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The University of Southern Mississippi

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Biogeochemistry

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

A Study Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) Ecology In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico And The Effect Of Variable River Outflow Using Stable Isotope Analysis Of The Food Web And Eye Lenses, Caitlin C. Slife Aug 2022

A Study Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) Ecology In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico And The Effect Of Variable River Outflow Using Stable Isotope Analysis Of The Food Web And Eye Lenses, Caitlin C. Slife

Dissertations

In the Mississippi Bight and surrounding waters, river outflow impacts the basal resources of the Red Snapper food web, altering carbon sources and impacting prey and predator isotopes. In this study, the impact of riverine outflow on nutrients, particulate organic matter (POM), and physical water parameters on Red Snapper and their food web was analyzed using stable isotope and stomach content analysis over 5 years. The Mississippi, Pearl, Pascagoula, and Mobile rivers were included in the analysis of river impact. The Mississippi and Mobile rivers were found to significantly impact nutrients and POM in the region. River outflow was also …


How A Simple Question About Freshwater Inflow To Estuaries Shaped A Career, Paul A. Montagna Jan 2021

How A Simple Question About Freshwater Inflow To Estuaries Shaped A Career, Paul A. Montagna

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Chance and good luck led to a career studying how freshwater inflow drives estuary processes. In 1986, someone asked me: How much fresh water has to flow to a bay for it to be healthy? The question shaped my career. There is probably no better place on Earth to compare effects caused by inflow differences than the Texas coast, because the major estuarine systems lie in a climatic gradient where runoff decreases 56—fold from the Louisiana border in the northeast to the Mexico border in the southwest. This estuary—comparison experiment was used to study inflow effects. The science evolved from …