Life Sciences Commons^™

Larval Dispersal Patterns And Connectivity Of Acropora On Florida’S Coral Reef And Its Implications For Restoration, Samantha King, Antoine Saint-Amand, Brian K. Walker, Emmanuel Hanert, Joana Figueiredo

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Since the 1980s, populations of Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata have experienced severe declines due to disease and anthropogenic stressors; resulting in their listing as threatened, and their need for restoration. In this study, larval survival and competency data were collected and used to calibrate a very high-resolution hydrodynamic model (up to 100m) to determine the dispersal patterns of Acropora species along the Florida’s Coral Reef. The resulting connectivity matrices was incorporated into a metapopulation model to compare strategies for restoring Acropora populations. This study found that Florida’s Coral Reef was historically a well-connected system, and that spatially selective restoration …

Editorial: Deep Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics In A Highly Impacted Water Column: The Gulf Of Mexico After Deepwater Horizon, Tracey Sutton, Kevin M. Boswell, Heather Bracken-Grissom, Jose V. Lopez, Michael Vecchione, Marsh Youngbluth

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The intermediate-sized midwater fauna (fishes, shrimps, and cephalopods; “micronekton” collectively) are dominant components of the pelagic ocean, which is by far the largest ecosystem type on Earth by several metrics (volume, organismal numbers, biomass, and productivity). Deep-pelagic micronekton, those animals residing in the water column below 200 m depth during the day, are the direct link between plankton and oceanic top predators, and through the linked processes of feeding and daily vertical migration facilitate one of Earth's most important ecosystem services to humans, carbon sequestration. Despite increasing recognition of this importance, a disconnect exists between stewardship and human impact; only …

Optimizing Restoration Site Selection Along The Florida Reef Tract For The Coral Species Acropora Cervicornis And Acropora Palmata, Samantha King

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The decline of Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata populations and consequent listing as endangered species has prompted the need for restoration. Since financial resources are limited, optimal sites for restoration should not only be environmentally suitable for outplant survival, but also have a greater capacity to replenish surrounding reefs with larvae. However, in Florida coral larval dispersal patterns and reef connectivity remain poorly studied. Here, we measured long term larval survival and competency of A. cervicornis to calibrate a high resolution (100m) biophysical larval dispersal model of Acropora in the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). This model revealed that there is …

Genetic Population And Evolutionary Dynamics Of The Angel Sharks, Squatina Spp., Cristin Keelin Fitzpatrick

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Once so abundant as to be called the ‘common’ angelshark, Squatina squatina has been extirpated from nearly the entirety of its historical range, from the eastern North Atlantic, to the Mediterranean Sea [International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List: Critically Endangered]. The angelshark now only occurs in any abundance in the waters surrounding the Canary Islands. I present the first genetic assessment of the angelshark’s population dynamics and diversity from three locations within the Canary Islands archipelago: Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and Lanzarote. Using a suite of individual mitochondrial genome regions [Control region (CR), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 …

Computer Modeling The Incursion Patterns Of Marine Invasive Species, Matthew W. Johnston

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Not Available.

Synthesizing Larval Competence Dynamics And Reef-Scale Retention Reveals A High Potential For Self-Recruitment In Corals, Joana Figueiredo, Andrew H. Baird, Sean R. Connolly

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Many organisms have a complex life-cycle in which dispersal occurs at the propagule stage. For marine environments, there is growing evidence that high levels of recruitment back to the natal population (self-recruitment) are common in many marine organisms. For fish, swimming behavior is frequently invoked as a key mechanism allowing high self-recruitment. For organisms with weak-swimming larvae, such as many marine invertebrates, the mechanisms behind self-recruitment are less clear. Here, we assessed whether the combination of passive retention of larvae due to re-circulation processes near reefs, and the dynamics of settlement competence, can produce the high levels of self-recruitment previously …

Open And Closed Seascapes: Where Does Habitat Patchiness Create Populations With High Fractions Of Self-Recruitment?, Malin L. Pinsky, Stephen R. Palumbi, Serge Andrefouet, Samuel J. Purkis

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Which populations are replenished primarily by immigrants (open) and which by local production (closed) remains an important question for management with implications for response to exploitation, protection, and disturbance. However, we lack methods for predicting population openness. Here, we develop a model for openness and show that considering habitat isolation explains the existence of surprisingly closed populations in high-dispersal species, including many marine organisms. Relatively closed populations are expected when patch spacing is more than twice the standard deviation of a species' dispersal kernel. In addition, natural scales of habitat patchiness on coral reefs are sufficient to create both largely …

Applying A Molecular Genetics Approach To Shark Conservation And Management: Assessment Of Dna Barcoding In Hammerhead Sharks And Global Population Genetic Structuring In The Gray Reef Shark, Carcharhinus Amblyrhynchos., Rebekah L. Horn

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1

DNA barcoding based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequence is emerging as a useful tool for identifying unknown, whole or partial organisms to species level. However, the application of only a single mitochondrial marker for robust species identification has also come under some criticism due to the possibility of erroneous identifications resulting from species hybridizations and/or the potential presence of nuclear-mitochondrial psuedogenes. The addition of a complementary nuclear DNA barcode has therefore been widely recommended to overcome these potential COI gene limitations, especially in wildlife law enforcement applications where greater confidence in the …