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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Caribbean Reef-Building Coral-Symbiodiniaceae Network: Identifying Symbioses Critical For System Stability In A Changing Climate, Shaman Patel Dec 2022

Caribbean Reef-Building Coral-Symbiodiniaceae Network: Identifying Symbioses Critical For System Stability In A Changing Climate, Shaman Patel

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Increasing global ocean temperatures and frequency of marine heatwaves pose dire consequences for coral reefs. High temperatures often lead to disruptions in coral symbiosis resulting in coral bleaching, increasing the mortality of corals. However, corals can potentially avoid bleaching peril by associating with thermally tolerant symbionts. Here we provide a tool for understanding symbiosis network stability of Caribbean reef-building corals. We created a network of Caribbean hermatypic corals and their associated Symbiodiniaceae phylotypes. A bleaching model was applied to this network to test for resilience and robustness (R50) to thermal stress. It was also layered with trait data for coral …


Genetic Population Dynamics Of The Critically Endangered Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Lewini) In The Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, Sydney P. Harned Aug 2021

Genetic Population Dynamics Of The Critically Endangered Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Lewini) In The Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, Sydney P. Harned

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini, is a Critically Endangered, migratory species known for its tendency to form large aggregations of mostly adult females, especially in the heavily-fished Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) Ocean. This species forms iconic, visually spectacular, seasonal aggregations in the northern Galápagos Islands, and it is hypothesized based on telemetry studies that pregnant females from these aggregations migrate to mainland coastal nurseries for parturition. This study investigated the population genetic dynamics of the scalloped hammerhead across most of its coastal and offshore distribution (Mexico to Ecuador) in the ETP, focusing on young-of-the-year animals sampled from nursery …