Life Sciences Commons^™

North Atlantic Vibrio Vulnificus Surveillance From Postharvest Oysters At A Us Shellfish Processing Facility, Kenneth Lavalley, Joseph Dealteris, Michael Rice, Marta Gomez-Chiarri

Marta Gomez-Chiarri

Postharvest surveillance for Vibrio vulnificus by a commercial processing facility was conducted from May 2001 to September 2003. Harvest areas included the Delaware Bay, Long Island Sound and Prince Edward Island. Occurrence followed a seasonal distribution. Low densities were observed in June, increased through August, and became rare by September. Given the ubiquitous nature of marine Vibrios, it was not surprising to find V. vulnificus everywhere, which was investigated. Observations confirmed the importance of strict time/temperature and product handling practices by shellfish harvesters, dealers and processors. Mishandling led to a potentially dangerous and uncharacteristically high V. vulnificus observation.

Isinglass River Conservation Corridor Project, Daniel E. Kern

PREP Reports & Publications

The New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) provided a $9,075 grant to Bear-Paw Regional Greenways to support the Isinglass River Conservation Corridor Project. The grant helped fund some of the transaction costs associated with the project that protected high-value conservation land along the Isinglass River and in other areas of the watershed in Strafford, New Hampshire. The $2.9 million project was a collaboration of Bear-Paw, the Trust for Public Land (TPL), and the Town of Strafford that protected five properties and 868 acres of forest, over one mile of road frontage, more than three miles of frontage on streams and rivers …

Total Nitrogen Concentrations In Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent In The Great Bay Estuary Watershed In 2008, Philip Trowbridge

PREP Reports & Publications

Nitrogen enrichment is a growing concern for the Great Bay Estuary. For the 2006 State of the Estuaries report (NHEP, 2006), the NHEP calculated the nitrogen load from wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) using data on total dissolved nitrogen in WWTF effluent in 2002 from Bolster et al. (2003). The NHEP needs to update this indicator for the 2009 State of the Estuaries report. Not only is more recent data needed but also measurements of total nitrogen are needed to avoid assumptions about the ratio of dissolved to total nitrogen. Therefore, the NHEP allocated staff time to collect effluent samples from …

Topographic Effects On The Path And Evolution Of Loop Current Eddies, Kyung Hoon Hyun, Patrick J. Hogan

Faculty Publications

Eddy-topography (ET) interactions are important in determining the path and evolution of oceanic eddies, including Loop Current Eddies (LCE) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). We use the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model and satellite altimetry data to investigate the ET interactions and the impact on LCE pathway evolution in the GOM. Satellite altimetry reveals that LCEs translate dominantly westward in the central GOM and strongly collide and reflect against topography near the continental slope in the northern and western GOM. The result is the frequent generation of an anticyclone-cyclone (AC) pair in conjunction with the LCEs. In the absence of …

Applying Marine Protected Area Design Models In Large Estuarine Systems, Roman Zajac, Amanda E. Neely

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Several types of design models are currently being used to develop marine protected areas (MPAs) for conservation of coastal and pelagic ecosystems. However, few studies have applied these models in large estuaries which have unique characteristics that need to be considered in MPA design, including strong physical, chemical and biological gradients and significant human impacts. We explored how one design model, MARXAN, can be applied to estuarine systems by developing MPA design scenarios for Long Island Sound, an estuary in the northeastern USA. Using sedimentary texture as a proxy for habitats, we modeled and tested several scenarios where conservation goals …

A New Species Of Gobiid Fish,Luciogobius From Ryukyus, Japan(Teleostei: Gobiidae), I-Shiung Chen, Toshiyuki Suzuki, Hiroshi Senou

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

A new gobiid fish has been collected from Ryukyu Archipelagos of Japan. This species is described herein as a new species, Luciogobius ryukyuensis sp. nov. It is characterized by the following unique combination of features: (1) second dorsal fin rays: I/11 and anal fin rays I/11; (2) pectoral fin rays 16 and with one upper, very short free soft ray; (3) vertebral count 37; and (4) specific coloration: head and body with many rounded light creamy white spots above creamy yellow to yellowish brown background. A diagnostic key to all nominal species of Luciogobius from West Pacific are provided herein.

Hurricane Storm Surge Simulations Comparing Three-Dimensional With Two-Dimensional Formulations Based On An Ivan-Like Storm Over The Tampa Bay, Florida Region, Robert H. Weisberg, Lianyuan Zheng

Marine Science Faculty Publications

We provide a dynamics‐based comparison on the results from three‐dimensional and two‐dimensional simulations of hurricane storm surge. We begin with the question, What may have occurred in the Tampa Bay, Florida vicinity had Hurricane Ivan made landfall there instead of at the border between Alabama and Florida? This question is explored using a three‐dimensional, primitive equation, finite volume coastal ocean model. The results show that storm surges are potentially disastrous for the Tampa Bay area, especially for landfalls located to the north of the bay mouth. The worst case among the simulations considered is for landfall at Tarpon Springs, such …

On The Movement Of Beluga Whales In Cook Inlet, Alaska: Simulations Of Tidal And Environmental Impacts Using A Hydrodynamic Inundation Model, Tal Ezer, Roderick Hobbs, Lie-Yauw Oey

CCPO Publications

The population of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska, is in decline, and since 2000 these whales have been under consideration for designation as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act (and were placed on the list in October 2008, just before this article went to press). In order to study environmental and hydrodynamic impacts on the belugas' movements and survival in the unique habitat of the inlet, a three-dimensional ocean circulation and inundation model is combined with satellite-tracked beluga whale data. Model-wale data comparisons from two whale paths during a five-day period (september 17-21, 2000) covering 10 tidal cycles suggest …

Lidar-Derived Benthic Habitat Maps Enable The Quantification Of Potential Dredging Impacts To Coral Reef Ecosystems, Brian K. Walker, Richard E. Dodge, David S. Gilliam

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

An essential component to the analysis of ecosystem services is to characterize and define the major habitats within the area of interest. Aerial photography and/or satellite imagery coupled with geographic information systems (GIS) are frequently used to identify and quantify habitats in open terrestrial ecosystems. However, it is more difficult to successfully apply this methodology to deeper, <20 m, underwater environments. Light detection and ranging (LIDAR), a relatively new remote sensing technology that provides detailed bathymetry, can be used when adequate imagery is not available. This study uses LIDAR as the basis to characterize various benthic habitats in a coral reef ecosystem in order to quantify the habitats for a Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) related to planned dredging activities to expand the Port Everglades entrance channel, Broward County, FL. As part of a regional mapping effort, marine benthic habitats were characterized for Broward County, FL. A mosaic of interpolated, sunshaded, laser bathymetry data served as the foundation upon which acoustic ground discrimination, limited subbottom profiling and aerial photography, and groundtruthing data were added in a GIS to aid in interpretation of benthic habitats. Expert-driven visual interpretation outlined geomorphological features in the LIDAR data at a scale of 1:6000 with a minimum mapping unit of 1 acre. The map of Broward County yielded a high overall accuracy of 89.6%. To quantify the potential dredging impacts, the habitat layer was clipped in GIS to the boundaries of anticipated direct and indirect impacts of the proposed project. Then the area of each clipped polygon was totaled for each habitat by impact type. HEA and Florida’s Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM) were performed using these areas. This work would not have been possible using satellite imagery or aerial photography alone and illustrates the capability of relatively new remote sensing technologies to aid in the definition and quantification of habitats for ecosystem service analyses.

Gene Expression Profiles As Molecular Indicators Of Dissolved Oxygen Stress In Grass Shrimp Palaemonetes Pugio Holthuis 1949, Tiandao Li

Dissertations

Occurrence and severity of hypoxia is increasing in coastal and estuarine environments, and recovery of impacted habitats and living resources is slow. Detection of early biological effects of hypoxia is needed for timely remedial action to be taken. The overall objectives of this research was to develop molecular indicators of dissolved oxygen stress to assess the biological impact of hypoxia in coastal estuaries and validate their use through a combination of laboratory and field studies. To achieve these goals, grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, oxygen-sensitive and hypoxia-tolerant species abundant in estuarine systems, were exposed to hypoxia under controlled laboratory conditions, and …

Yellow Head Virus: Transmission And Genome Analyses, Hongwei Ma

Dissertations

Yellow head virus (YHV) is an important pathogen to shrimp aquaculture. Among 13 species of naturally YHV-negative crustaceans in the Mississippi coastal area, the daggerblade grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, and the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, were tested for potential reservoir and carrier hosts of YHV using PCR and real time PCR. The YHV replicated in the daggerblade grass shrimp, and was still detectable on 36 d post-inoculation, causing 8% mortality after injection. However, YHV did not replicate in the blue crab. These data suggest that the daggerblade grass shrimp could act as a reservoir host for YHV. Storage conditions of …

Si Cycle In The Cariaco Basin, Venezuela: Seasonal Variability In Silicate Availability And The Si:C:N Composition Of Sinking Particles, Robert C. Thunell, Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Laura Lorenzoni, Mary Scranton, Ramon Varela, Yrene Astor, Kent A. Fanning

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A 9‐year time series of water column and sediment trap measurements was used to examine silicon cycling within the anoxic Cariaco Basin. The dynamic hydrographic regime within Cariaco Basin results in strong seasonal changes in nutrient availability and the Si:C:N of sinking particles. Upwelling in early winter injects silicic acid (Si(OH)₄⁼ ) and nitrate (NO₃⁻) rich waters into the photic zone which stimulates primary production and results in opal fluxes in excess of 4 mmol Si m⁻² d⁻¹. However, even during upwelling, surface waters tend to be depleted (<1 μM) in …

Unintended Facilitation Between Marine Consumers Generates Enhanced Mortality For Their Shared Prey, F. Joel Fodrie, Matthew D. Kenworthy, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

We manipulated predator densities and prey vulnerability to explore how interactions between two predators affect overall mortality of their shared prey. Our threemember study system included eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and two of its major consumers: southern oyster drills (Stramonita haemastoma) and stone crabs (Menippe adina). Field experiments demonstrated that drills and crabs foraging together generated higher than expected oyster mortality based on each species operating independently, even though crabs also killed some drills. In subsequent laboratory trials, we experimentally mimicked the handling of oysters by foraging crabs and confirmed that crabs facilitated drills by breeching oyster valves, thereby granting …

Developing 1990, 2000, And 2005 Impervious Surface Estimates For Southern York County, Maine, David G. Justice, Fay A. Rubin

PREP Reports & Publications

Estimates of impervious surface acreage in 1990, 2000, and 2005 were generated for an 11-town region in York County, Maine, covered by the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP). The project extended previous work done in New Hampshire, relying on comparable satellite-based data sources and image processing methodologies. As a result, standardized impervious surface estimates are now available for the entirety of the PREP region. The impervious surface estimates were derived by applying both traditional and subpixel classification techniques to 30-meter Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) satellite image data. The classifications indicated that …

Leucon (Crymoleucon) Rossi, A New Species (Crustacea: Cumacea: Leuconidae) From The Shelf Waters Of The Ross Sea (Antarctica), With A Key To The Genus Leucon South Of 60°S, Peter Rehm, Richard W. Heard

Faculty Publications

A new leuconid cumacean, Leucon (Crymoleucon) rossi n. sp., is described from depths of 84 to 458 m in the Ross Sea off the Victoria Land coast. Leucon rossi n. sp. is distinguished from other members of the genus by a combination of characters including 1) a blunt, horizontally directed pseudorostrum) Without a distinctly protruding siphon; 2) strongly developed antennal notch; 3) entire dorsomedian margin of carapace appearing serrate, armed with 14 to 19 anteriorly Curved spines in female (up to 21 in subadult males); 4) a small, but distinct, spine behind the frontal lobe; and 5) the uropodal peduncle …

Restoration Of Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Habitat For Multiple Estuarine Species Benefits, Shachak Pe'eri, J. Ru Morrison, Frederick T. Short, Arthur C. Mathieson, Anna Brook, Philip Trowbridge

PREP Reports & Publications

Increase in nitrogen concentration and declining eelgrass beds in Great Bay Estuary have been observed in the last decades. These two parameters are clear indicators of the impending problems for NH’s estuaries. The NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) in collaboration with the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) adopted the assumption that eelgrass survival can be used as the water quality target for nutrient criteria development for NH’s estuaries. One of the hypotheses put forward regarding eelgrass decline is that a possible eutrophication response to nutrient increases in the Great Bay Estuary has been the proliferation of nuisance macroalgae, which …

Macroalgae And Eelgrass Mapping In Great Bay Estuary Using Aisa Hyperspectral Imagery, Shachak Pe'eri, J. Ru Morrison, Frederick T. Short, Arthur C. Mathieson, Anna Brook, Philip Trowbridge

PREP Reports & Publications

Increase in nitrogen concentration and declining eelgrass beds in Great Bay Estuary have been observed in the last decades. These two parameters are clear indicators of the impending problems for NH’s estuaries. The NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) in collaboration with the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) adopted the assumption that eelgrass survival can be used as the water quality target for nutrient criteria development for NH’s estuaries. One of the hypotheses put forward regarding eelgrass decline is that a possible eutrophication response to nutrient increases in the Great Bay Estuary has been the proliferation of nuisance macroalgae, which …

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia, Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 2004-2008 Annual Report, 1 September 2007 - 31 September 2008, Philip W. Sadler, John M. Hoenig, Robert E. Harris, Matthew W. Smith, Rebecca J. Wilk, Lydia M. Goins

Reports

This report presents the results of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 September 2007 through 31 August 2008. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2008 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survival and fishing mortality based on annual spring tagging, and the results of the study that documents the prevalence of mycobacterial infections of striped bass in Chesapeake Bay. 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 …

(2008) Northwood Stomwater Technologies And Town Of Northwood Buffer Ordinance, Ttg Environmental Consultants, Llc

PREP Reports & Publications

TTG Environmental Consultants, LLC (TEC), under contract to the New Hampshire Estuaries Project and in conjunction with the Northwood Water Resources Sub-Committee, has prepared this report on stormwater technologies appropriate for the Town of Northwood, NH. This report is divided into two (2) main sections with a number of subsections. The first section describes the need for stormwater management, and the second section describes stormwater management technologies that are appropriate for Northwood. Stormwater management has been evolving for many years, from a need to convey stormwater away from or through a developed site, to the realization that land development has …

Eelgrass Distribution In The Great Bay Estuary 2007, Frederick T. Short

PREP Reports & Publications

Eelgrass has now, in 2007, almost totally disappeared from Little Bay and the Piscataqua River. Despite these critical losses in mid-estuary, eelgrass distribution in the Great Bay Estuary (GBE) as a whole between 2006 and 2007 experienced an overall loss of 3% in area because of the areal dominance of Great Bay itself, where most of the eelgrass that remains in the GBE is found. Eelgrass area in Great Bay itself remained about the same between 2006 and 2007, with an increase in biomass due to some of the remaining beds becoming more dense. However, Little Bay and the Piscataqua …

Distributional Ecology Of The Anemone Shrimp Periclimenes Rathbunae Associating With The Sea Anemone Stichodactyla Helianthus At Tobago, Neville A. Trimm, Floyd E. Hayes

Faculty Works

We studied the distributional ecology of the anemone shrimp Periclimenes rathbunae associating with the anemone Stichodactyla helianthus in Tobago, West Indies. The shrimps occupied 83.1% of the anemones (n = 83), with mean densities of 2.8 shrimps per anemone in the population and 3.4 shrimps per occupied anemone, and up to 11 inhabiting a single anemone. Shrimp density was significantly correlated with anemone size. Because the density of shrimps was not significantly correlated with the distance to the nearest neighboring anemone or the number of anemones in a cluster, colonization appears to be related to chance or some unknown factor …

Live Release Of A Bigeye Sand Tiger Odontaspis Noronhai (Elasmobranchii: Lamniformes) In The Western North Atlantic Ocean, David W. Kerstetter, Mae Taylor

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Large-Scale Ocean Bottom Pressure Variability In The North Pacific, Don P. Chambers, Josh K. Willis

Marine Science Faculty Publications

[1] We use the leading empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of ocean bottom pressure (OBP) derived from an ocean model and the technique of EOF reconstruction to reduce noise in the large-scale OBP variations derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). The subsequent OBP variations from the model and GRACE are then examined in the North Pacific between January 2003 and May 2007. Although annual and semiannual variations are similar, GRACE observes large interannual fluctuations poleward of 30°, where OBP increases from a low of nearly 3 cm below normal in early 2003 to normal throughout 2004 and 2005, …

A Competitive Hybridization Model Predicts Probe Signal Intensity On High Density Dna Microarrays, Shuzhao Li, Alex Pozhitkov, Marius Brouwer

Faculty Publications

A central, unresolved problem of DNA microarray technology is the interpretation of different signal intensities from multiple probes targeting the same transcript. We propose a competitive hybridization model for DNA microarray hybridization. Our model uses a probe-specific dissociation constant that is computed with current nearest neighbor model and existing parameters, and only four global parameters that are fitted to Affymetrix Latin Square data. This model can successfully predict signal intensities of individual probes, therefore makes it possible to quantify the absolute concentration of targets. Our results offer critical insights into the design and data interpretation of DNA microarrays.

Eelgrass Distribution In The Great Bay Estuary For 2006, Frederick T. Short

PREP Reports & Publications

Eelgrass in Great Bay itself decreased substantially (43%) between 2005 and 2006, due to losses in both biomass and distribution. Little Bay and the Piscataqua River showed greater change(loss of 40%) between 2005 and 2006 than previously, with very low levels of eelgrass compared to historical distributions and the large beds of ruppia in the Bellamy, Oyster and upper Piscataqua Rivers also diminished. The Portsmouth Harbor – Little Harbor area experienced a decrease in eelgrass abundance (14%) between 2005 and 2006. All of the Great Bay Estuary has decreased eelgrass beds compared to historic distributions. In the decade from 1996 …

The Lobster Bulletin, Fall 2008, Lobster Institute, University Of Maine

Lobster Bulletin

The Lobster Bulletin newsletter includes research updates, and information on lobsters and the lobster industry. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine is dedicated to protecting and conserving the lobster resource, and enhancing lobstering as an industry and a way of life.

Headlines in the Fall 2008 Special Edition announcing the MTAF Challenge issue include:

• The MTAF Challenge
• Heannsler Family Helps to Meet MTAF Challenge
• Research Report: Gifts of Property: How they work and How They Can Benefit the Donor
• Basil & Harriet Heannsler Help the Lobster Institute Meet the MTAF Challenge With a Gift of Property

The Asian Red Seaweed Grateloupia Turuturu (Rhodophyta) Invades The Gulf Of Maine, Arthur C. Mathieson, Clinton J. Dawes, Judith Pederson, Rebecca A. Gladych, James T. Carlton

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Publications

We report the invasion of the Gulf of Maine, in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, by the largest red seaweed in the world, the Asian Grateloupia turuturu. First detected in 1994 in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, south of Cape Cod, this alga had expanded its range in the following years only over to Long Island and into Long Island Sound. In July 2007 we found Grateloupia in the Cape Cod Canal and as far north (east) as Boston, Massachusetts, establishing its presence in the Gulf of Maine. Grateloupia can be invasive and may be capable of disrupting low intertidal and shallow …

Dinoflagellate Cysts Within Sediment Collections From The Southern Chesapeake Bay, And Tidal Regions Of The James, York, And Rappahannock Rivers, Virginia, David W. Seaborn, Harold G. Marshall

Virginia Journal of Science

The upper 2 cm of sediment core samples from 70 stations in the tidal waters of three Virginia rivers and at 23 stations in the lower Chesapeake Bay were sampled for dinoflagellate cysts. The river sediment cysts were dominated by three common bloom producing species (Heterocapsa triquetra, Scrippsiella trochoidea, and Cochlodinium polykrikoides), whereas these were in low concentration on the Chesapeake Bay sediments which contained mainly dinoflagellate cysts of neritic and oceanic taxa. The mean sediment concentrations from stations in the James, York, and Rappahannock rivers were respectively 1174.8, 536.2, and 323.6 cysts g^-1. The mean …

Regional Reports, Southeastern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Coral Reef Restoration And Mitigation In Florida And Beyond, Jocelyn Karazsia, Tom Moore, James Byrne, David S. Gilliam, John Hunt

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

No abstract provided.