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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Analysis Of Edna To Assess Effects Of Water Quality On Freshwater Fungal Diversity In A Virginia Coastal Watershed, Lauren French
Analysis Of Edna To Assess Effects Of Water Quality On Freshwater Fungal Diversity In A Virginia Coastal Watershed, Lauren French
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Freshwater fungi comprise a phylogenetically and functionally diverse group which contributes to wide-ranging ecosystem processes in aquatic systems. Saprotrophic fungi convert detritus into nutrient-rich food sources for fish and invertebrates, whereas pathogenic and parasitic fungi can cause disease and population declines of other aquatic organisms. With their diverse and important roles, changes in freshwater fungal community structure may have far-reaching impacts on ecosystems. To understand how natural and anthropogenic stressors to freshwater systems impact fungal-mediated ecosystem processes, a greater understanding of the taxonomic and functional composition of freshwater fungal communities is needed. We assessed relationships among freshwater habitat types, water …
A General Pattern Of Trade-Offs Between Ecosystem Resistance And Resilience To Tropical Cyclones, Christopher J. Patrick, John S. Kominoski, (...), Enie Hensel, Marc J. S. Hense, Bradley A. Strickland, (..), A. K. Hardison, Sean Kinard, Et Al
A General Pattern Of Trade-Offs Between Ecosystem Resistance And Resilience To Tropical Cyclones, Christopher J. Patrick, John S. Kominoski, (...), Enie Hensel, Marc J. S. Hense, Bradley A. Strickland, (..), A. K. Hardison, Sean Kinard, Et Al
VIMS Articles
Tropical cyclones drive coastal ecosystem dynamics, and their frequency, intensity, and spatial distribution are pre-dicted to shift with climate change. Patterns of resistance and resilience were synthesized for 4138 ecosystem time series from n = 26 storms occurring between 1985 and 2018 in the Northern Hemisphere to predict how coastal ecosystems will respond to future disturbance regimes. Data were grouped by ecosystems (fresh water, salt water, terrestrial, and wetland) and response categories (biogeochemistry, hydrography, mobile biota, sedentary fauna, and vascular plants). We observed a repeated pattern of trade-offs between resistance and resilience across analyses. These patterns are likely the outcomes …
The Role Of Zooplankton Community Composition In Fecal Pellet Carbon Production In The York River Estuary, Chesapeake Bay, Kristen Nicole Sharpe
The Role Of Zooplankton Community Composition In Fecal Pellet Carbon Production In The York River Estuary, Chesapeake Bay, Kristen Nicole Sharpe
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
The biological pump is a critical component of carbon transformation in aquatic ecosystems, but the role that zooplankton play in carbon production and vertical export is rarely studied in estuaries. Zooplankton produce carbon-rich fecal pellets which sink to depth and can fuel benthic community metabolism. The body size and taxonomic structure of the zooplankton community varies on interannual, seasonal, and diel time scales, and can lead to varying carbon production and export rates. We quantified fecal pellet carbon (FPC) production by the whole mesozooplankton community (> 200 µm) in the York River, a sub-estuary of Chesapeake Bay. Biomass and taxonomic …
Diel, Seasonal, And Interannual Changes In Coastal Antarctic Zooplankton Community Composition And Trophic Ecology, John A. Conroy
Diel, Seasonal, And Interannual Changes In Coastal Antarctic Zooplankton Community Composition And Trophic Ecology, John A. Conroy
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
Throughout the ocean, zooplankton transfer energy from primary producers to higher predators and transport carbon from surface waters to depth. The efficiency of these processes depends in part upon the taxonomic composition and trophic ecology of the zooplankton community. Zooplankton species abundance and distribution shifted over recent decades along the West Antarctic Peninsula during a period of rapid regional warming and sea-ice decline. Although conducted within the context of long-term change, this dissertation research focuses on zooplankton dynamics at finer temporal scales that have received less attention. I analyzed depth-stratified net samples to investigate zooplankton diel vertical migration during Antarctic …
The Fate And Transport Of Nitrogen In Subterranean Estuaries, Stephanie J. Wilson
The Fate And Transport Of Nitrogen In Subterranean Estuaries, Stephanie J. Wilson
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
The subterranean estuary (STE) is a subsurface ecosystem where fresh groundwater mixes with intruding, recirculated seawater at the coastline. Despite being present globally, STEs and their potential impacts as hotspots for biogeochemical processing, or as a source of nutrients to coastal systems, are not well understood. STEs have been recognized as highly reactive zones for biogeochemical reactions, which influence the fate and transport of nutrients, organic matter, and trace metals discharged to the coastal ocean. Biogeochemical processing of nitrogen (N) in STEs influences N in submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) including its availability for use by primary producers and cascading eutrophication. …