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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
From Bloom To Bust: Harmful Algae Blooms And Their Impacts On The Waterfront Economy, Sergio Alvarez
From Bloom To Bust: Harmful Algae Blooms And Their Impacts On The Waterfront Economy, Sergio Alvarez
Rosen Research Review
The true costs of harmful algae blooms (HABs) and the mechanics that determine their socio-economic impacts are for the most part unknown. Florida’s 2017–2019 red tide (Karenia brevis) bloom is a historical case study of the ever-growing threats to coastal welfare posed by HABs. A new research project at Rosen College of Hospitality Management has this at its heart. The central objective of the project is the identification of direct, indirect, and induced socioeconomic impacts caused by the 2017–2019 K. brevis bloom in Florida.
Valuing The Negative Impacts Of Harmful Algae Blooms, Sergio Alvarez
Valuing The Negative Impacts Of Harmful Algae Blooms, Sergio Alvarez
Rosen Research Review
Ecological disturbances can impact several ecosystem services, including cultural services such as outdoor recreation opportunities. In Florida, one ecological disturbance that is negatively impacting recreation is the occurrence of harmful algae blooms. In recent work, Dr. Sergio Alvarez at UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management has assessed the impact that harmful algae blooms have on human wellbeing by using random utility models to estimate changes in the value of recreation in coastal ecosystems resulting from these blooms. The results indicate that harmful algae blooms, which reduced boating access between June and September 2018, may have resulted in losses of up …
Vertebrate Impact On A Newly Deployed Shoreline Stabilization Project By Wildlife Camera Analysis, Julia Rifenberg, Jason Litwak, Rebecca Fillyaw
Vertebrate Impact On A Newly Deployed Shoreline Stabilization Project By Wildlife Camera Analysis, Julia Rifenberg, Jason Litwak, Rebecca Fillyaw
The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal
Living shoreline stabilization is a technique that utilizes plants and other natural elements to protect estuarine coasts. Research has provided minimal information about which vertebrate species utilize living shorelines post-deployment. For this project, ten wildlife cameras were placed along a living shoreline site in Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) to document which vertebrate species utilize the living shoreline and surrounding vegetation. This shoreline was stabilized with red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) and eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) shell bags in June 2019. The cameras, activated by motion sensors, remained at the site for five days a month for seven …
Strategies For Successful Mangrove Living Shoreline Stabilizations In Shallow Water Subtropical Estuaries, Rebecca Fillyaw
Strategies For Successful Mangrove Living Shoreline Stabilizations In Shallow Water Subtropical Estuaries, Rebecca Fillyaw
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Mangrove living shorelines are an effective alternative to hard-armoring, which combat erosion while also increasing habitat. To improve the success of future mangrove deployments, an experimental Rhizophora mangle living shoreline was deployed within Mosquito Lagoon, FL. A factorial design was used to test the impact of mangrove age, breakwater presence, and mangrove placement on mangrove survival and growth. Environmental factors were monitored to isolate the reason for mangrove mortalities. Mangrove age was represented by 3 developmental stages: "seedlings" at 11-months-old, "transitionals" at 23-months-old, and "adults" between 35 and 47-months-old. Mixed mangrove age groups were included to identify if seedling survival …
Invasive Bullfrogs Maintain High Levels Of Immune Gene Diversity Despite Elevated Bd Infection Relative To Native Populations, Jacob Lafond
Invasive Bullfrogs Maintain High Levels Of Immune Gene Diversity Despite Elevated Bd Infection Relative To Native Populations, Jacob Lafond
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Maintenance of genetic diversity at ecologically-relevant loci may be important for allowing invasive populations to become established despite decreases in genomic diversity due to founder effects. To evaluate this prediction, we compared genetic diversity at an expressed MHC class IIß gene fragment to a 909 bp region of the neutral cytochrome b (cytb) locus from 20 populations of the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) across its North American invasive and native ranges and quantified the presence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a pathogen, for which R. catesbeiana is a vector species. We recovered 28 unique MHC alleles and found that invasive populations …
Assessing The Role Of Disturbance In Estuarine Fish Community Dynamics, Dakota Lewis
Assessing The Role Of Disturbance In Estuarine Fish Community Dynamics, Dakota Lewis
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Ecological disturbances alter biotic communities and ecosystems. In many coastal zones disturbances are increasing, including algal blooms, storms, hypoxic events, and fish kills. These disturbances are often related, for example blooms releasing toxins or depleting dissolved oxygen, ultimately killing fish. Depending on the intensity, duration, and geographic extent of a disturbance, the fish community can take days to years to recover from disturbances. To explore the relationships among environmental disturbances, sport fish, and forage fish communities, this thesis examined two Florida estuaries with differing disturbance regimes. Using an ensemble modelling approach combining generalized linear models (GLM), Bayesian modelling, and Bayesian …
Monitoring Landscape And Spectral Dynamics Of Subtropical Freshwater Wetlands That Have Undergone Hydrological Restoration, Sarah Parker
Monitoring Landscape And Spectral Dynamics Of Subtropical Freshwater Wetlands That Have Undergone Hydrological Restoration, Sarah Parker
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Over the last century, millions of hectares of wetlands have been lost due to urban development and agricultural activities throughout the world. In the U.S., efforts have been made by federal and state legislation to restore wetland habitat in exchange for development on wetlands. To restore ecosystem function by reestablishing hydrological metrics (e.g., groundwater level fluctuations), wetland restoration aims to facilitate the growth of wetland vegetation to approximate the original conditions as a proxy for ecological integrity. In 1992, the first landscape-scale off-site mitigation project, the Disney Wilderness Preserve (DWP) was funded by the Walt Disney Company in Poinciana, Florida. …
Correlations In Microplastic Abundance Between Water, The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, And Their Biodeposits In A Dynamic Florida Estuary, Casey Craig
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Estuaries have been identified as hotspots of microplastic pollution because they are transitional zones where coastal freshwater and oceans converge. Microplastics (MP) are transported through estuaries by a dynamic series of forces such as surface flow and tides, which influence MP abundances and trends. The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is an estuarine bivalve known to ingest MP, resulting in negative impacts on organism physiology. I investigated MP pollution as a threat to C. virginica in a dynamic Florida estuary, the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), and determined there are both regional and small-scale spatial and temporal fluctuations in MP abundance. Tributaries …
Long-Term Changes In Juvenile Green Turtle Abundance And Foraging Ecology In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Christopher Long
Long-Term Changes In Juvenile Green Turtle Abundance And Foraging Ecology In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Christopher Long
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Marine turtles are distributed in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical waters and beaches worldwide, often in areas heavily impacted by humans. Although there are many threats to marine turtle populations, the growing threats of nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms are relatively understudied despite their widespread impacts on coastal marine ecosystems that marine turtles depend on. By studying juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, where nutrient pollution and HABs are a widespread and longstanding issue, I aimed to conduct a case study of how these threats may affect this federally Threatened species. In Chapter 2, I …