Life Sciences | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Circulation Of The Western Antarctic Peninsula: Implications For Biological Production, Maria Andrea Piñones Valenzuela

OES Theses and Dissertations

The western Antarctic Peninsula (wAP) continental shelf is characterized by large persistent populations of Antarctic krill ( Enphausia superba) and by regions of enhanced concentrations of marine mammals and other predators (hot spots). This study focused on understanding the role of ocean circulation in providing retention/connectivity of wAP Antarctic krill populations and in maintaining biological hot spot regions. Numerical Lagrangian particle tracking simulations obtained from the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) configured for the wAP region provided quantitative estimates of retention, immigration and emigration from the wAP continental shelf. Additional simulations with a one-dimensional temperature-dependent growth model for krill …

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Application Of A Gene-Based Population Dynamics Model To The Optimal Egg Size Problem: Why Do Bivalve Planktotrophic Eggs Vary In Size?, Eric N. Powell, Jason Morson, John M. Klinck

CCPO Publications

The presumption is that egg quality influences larval survival and that egg size influences egg quality. Thus, larger eggs should be favored by selection. Counterweighing the tendency for egg size to increase is the number of eggs that can be produced if egg size remains small. We examine how egg size and egg number counterbalance in Crassostrea oysters, resulting in an average egg size near 50 mu m. Simulations imposing a diversity of ranges in larval survivorship-from little advantage for large eggs relative to small eggs to a great advantage-yield some anticipated outcomes in which genotypes generating larger eggs are …

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Iron Limitation Of A Springtime Bacterial And Phytoplankton Community In The Ross Sea: Implications For Vitamin B12 Nutrition, Erin M. Bertrand, Mak A. Saito, Peter A. Lee, Robert B. Dunbar, Peter N. Sedwick, Giacomo R. Ditullio

OES Faculty Publications

The Ross Sea is home to some of the largest phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Ocean. Primary production in this system has previously been shown to be iron limited in the summer and periodically iron and vitamin B-12 colimited. In this study, we examined trace metal limitation of biological activity in the Ross Sea in the austral spring and considered possible implications for vitamin B-12 nutrition. Bottle incubation experiments demonstrated that iron limited phytoplankton growth in the austral spring while B-12, cobalt, and zinc did not. This is the first demonstration of iron limitation in a Phaeocystis antarctica-dominated, early …

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Controls On The Formation Of Algal Blooms In The Lower Chesapeake Bay And Its Tributaries, Ryan Eric Morse

OES Theses and Dissertations

Algal blooms occur seasonally in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and while the consequences of algal blooms have been qualitatively and quantitatively assessed, the causes of algal blooms and mechanisms of bloom initiation are still not well understood despite decades of research. In order to understand nutrient dynamics and other factors that promote the initiation of algal blooms, the Lafayette River, a tidal sub-estuary of Chesapeake Bay that experiences seasonal algal blooms, was sampled daily in the fall of 2005. Three phytoplankton blooms (Chlorophyll a concentrations exceeding twice the average of monthly measurements from 2000-2009) occurred during this period, …

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Population Dynamics Of Sheepshead (Archosargus Probatocephalus; Walbaum 1792) In The Chesapeake Bay Region: A Comparison To Other Areas And An Assessment Of Their Current Status, Joseph Charles Ballenger

OES Theses and Dissertations

Sheepshead recently have seen an increase in fishing pressure in Virginian waters of the Chesapeake Bay. This increase in fishing pressure has led to demands to install effective management measures to protect the fishery. However, no study regarding the population dynamics, and thus potential yield, of sheepshead has been conducted north of Cape Hatteras. We addressed the need for information regarding the population dynamics of Chesapeake Bay sheepshead by investigating their age distribution, growth rate and reproductive biology. We used this information to construct yield-per-recruit models, which local management agencies may use in the formation of scientifically based management measures. …

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Behavior Constrains The Dispersal Of Long-Lived Spiny Lobster Larvae, Mark J. Butler Iv, Claire B. Paris, Jason S. Goldstein, Hirokazu Matsuda, Robert K. Cowen

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Behavior such as ontogenetic vertical migration (OVM) limits the transport of marine larvae with short pelagic larval durations (PLDs), but its effect on the supposed long-distance dispersal of larvae with long PLDs is unknown. We conducted laboratory tests of ontogenetic change in larval phototaxis and examined size-specific patterns of larval distribution in the plankton to characterize OVM in the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus during its long (6 mo) PLD. We then used a coupled biophysical model to explore the consequences of OVM and hydrodynamics on larval P. argus dispersal in the Caribbean Sea. Larvae reared in the laboratory were …

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Classroom Manipulative To Engage Students In Mathematical Modeling Of Disease Spread: 1 + 1 = Achoo!, H. Gaff, M. Lyons, G. Watson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Infectious diseases ranging from the common cold to cholera affect our society physically, emotionally, ecologically, and economically. Yet despite their importance and impact, there remains a lack of effective teaching materials for epidemiology and disease ecology in K-12, undergraduate, and graduate curricula [2]. To address this deficit, we've developed a classroom lesson with three instructional goals: (1) Familiarize students on basic concepts of infectious disease ecology; (2) Introduce students to a classic compartmental model and its applications in epidemiology; (3) Demonstrate the application and importance of mathematical modeling as a tool in biology. The instructional strategy uses a game-based mathematical …

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Cascading Migrations And Implications For Vertical Fluxes In Pelagic Ecosystems, Stephen M. Bollens, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Joel A. Quenette, Alexander B. Bochdansky

OES Faculty Publications

Diel vertical migration is widespread across diverse taxa in the world's lakes and seas, yet its biogeochemical consequences are still poorly understood. The biologically mediated vertical flux of material in the ocean (also known as the "biological pump") is a matter of major interest and concern, as it is thought to play an important role in regulating ocean carbon storage, and by extension, the global carbon cycle. Recent studies spanning multiple trophic levels from fish to dinoflagellates have led us to a concept of coupled vertical migrations that we refer to as "cascading migrations". That is, migrations that …

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Evaluating Methods For Optimizing Classification Success From Otolith Tracers For Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion Nebulosus) In The Chesapeake Bay, Stacy Kavita Beharry

OES Theses and Dissertations

Identifying the natal sources of fish is an important step in understanding its population dynamics. Adult recruits are often sourced from multiple nursery areas, with good quality locations contributing disproportionately more fish to the adult stock. Because population persistence is strongly influenced by nursery habitat, methods that correctly identify the source of recruits are necessary for effective management. Within the last decade, otolith chemistry signatures have been increasingly used as a natural marker to delineate fish from a mixture of nursery sources. Despite the widespread use of otolith trace element and stable isotope ratios as habitat markers, the statistical approaches …

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Draft Genome Sequence Of Strain Himb100, A Cultured Representative Of The Sar116 Clade Of Marine Alphaproteobacteria, Jana Grote, Cansu Bayindirli, Kristin Bergauer, Paula C. De Moraes, Huan Chen, Lindsay D'Ambrosio, Bethany Edwards, Beatriz Fernandez-Gomez, Mariam Hamisi, Dan Nguyen, Yoshimi M. Rii, Emily Saeck, Charles Schutte, Brittany Widner

OES Faculty Publications

Strain HIMB100 is a planktonic marine bacterium in the class Alphaproteobacteria. This strain is of interest because it is one of the first known isolates from a globally ubiquitous clade of marine bacteria known as SAR116 within the family Rhodospirillaceae. Here we describe preliminary features of the organism, together with the draft genome sequence and annotation. This is the second genome sequence of a member of the SAR116 clade. The 2,458,945 bp genome contains 2,334 protein-coding and 42 RNA gene

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Use Of Sarima Models To Assess Data-Poor Fisheries: A Case Study With A Sciaenid Fishery Off Portugal, Nuno Prista, Norou Diawara, Maria J. Costa, Cynthia M. Jones

OES Faculty Publications

Research on assessment and monitoring methods has primarily focused on fisheries with long multivariate data sets. Less research exists on methods applicable to data-poor fisheries with univariate data sets with a small sample size. In this study, we examine the capabilities of seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models to fit, forecast, and monitor the landings of such data-poor fisheries. We use a European fishery on meagre (Sciaenidae: Argyrosomus regius), where only a short time series of landings was available to model (n=60 months), as our case-study. We show that despite the limited sample size, a SARIMA model could …

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Anaerobic Oxidation Of Methane And The Stoichiometry Of Remineralization Processes In Continental Margin Sediments, David J. Burdige, Tomoko Kamada

OES Faculty Publications

In many coastal and continental margin sediments, pore-water property-property plots yield values of r_c:s, the stoichiometric ratio of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) produced to sulfate reduced, that are lower than the commonly assumed value of 2. Remineralization of organic matter more reduced than CH₂O can cause such observations, as can DIC loss due to authigenic carbonate precipitation. However, through studies of Santa Monica Basin sediments, we have observed that these observations could also be related to the occurrence of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in sediments. Specifically, using a reactive transport sediment model, we have shown …

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Characterization Of Heterogeneities And Domains In Aquatic And Sedimentary Organic Matter By 1 H Spin Diffusion: Potential For Elucidating The Formation Mechanisms, Jingdong Mao, Xiaoyan Cao

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Although the information on domains and heterogeneities of natural organic matter (NOM) can provide insights into its formation mechanisms, the appropriate solid-state NMR technique for measuring them is still lacking. The traditional technique requires mobility differences in NOM whereas NOM components are primarily rigid. We introduced a new ¹H spin diffusion technique, ¹H-¹³C two-dimensional heteronuclear correlation (2D HETCOR) NMR with ¹H spin diffusion, for characterization of domains and heterogeneities in aquatic and sedimentary organic matter. It was achieved by collecting a series of 2D HETCOR spectra with a variable mixing time, t_m', and …

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Circulation Of The Western Antarctic Peninsula: Implications For Biological Production, Maria Andrea Piñones Valenzuela

OES Theses and Dissertations

Application Of A Gene-Based Population Dynamics Model To The Optimal Egg Size Problem: Why Do Bivalve Planktotrophic Eggs Vary In Size?, Eric N. Powell, Jason Morson, John M. Klinck

CCPO Publications

Iron Limitation Of A Springtime Bacterial And Phytoplankton Community In The Ross Sea: Implications For Vitamin B12 Nutrition, Erin M. Bertrand, Mak A. Saito, Peter A. Lee, Robert B. Dunbar, Peter N. Sedwick, Giacomo R. Ditullio

OES Faculty Publications

Controls On The Formation Of Algal Blooms In The Lower Chesapeake Bay And Its Tributaries, Ryan Eric Morse

OES Theses and Dissertations

Population Dynamics Of Sheepshead (Archosargus Probatocephalus; Walbaum 1792) In The Chesapeake Bay Region: A Comparison To Other Areas And An Assessment Of Their Current Status, Joseph Charles Ballenger

OES Theses and Dissertations

Behavior Constrains The Dispersal Of Long-Lived Spiny Lobster Larvae, Mark J. Butler Iv, Claire B. Paris, Jason S. Goldstein, Hirokazu Matsuda, Robert K. Cowen

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Classroom Manipulative To Engage Students In Mathematical Modeling Of Disease Spread: 1 + 1 = Achoo!, H. Gaff, M. Lyons, G. Watson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Cascading Migrations And Implications For Vertical Fluxes In Pelagic Ecosystems, Stephen M. Bollens, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Joel A. Quenette, Alexander B. Bochdansky

OES Faculty Publications

Evaluating Methods For Optimizing Classification Success From Otolith Tracers For Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion Nebulosus) In The Chesapeake Bay, Stacy Kavita Beharry

OES Theses and Dissertations

OES Faculty Publications

Use Of Sarima Models To Assess Data-Poor Fisheries: A Case Study With A Sciaenid Fishery Off Portugal, Nuno Prista, Norou Diawara, Maria J. Costa, Cynthia M. Jones

OES Faculty Publications

Anaerobic Oxidation Of Methane And The Stoichiometry Of Remineralization Processes In Continental Margin Sediments, David J. Burdige, Tomoko Kamada

OES Faculty Publications

Characterization Of Heterogeneities And Domains In Aquatic And Sedimentary Organic Matter By 1 H Spin Diffusion: Potential For Elucidating The Formation Mechanisms, Jingdong Mao, Xiaoyan Cao

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications