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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Evaluating Ecosystem Response To Oyster Restoration And Nutrient Load Reduction With A Multispecies Bioenergetics Model, Rs Fulford, Dl Brietburg, Mark Luckenbach, Rie Newell
Evaluating Ecosystem Response To Oyster Restoration And Nutrient Load Reduction With A Multispecies Bioenergetics Model, Rs Fulford, Dl Brietburg, Mark Luckenbach, Rie Newell
VIMS Articles
Many of the world's coastal ecosystems are impacted by multiple stressors each of which may be subject to different management strategies that may have overlapping or even conflicting objectives. Consequently, management results may be indirect and difficult to predict or observe. We developed a network simulation model intended specifically to examine ecosystem-level responses to management and applied this model to a comparison of nutrient load reduction and restoration of highly reduced stocks of bivalve suspension feeders (eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica) in an estuarine ecosystem (Chesapeake Bay, USA). Model results suggest that a 50% reduction in nutrient inputs from the watershed …
Evolutionary Characters, Phenotypes And Ontologies: Curating Data From The Systematic Biology Literature, Wasila M. Dahdul, Eric J. Hilton
Evolutionary Characters, Phenotypes And Ontologies: Curating Data From The Systematic Biology Literature, Wasila M. Dahdul, Eric J. Hilton
VIMS Articles
Background: The wealth of phenotypic descriptions documented in the published articles, monographs, and dissertations of phylogenetic systematics is traditionally reported in a free-text format, and it is therefore largely inaccessible for linkage to biological databases for genetics, development, and phenotypes, and difficult to manage for large-scale integrative work. The Phenoscape project aims to represent these complex and detailed descriptions with rich and formal semantics that are amenable to computation and integration with phenotype data from other fields of biology. This entails reconceptualizing the traditional free-text characters into the computable Entity-Quality (EQ) formalism using ontologies. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used ontologies and …
Controlling Excess Capacity In Common-Pool Resource Industries: The Transition From Input To Output Controls, D Squires, Y Jeon, Rq Grafton, J Kirkley
Controlling Excess Capacity In Common-Pool Resource Industries: The Transition From Input To Output Controls, D Squires, Y Jeon, Rq Grafton, J Kirkley
VIMS Articles
Overcapacity is a major problem in common-pool resources. Regulators increasingly turn from limited entry to individual transferable use rights to address overcapacity. Using individual vessel data from before and after the introduction of individual harvest rights into a fishery, the paper investigates how characteristics of rights, scale of operations and transition period affect changes in individual and fleet capacity utilisation and excess capacity. The results indicate that individual harvest rights in both theory and practice offer the potential to address the problem of overcapacity in common-pool resources currently managed with limited-entry regulations.
A Molecular Genetic Investigation Of The Population Structure Of Atlantic Menhaden (Brevoortia Tyrannus), Abigail J. Lynch, Jan E. Mcdowell, John Graves
A Molecular Genetic Investigation Of The Population Structure Of Atlantic Menhaden (Brevoortia Tyrannus), Abigail J. Lynch, Jan E. Mcdowell, John Graves
VIMS Articles
Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), through landings, support one of the largest commercial fisheries in the United States. Recent consolidation of the once coast-wide reduction fishery to waters within and around Chesapeake Bay has raised concerns over the possibility of the loss of unique genetic variation resulting from concentrated fishing pressure. To address this question, we surveyed variation at the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene region and seven nuclear microsatellite loci to evaluate stock structure of Atlantic menhaden. Samples were collected from up to three cohorts of Atlantic menhaden at four geographic locations along the U.S. Atlantic coast …
Changes In Age Composition And Growth Characteristics Of Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser Oxyrinchus Oxyrinchus) Over 400 Years, Mt Balazik, Gc Garman, Ml Fine, Ch Hager, Sp Mcininch
Changes In Age Composition And Growth Characteristics Of Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser Oxyrinchus Oxyrinchus) Over 400 Years, Mt Balazik, Gc Garman, Ml Fine, Ch Hager, Sp Mcininch
VIMS Articles
Populations of sturgeon (Acipenseridae) have experienced global declines, and in some cases extirpation, during the past century. In the current era of climate change and over-harvesting of fishery resources, climate models, based on uncertain boundary conditions, are being used to predict future effects on the Earth's biota. A collection of approximately 400-year-old Atlantic sturgeon spines from a midden in colonial Jamestown, VA, USA, allowed us to compare the age structure and growth rate for a pre-industrial population during a 'mini-ice age' with samples collected from the modern population in the same reach of the James River. Compared with modern fish, …
Reconstructing Early 17th Century Estuarine Drought Conditions From Jamestown Oysters, Jm Harding, Hj Spero, R Mann, Gs Herbert, Jl Sliko
Reconstructing Early 17th Century Estuarine Drought Conditions From Jamestown Oysters, Jm Harding, Hj Spero, R Mann, Gs Herbert, Jl Sliko
VIMS Articles
Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were a central component of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem in 1607 when European settlers established Jamestown, VA, the first permanent English settlement in North America. These estuarine bivalves were an important food resource during the early years of the James Fort (Jamestown) settlement while the colonists were struggling to survive in the face of inadequate supplies and a severe regional drought. Although oyster shells were discarded as trash after the oysters were eaten, the environmental and ecological data recorded in the bivalve geochemistry during shell deposition remain intact over centuries, thereby providing a unique window into conditions …
Management Of The Piankatank River, Virginia, In Support Of Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica, Gmelin 1791) Fishery Repletion, Juliana M. Harding, Roger L. Mann, Melissa Southworth, James A. Wesson
Management Of The Piankatank River, Virginia, In Support Of Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica, Gmelin 1791) Fishery Repletion, Juliana M. Harding, Roger L. Mann, Melissa Southworth, James A. Wesson
VIMS Articles
The Piankatank River is a trap-type estuary on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay that has been managed for seed oyster production since 1963. Market oyster production in the river is minimal. Repletion efforts include shell planting and seed removal. We describe sequential changes in population demographics and habitat in relation to repletion activities on eight Piankatank River public oyster reefs from 1998 through 2009. Two reef groups (northern and southern) may be distinguished by density (oysters/m(2)), biomass (e dry tissue weight), and shell volume (L/m(2)) data. Age-at-length relationships were estimated from demographic data using a quadratic model. Observed mortality …
Observations Of Distribution, Size, And Sex Ratio Of Mature Blue Crabs, Callinectes Sapidus, From A Chesapeake Bay Tributary In Relation To Oyster Habitat And Environmental Factors, Jm Harding, R Mann
Observations Of Distribution, Size, And Sex Ratio Of Mature Blue Crabs, Callinectes Sapidus, From A Chesapeake Bay Tributary In Relation To Oyster Habitat And Environmental Factors, Jm Harding, R Mann
VIMS Articles
Blue crabs Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun, 1896) > 100 mm carapace width were sampled from a constructed oyster reef (1996 and 1997), a sand bar (1997) and a natural oyster bar (1997) in the Piankatank River, Chesapeake Bay, USA to describe habitat use, sex ratios, and demographics across a gradient of habitat types. Patterns of blue crab catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), and demographics were similar on the oyster reef in 1996 and 1997. Average annual CPUE on the reef was 6-8 crabs pot(-1) with maximum CPUE of 15 crabs pot(-1). Daylength and water temperature significantly affected reef CPUE with more crabs observed in late …
An Expansion Of The Msvpa Approach For Quantifying Predator-Prey Interactions In Exploited Fish Communities, Lp Garrison, Js Link, Dp Kilduff, Md Cieri, B Maffley, Rj Latour, Et Al.
An Expansion Of The Msvpa Approach For Quantifying Predator-Prey Interactions In Exploited Fish Communities, Lp Garrison, Js Link, Dp Kilduff, Md Cieri, B Maffley, Rj Latour, Et Al.
VIMS Articles
Ecosystem-based fisheries management requires tools to place fish-stock dynamics in the broader context of fishery, predator, and competitive removals. Multispecies virtual population analysis (MSVPA) is an approach to quantifying predator prey interactions and estimating the rates of predation mortality for exploited fish populations. Here, an extended MSVPA (MSVPA-X) is presented as an alternative to existing MSVPA approaches. Notably, MSVPA-X uses index-tuned VPA methods, applies a more flexible feeding model, and includes an alternative functional feeding response. The MSVPA-X model is applied to a western Atlantic fish community, focusing on Atlantic menhaden and its major fish predators, and a sensitivity analysis …
Comparative Visual Function In Four Piscivorous Fishes Inhabiting Chesapeake Bay, Az Horodysky, Rw Brill, Ej Warrant, Ja Musick, Rj Latour
Comparative Visual Function In Four Piscivorous Fishes Inhabiting Chesapeake Bay, Az Horodysky, Rw Brill, Ej Warrant, Ja Musick, Rj Latour
VIMS Articles
Maintaining optimal visual performance is a difficult task in photodynamic coastal and estuarine waters because of the unavoidable tradeoffs between luminous sensitivity and spatial and temporal resolution, yet the visual systems of coastal piscivores remain understudied despite differences in their ecomorphology and microhabitat use. We therefore used electroretinographic techniques to describe the light sensitivities, temporal properties and spectral sensitivities of the visual systems of four piscivorous fishes common to coastal and estuarine waters of the western North Atlantic: striped bass (Morone saxatilis), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) and cobia (Rachycentron canadum). Benthic summer flounder exhibited higher luminous sensitivity …
Asymmetric Conservation Benefits Of Circle Hooks In Multispecies Billfish Recreational Fisheries: A Synthesis Of Hook Performance And Analysis Of Blue Marlin (Makaira Nigricans) Postrelease Survival, John E. Graves, Andrij Z. Horodysky
Asymmetric Conservation Benefits Of Circle Hooks In Multispecies Billfish Recreational Fisheries: A Synthesis Of Hook Performance And Analysis Of Blue Marlin (Makaira Nigricans) Postrelease Survival, John E. Graves, Andrij Z. Horodysky
VIMS Articles
We evaluated the conservation benefits of the use of circle hooks compared with standard J hooks in the recreational fishery for Atlantic istiophorid billfishes, noting hooking location and the presence of trauma (bleeding) for 123 blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), 272 white marlin (Kajikia albida), and 132 sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) caught on natural baits rigged with one of the two hook types. In addition, we used pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) to follow the fate of 61 blue marlin caught on natural baits rigged with circle hooks or on a combination of artificial lure and natural bait rigged with J hooks. …
Observations Of Blue Crabs (Callinectes Sapidus, Rathbun 1896) On Shell Bar Oyster Reef, Great Wicomico River, Virginia, Juliana Harding, Melissa Southworth, Roger L. Mann
Observations Of Blue Crabs (Callinectes Sapidus, Rathbun 1896) On Shell Bar Oyster Reef, Great Wicomico River, Virginia, Juliana Harding, Melissa Southworth, Roger L. Mann
VIMS Articles
Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus, Rathbun 1896) were sampled with commercial crab pots on Shell Bar oyster reef in the Great Wicomico River, VA, from May through October during 2006 and 2007. Weekly catch per unit effort (CPUE), sex ratio, and size (carapace width, measured in millimeters) were evaluated in the context of water temperature (measured in degrees Celsius), salinity, and daylength (measured in hours) conditions on the reef. The total number of crabs collected in 2006 and 2007 was 5,221 and 3,303, respectively. Blue crab CPU E was highest from mid-June through mid-September at water temperatures at or more than …
Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica, Gmelin 1791) Population Dynamics On Public Reefs In The Great Wicomico River, Virginia, Usa, Melissa Southworth, Juliana M. Harding, James A. Wesson, Roger L. Mann
Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica, Gmelin 1791) Population Dynamics On Public Reefs In The Great Wicomico River, Virginia, Usa, Melissa Southworth, Juliana M. Harding, James A. Wesson, Roger L. Mann
VIMS Articles
We describe oyster population trends in the Great Wicomico River, VA, from 2000 through 2009 using quantitative fishery independent survey data collected using a stratified random design. The seven public reefs examined cover a total of 2.8 X 10(5) m(2) and vary in individual size from 1.36 X 10(4) to 7.16 X 10(4) m(2). The river is functionally divided by a sand spit into upriver and downriver regions. Oyster densities on the upriver reefs were typically an order of magnitude higher than densities on the downriver reefs within the same time period. Throughout the system, the highest observed densities were …
Regional Management Units For Marine Turtles: A Novel Framework For Prioritizing Conservation And Research Across Multiple Scales, Bryan P. Wallace, John A. Musick
Regional Management Units For Marine Turtles: A Novel Framework For Prioritizing Conservation And Research Across Multiple Scales, Bryan P. Wallace, John A. Musick
VIMS Articles
Background: Resolving threats to widely distributed marine megafauna requires definition of the geographic distributions of both the threats as well as the population unit(s) of interest. In turn, because individual threats can operate on varying spatial scales, their impacts can affect different segments of a population of the same species. Therefore, integration of multiple tools and techniques - including site-based monitoring, genetic analyses, mark-recapture studies and telemetry - can facilitate robust definitions of population segments at multiple biological and spatial scales to address different management and research challenges. Methodology/Principal Findings: To address these issues for marine turtles, we collated all …
Bycatch Reduction Device Conserves Diamondback Terrapin Without Affecting Catch Of Blue Crab, Megan A. Rook, Rn Lipcius, Bret M. Bronner, Randolph Chambers
Bycatch Reduction Device Conserves Diamondback Terrapin Without Affecting Catch Of Blue Crab, Megan A. Rook, Rn Lipcius, Bret M. Bronner, Randolph Chambers
VIMS Articles
Bycatch mortality of non-target species in fisheries is a major threat to the conservation and restoration of marine and estuarine species. Attempts to reduce bycatch by fitting fishing gear with excluder devices have typically been met with resistance due to reductions in catch of target species. We examined the possibility that conservation and fishery goals could be met simultaneously. In lower Chesapeake Bay, we tested a mechanism for reducing bycatch of diamondback terrapin Malaclemys terrapin in blue-crab traps without affecting crab catch. Over 23 sampling dates during summer 2008, we compared terrapin captures at 2 shallow-water sites typical of recreational …
Net Removal Of Nitrogen Through Ingestion Of Phytoplankton By Atlantic Menhaden Brevoortia Tyrannus In Chesapeake Bay, Patrick D. Lynch, Mark J. Brush, Elizabeth D. Condon, Robert J. Latour
Net Removal Of Nitrogen Through Ingestion Of Phytoplankton By Atlantic Menhaden Brevoortia Tyrannus In Chesapeake Bay, Patrick D. Lynch, Mark J. Brush, Elizabeth D. Condon, Robert J. Latour
VIMS Articles
As filter-feeding planktivores, Atlantic menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus have the potential to influence water quality through ingestion of phytoplankton and assimilation of resultant nutrients. To evaluate the influence of young-of-the-year (YOY) and age-1+ menhaden in Chesapeake Bay, rates of phytoplankton (chl a) ingestion and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) excretion were measured experimentally across varying phytoplankton concentrations. Ingestion rates of YOY menhaden increased (0.03 to 185 mu g chl a fish(-1) min(-1)) in response to increasing phytoplankton concentration (4.98 to 198.22 mu g chl a l(-1)), while age-1+ menhaden exhibited virtually no ingestion of the phytoplankton offered. For YOY menhaden, a type-III …
Science-To-Management Pathways In Us Atlantic Herring Management: Using Governance Network Structure And Function To Track Information Flow And Potential Influence, Troy W. Hartley, C Glass
Science-To-Management Pathways In Us Atlantic Herring Management: Using Governance Network Structure And Function To Track Information Flow And Potential Influence, Troy W. Hartley, C Glass
VIMS Articles
Hartley, T. W., and Glass, C. 2010. Science-to-management pathways in US Atlantic herring management: using governance network structure and function to track information flow and potential influence. - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1154-1163. Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) are crucial members of the ecosystem and economy of the Northwest Atlantic, and a challenging species for management, which in the United States is a multistakeholder process, involving commercial and recreational fishing interests, conservation organizations, state and federal governments, and other interested parties. Given the large number of stakeholders, fisheries management has been conceptualized as a governance network, through which multiple …