freighters have grounded on the reefs near Ft. Lauderdale, Broward County. These freighters dislodged many scleractinian and gorgonian corals and often destroyed thousands of square feet of reef habitat. After these events, restoration efforts concentrated on stabilizing loose debris and rubble, and reattaching …

2003 Coastal Municipal Stormwater Infrastructure Mapping Project, Jeffrey Marcoux

PREP Reports & Publications

This final report describes the grant program funded by NHEP and administered by DES. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between NHEP and DES created a grant program to provide assistance to coastal communities to develop storm sewer infrastructure maps. DES issued a request for proposals (RFP), chose grant recipients, and managed the grant agreements. This report provides details on the grant projects completed by Farmington, Dover, Durham, Seabrook, Somersworth, and North Hampton. The deadline for completion of all grant projects was December 31, 2004.

Annotated Bibliography Of The Florida Applesnail, Pomacea Paludosa (Say) (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae), From 1824 To 1999, Richard L. Turner, Paula M. Mikkelsen

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The Florida applesnail, Pomacea paludosa (Say, 1829), inhabits freshwater rivers, lakes, and wetlands of the southeastern United States and Cuba, where it is prey to several species of birds, reptiles, and fish, particularly the snail kite, limpkin, American alligator, and redear sunfish. It has additionally been a staple in the diet of several native human populations. Introduction of exotic aquatic vegetation and the management practices of the 1900s have impacted the availability of P. paludosa to its predators, some of which are listed on federal and state registries of species that are endangered, threatened, or of special concern. Its association …

Chemical And Toxicological Characterization Of The Upper York River, Virginia The Mattaponi And Pamunkey Rivers, Morris H. Roberts Jr., Mark Richards, Peter F. Delisle

Reports

This study describes the most extensive effort to characterize the chemistry, toxicology and community of the sediments of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers. This was accomplished using a study design modified to expand the number of stations occupied by reducing the cost of analyses by compositing replicate samples collected from each study site rather than performing toxicity tests on these samples individually. In previous studies, the variability in field replicate samples was equivalent to the variability in laboratory replicates. This design has long been used to analyze samples for various chemical contaminants as a cost savings endeavor. More ....

Evaluating And Enhancing The Success Of Oyster Reef Restoration: The Effects Of Habitat Complexity On Oyster Survival, Mark W. Luckenbach, Paige G. Ross

Reports

We evaluated the progress of several oyster restoration efforts of varying ages in three tidal tributaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Rappahannock, the Piankatank and Great Wicomoco rivers. In 2003 and 2004, we determined the density, biomass and size frequency distribution of oyster populations on the reefs during spring, summer and fall. Recruitment of oysters to the reefs was quantified using standardized substrates deployed and retrieved from the reef surfaces on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule from May through November. The prevalence and intensity of the oyster pathogens Perkinsus marinus and Haplosporidium nelsoni in oysters on the reefs was determined from …

Ecological Inventory Of The Cocheco River Watershed And The Follet’S Brook Watershed, Zankel, M, Mark Zankel

PREP Reports & Publications

No abstract provided.

Laboratory Analyses Of Water And Shellfish From Coastal Waters And Watershed Of New Hampshire, Finnigan, Jayne S. Finnigan

PREP Reports & Publications

The Department of Health and Human Services-New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories (DHHS-NHPHL) has participated in providing laboratory analyses as part of the National Estuary Program since it’s inception in New Hampshire in 1995. The NHPHL has continued to carry out various actions dealing with the monitoring program as listed in the NH Estuaries Project Management Plan.

Nhep Strategic Communication Plan, Kellam, D, Dave Kellam

PREP Reports & Publications

The New Hampshire Estuaries Project’s (NHEP) Strategic Communication Plan (SCP) facilitates the implementation of Action Plans related to public outreach and education (POE) and focuses resources on communication activities that strengthen the organization’s position in the resource management community. The plan begins with a situational audit that examines the history of the NHEP, its role in the natural resources management community and the target audiences identified in the NHEP Management Plan. Next, the SCP’s goals and objectives for the next three years are described. Finally, the SCP appendices include branding elements, program descriptions, Management Plan relevance to the SCP, and …

2003 Coastal Illicit Connection Identification And Elimination Grant Project, Jeffrey Marcoux

PREP Reports & Publications

This final report describes a grant program funded by NHEP and administered by DES. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between NHEP and DES created a grant program to provide assistance to coastal communities to identify and eliminate illicit discharges into the storm drain system. A total of $80,000 was made available for assisting municipalities with illicit discharge correction and storm sewer mapping projects. DES issued a request for proposals (RFP), chose grant recipients, and managed the grant agreements. This report provides details on the illicit discharge detection and elimination projects completed by Dover, Somersworth, and Hampton. The deadline for completion …

Tracking The Sea-Level Signature Of The 8.2 Ka Cooling Event: New Constraints From The Mississippi Delta, Torbjörn E. Törnqvist, Scott J. Bick, Juan L. Gonzalez, Klaas Van Der Borg, Arie F. M. De Jong

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The ever increasing need for accurate predictions of global environmental change under greenhouse conditions has sparked immense interest in an abrupt, century‐scale cooling around 8200 years ago, with a focal point in the North Atlantic and with hemispheric teleconnections. Despite considerable progress in the unraveling of this striking feature, including a conceivable driving mechanism (rapid drainage of proglacial Lake Agassiz/Ojibway and a resulting reduced strength of North Atlantic thermohaline circulation), several key questions remain unanswered. One salient aspect concerns the total amount of freshwater released during this catastrophic event, likely echoed by a near‐instantaneous eustatic sea‐level rise. So far, no …

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia : Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 2004-2008 Annual Report 1 September 2003 - 31 August 2004, Philip W. Sadler, John M. Hoenig, Robert E. Harris, Bonnie G. Holliman

Reports

This report presents the results of striped bass (Marone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 August 2003 through 31 August 2004. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2004 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survival based on annual spring tagging, and the results of the fall 2003 directed mortality study that is a collaborative effort with the Maryland Department ofNatural Resources. The information contained in this report is required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is used to implement a coordinated management plan for striped …

Parasitism In Species Of Bathymodiolus (Bivalvia : Mytilidae) Mussels From Deep-Sea Seep And Hydrothermal Vents, Me Ward, Jeffrey D. Shields, Cl Van Dover

VIMS Articles

Bivalve species, especially mussels, are biomass dominants in many deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystems. As in shallow-water environments, parasites are likely to be important factors in the population dynamics of bivalve communities in chemosynthetic ecosystems, but there has been little study of parasitism in deep-sea seep or vent molluscs. In this study, Parasite types, diversity, prevalence, infection density and non-infectious indicators of stress or disease as related to host age, reproductive condition, and endosymbiont density were assessed in mussels (Bathmodiolus heckerae) from 2 seep sites and mussels (B. puteoserpentis) from 2 vent sites. We identified 10 microbial or parasitic agents in histological …

Dinitrogen Fixation And Release Of Ammonium And Dissolved Organic Nitrogen By Trichodesmium Ims101, Mr Mulholland, Da Bronk, Dg Capone

VIMS Articles

Two methods used to measure dinitrogen (N-2) fixation (acetylene reduction and N-15(2) uptake) often result in different N-2 fixation rates. Part of the discrepancy may arise from the observation that Trichodesmium can release a fraction of their recently fixed N-2 as dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and/or ammonium (NH4+). To resolve outstanding issues regarding N-2 fixation and the production of dissolved combined nitrogen (N) by Trichodesmium, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of N-2 fixation and the production of DON and NH4+ in cultures of Trichodesmium IMS101. We performed N-15(2) uptake experiments in parallel with acetylene (C2H2) reduction assays, and measured production …

Land Conservation Transaction Fund, Taylor, J, Dorothy Tripp Taylor

PREP Reports & Publications

Between May of 2002 and December of 2003, the New Hampshire Estuaries Project provided the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forest/Center for Land Conservation Assistance with $64,400 for matching grants to distribute to assist with transaction costs associated with permanent land conservation projects in the New Hampshire estuaries area. Application materials were created and distributed, applications were received and reviewed and grants were made. The project was well received and very successful. Twenty-three grants were made to support transaction costs associated with projects that provided permanent protection for 1158 acres in 9 estuaries area communities. Grant funds of …

Spring Phytoplankton Photosynthesis, Growth, And Primary Production And Relationships To A Recurrent Coastal Sediment Plume And River Inputs In Southeastern Lake Michigan, Steven E. Lohrenz, Gary L. Fahnenstiel, David F. Millie, Oscar M.E. Schofield, Tom Johengon

Faculty Publications

[1] A recurrent coastal sediment plume (RCP) is an episodic event in the southern basin of Lake Michigan that typically coincides with the spring diatom bloom. Strong winter storm activity during El Nino conditions in 1998 resulted in a large and intense RCP event. Consistently higher values of the light-saturated rate of photosynthesis, P-max(B), were observed in spring 1998 compared to 1999 and 2000. Higher values of P-max(B) in 1998 appeared to be related to increased availability of phosphorus, as evidenced by significant correlations of P-max(B) with soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP). Light-saturated growth rates were also significantly correlated with SRP …

El Nino Southern Oscillation-Related Salinity Variations Recorded In The Skeletal Geochemistry Of A Porites Coral From Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, K. H. Kilbourne, Terrence M. Quinn, Frederick W. Taylor, Thierry Delcroix, Yves Gouriou

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Coral skeletal geochemistry offers the potential to reconstruct the sea surface salinity (SSS) history of the tropical oceans on seasonal to interannual and perhaps centennial timescales because of the strong link between variation in SSS and seawater δ¹⁸O in tropical regions. We explore this potential using a monthly resolved, 65‐year record of skeletal δ¹⁸O and Sr/Ca variations in a Porites coral from Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. We demonstrate that El Niño–Southern Oscillation–related climate variability strongly influences coral δ¹⁸O at Santo through local salinity changes associated with the position of the South Pacific Convergence Zone and …

Proposals For Commuity Discussion On The Future Management Of Pink Snapper Fishing In Cockburn Sound And Surrounding Waters, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries management papers

This discussion paper outlines the current issues associated with the management of the metropolitan pink snapper fishery along with some options for future management.

Freshwater Wetlands Inventory Outreach Activities For The Freshwater Wetland Mitigation Inventory Of Nineteen Coastal Communities Report, New Hampshire Estuaries Project

PREP Reports & Publications

As requested by the New Hampshire Office of Energy & Planning, this is a final report of all outreach activities for the Freshwater Wetlands Inventory conducted through 2003- 2004 for the nineteen coastal communities of New Hampshire. This report includes all of the outreach activities that were conducted, the details and attendance of each presentation, and an example of the PowerPoint presentation shown at each meeting.

The Crest, Fall 2004, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• NOAA Opens Chesapeake Bay Office in Virginia at VIMS
• Team discovers probable cause of croaker deaths
• Researchers test and refine storm-surge models
• Dye helps predict potential dispersal of non-native oyster larvae
• Researchers release juvenile blue crabs
• Annual wetlands workshop explores Isabel's impacts
• Fellows earn berth at EPA Conference
• Reay and Priest share Spirit award
• Schaffner briefs U.S. Congress
• VIMS student develops educational board game
• VIMS hosts release of Fisheries Ecosystem plan
• Researchers study ocean's "internal weather"
• VIMS mourns passing of Andrews
• News Briefs

The Perfect Microbial Symbiosis Hotel: Marine Sponges, Jose V. Lopez

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Evidence Of Shark Predation And Scavenging On Fishes Equipped With Pop-Up Satellite Archival Tags, David W. Kerstetter, J. Polovina, John E. Graves

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

On The Approximation Of The Coriolis Terms In C-Grid Models, Dmitri A. Nechaev, Max Yaremchuk

Faculty Publications

A new representation of the Coriolis terms on the Arakawa C grid is proposed. The approximation dumps the grid-scale noise that arises because of spatial averaging of the Coriolis terms when the grid spacing is larger than the deformation radius. The proposed approximation can also be applied in C-grid schemes with semi-implicit treatment of the Coriolis terms. The new scheme is analyzed in the context of the linear inertial-gravity waves and its advantageous behavior is demonstrated with respect to the conventional technique.