Life Sciences Commons^™

Interactive Effects Of Climate Change-Induced Range Shifts And Wind Energy Development On Future Economic Conditions Of The Atlantic Surfclam Fishery, Stephanie Stromp, Andrew M. Scheld, John M. Klinck, Daphne M. Munroe, Eric N. Powell, Roger Mann, Sarah Borsetti, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Rising water temperatures along the northeastern U.S. continental shelf have resulted in an offshore range shift of the Atlantic surfclam Spisula solidissima to waters still occupied by ocean quahogs Arctica islandica. Fishers presently are prohibited from landing both Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs in the same catch, thus limiting fishing to locations where the target species can be sorted on deck. Wind energy development on and around the fishing grounds will further restrict the fishery. A spatially explicit model of the Atlantic surfclam fishery (Spatially Explicit Fishery Economics Simulator) has the ability to simulate the consequences of fishery displacement …

Marine Heatwaves Modulate The Genotypic And Physiological Responses Of Reef-Building Corals To Subsequent Heat Stress, Kristen T. Brown, Amatzia Genin, Matheus A. Mello-Athayde, Ellie Bergstrom, Adriana Campili, Aaron Chai, Sophie G. Dove, Maureen Ho, Devin Rowell, Eugenia M. Sampayo, Veronica Z. Radice

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Back-to-back marine heatwaves in 2016 and 2017 resulted in severe coral bleaching and mortality across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Encouragingly, some corals that survived these events exhibit increased bleaching resistance and may represent thermally tolerant populations that can better cope with ocean warming. Using the GBR as a natural laboratory, we investigated whether a history of minimal (Heron Island) or severe (Lizard Island) coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017 equates to stress tolerance in a successive heatwave (2020). We examined the genetic diversity, physiological performance, and trophic plasticity of juvenile (<10 cm) and adult (>25 cm) corals of two common genera ( …

A Trait‐Based Framework For Assessing The Vulnerability Of Marine Species To Human Impacts, Nathalie Butt, Benjamin S. Halpern, Casey S. O'Hara, A. Louise Allcock, Beth Polidoro, Samantha Sherman, Maria Byrne, Charles Birkeland, Ross G. Dwyer, Melanie Frazier, Bradley K. Woodworth, Claudia P. Arango, Michael J. Kingsford, Vinay Udyawer, Pat Hutchings, Elliot Scanes, Emily Jane Mcclaren, Sara M. Maxwell, Guillermo Diaz-Pulido, Emma Dugan, Blake Alexander Simmons, Amelia S. Wenger, Christi Linardich, Carissa J. Klein

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Marine species and ecosystems are widely affected by anthropogenic stressors, ranging from pollution and fishing to climate change. Comprehensive assessments of how species and ecosystems are impacted by anthropogenic stressors are critical for guiding conservation and management investments. Previous global risk or vulnerability assessments have focused on marine habitats, or on limited taxa or specific regions. However, information about the susceptibility of marine species across a range of taxa to different stressors everywhere is required to predict how marine biodiversity will respond to human pressures. We present a novel framework that uses life-history traits to assess species’ vulnerability to a …

Vignette 04: Olympia Oysters, Jodie Toft, Betsy Peabody

Institute Publications

Olympia oysters (Ostrea lurida) are our only native oyster species here in the Salish Sea. Olympia oysters once covered an estimated 13-26% of the intertidal area in Puget Sound, mostly near the heads of inlets. A combination of overharvest, pollution, and habitat loss reduced the current population to less than 4% of historic numbers, though sparse numbers of Olympia oysters can still be found throughout most of their historic distribution. Looking to the future, as our region’s marine waters experience effects of climate change and ocean acidification (OA), native species such as the Olympia oyster may prove to …

Vignette 23: Indigenous Management Systems Can Promote More Sustainable Salmon Fisheries In The Salish Sea, William I. Atlas, Natalie C. Ban, Jonathan W. Moore, Adrian M. Tuohy, Spencer Greening, Andrea J. Reid, Nicole Morven, Elroy White, William G. Housty, Jess A. Housty, Christina N. Service, Larry Greba, Sam Harrison, Katherine Ir Butts, Elissa Sweeney-Bergen, Donna Macintyre, Matthew R. Sloat, Katrina Connors

Institute Publications

Indigenous peoples of the Northern Pacific Rim have harvested salmon for more than 10,000 years, and Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) form the foundation of social-ecological systems encompassing communities from California to Kamchatka and Northern Japan. Through continuous placed-based interdependence with salmon, Indigenous societies formed deliberate and well-honed systems of salmon management. These systems promoted the sustained productivity of salmon fisheries. In Canada and the United States, Indigenous sovereignty and resource stewardship were forcibly disrupted by colonial government authority. Despite the destructive impacts of colonization, Indigenous culture and knowledge are resurgent in Canada and the United States. Indigenous fishing technologies and …

Vignette 14: Eelgrass Wasting Disease, Olivia Graham, Morgan Eisenlord, Drew Harvell

Institute Publications

Rising seawater temperatures can increase the risk of disease outbreaks in many taxa. Pathogens are potentially the ultimate keystone species in that their small biomass can have massive impacts that ripple through ecosystems. Disease outbreaks can be particularly damaging when they affect ecosystem engineers, such as seagrasses. Outbreaks of wasting disease in seagrasses are one of a myriad of stressors associated with declining temperate and tropical seagrass meadows around the globe. Levels of eelgrass wasting disease are high in the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound. These increasing levels of disease are a threat to sustainability of eelgrass meadows, our …

Vignette 08: Connection To Place: Indigenous Leadership In Səlilwət (Burrard Inlet), Tsleil-Waututh Nation’S Treaty Lands And Resources Department

Institute Publications

Since time out of mind, Tsleil-Waututh have used and occupied Burrard Inlet and surrounding watersheds. Generations of Tsleil-Waututh people were brought up with the teaching, “When the tide went out, the table was set.” About 90% of our diet was once derived from Burrard Inlet and the Fraser River, but today the Inlet is unable to support our needs. Cumulative effects of colonial settlement and development have eroded the ecological health, integrity, and diversity of the Inlet. Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) has a goal to restore the health of the Inlet so that we, and future generations of Tsleil-Waututh People, can …

Particle Tracking Reveals Pelagic Red Crabs As Indicators Of Climate-Driven Range Expansion In The California Current, Elizabeth Saraf

Senior Honors Projects

Since their first recorded occurrence in 1859, Pelagic Red Crabs (PRC; Pleuroncodes planipes) have experienced increased frequency of episodic mass stranding events in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. PRC’s are transported over 1,000 km northward of their central domain from the coast of central Baja California, Mexico. They have been reported by the thousands on the beaches of central and southern California. Their presence influences the surrounding ecosystem and commercial fisheries because they are nutritional prey items and large predators change their diet to incorporate PRC’s when they are available. Seasonal coastal currents and the California Undercurrent transport warmer waters …

Global Connectivity Of Southern Ocean Ecosystems, Eugene J. Murphy, Nadine M. Johnston, Eileen E. Hofmann, Richard A. Phillips, Jennifer A. Jackson, Andrew J. Constable, Sian F. Henley, Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, Rowan Trebilco, Rachel D. Cavanagh, Geraint A. Tarling, Ryan A. Saunders, David K.A. Barnes, Daniel P. Costa, Stuart P. Corney, Ceridwen I. Fraser, Juan Höfer, Kevin A. Hughes, Chester J. Sands, Sally E. Thorpe, Philip N. Trathan, José C. Xavier

CCPO Publications

Southern Ocean ecosystems are globally important. Processes in the Antarctic atmosphere, cryosphere, and the Southern Ocean directly influence global atmospheric and oceanic systems. Southern Ocean biogeochemistry has also been shown to have global importance. In contrast, ocean ecological processes are often seen as largely separate from the rest of the global system. In this paper, we consider the degree of ecological connectivity at different trophic levels, linking Southern Ocean ecosystems with the global ocean, and their importance not only for the regional ecosystem but also the wider Earth system. We also consider the human system connections, including the role of …

Assessing The Hierarchy Of Long-Term Environmental Controls On Diatom Communities Of Yellowstone National Park Using Lacustrine Sediment Records, Victoria Chraibi, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

An ecosystem’s ability to maintain structure and function following disturbance, defined as resilience, is influenced by a hierarchy of environmental controls, including climate, surface cover, and ecological relationships that shape biological community composition and productivity. This study examined lacustrine sediment records of naturally fishless lakes in Yellowstone National Park to reconstruct the response of aquatic communities to climate and trophic cascades from fish stocking. Sediment records of diatom algae did not exhibit a distinct response to fish stocking in terms of assemblage or algal productivity. Instead, 3 of 4 lakes underwent a shift to dominance by benthic diatom species from …

Agenda: Coping With Water Scarcity In River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned From Shared Experiences, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Water scarcity is increasingly dominating headlines throughout the world. In the southwestern USA, the looming water shortages on the Colorado River system and the unprecedented drought in California are garnering the greatest attention. Similar stories of scarcity and crisis can be found across the globe, suggesting an opportunity for sharing lessons and innovations. For example, the Colorado River and Australia's Murray-Darling Basin likely can share many lessons, as both systems were over-allocated, feature multiple jurisdictions, face similar climatic risks and drought stresses, and struggle to balance human demands with environmental needs. In this conference we cast our net broadly, exploring …

Body Size Distributions Signal A Regime Shift In A Lake Ecosystem, Trisha L. Spanbauer, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Tarsha Eason, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Kirsty L. Nash, Jeffery R. Stone, Craig A. Stow, Shana M. Sundstrom

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Communities of organisms, from mammals to microorganisms, have discontinuous distributions of body size. This pattern of size structuring is a conservative trait of community organization and is a product of processes that occur at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this study, we assessed whether body size patterns serve as an indicator of a threshold between alternative regimes. Over the past 7000 years, the biological communities of Foy Lake (Montana, USA) have undergone a major regime shift owing to climate change. We used a palaeoecological record of diatom communities to estimate diatom sizes, and then analysed the discontinuous distribution of …

A Genetically Distinct Hybrid Zone Occurs For Two Globally Invasive Mosquito Fish Species With Striking Phenotypic Resemblance, Rebecca J. Wilk, Lisa Horth

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Hybrid zones allow for the investigation of incipient speciation and related evolutionary processes of selection, gene flow, and migration. Interspecific dynamics, like competition, can impact the size, shape, and directional movement of species in hybrid zones. Hybrid zones contribute to a paradox for the biological species concept because interbreeding between species occurs while parental forms remain distinct. A long‐standing zone of intergradation or introgression exists for eastern and western mosquito fish (Gambusia holbrooki and G. affinis) around Mobile Bay, AL. The region has been studied episodically, over decades, making it perfect for addressing temporal dynamics and for providing …

Slides: Wrapping Up The Big Horn Adjudication: Lessons After 38 Years And 20,000 Claims, Ramsey L. Kropf

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Ramsey L. Kropf, Deputy Solicitor for Water Resources, Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior

34 slides

Slides: The Columbia River Treaty, Barbara Cosens

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Barbara Cosens, Professor, University of Idaho College of Law and Waters of the West Graduate Program

22 slides

Slides: Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste, Lester Snow

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Lester Snow, Executive Director, California Water Foundation

39 slides

Slides: Gwc Review Report, Larry Macdonnell

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Larry MacDonnell, University of Colorado Law School

12 slides

Slides: Ag Water Sharing: Legal Challenges And Considerations, Peter D. Nichols

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Peter D. Nichols, Esq., Partner, Berg, Hill, Greenleaf and Ruscitti, Boulder, CO

25 slides

Slides: Perspectives On Water Management In Arizona, Kathy Jacobs

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Kathy Jacobs, Director, Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions (CCASS), Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona

25 slides

Slides: Colorado's Water Plan, Lauren Ris

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Lauren Ris, Assistant Director for Water, Colorado Department of Natural Resources

23 slides

Slides: Six Decades Of Texas Water Planning, Ronald Kaiser

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Ronald Kaiser, Professor of Water Law and Policy, Chair of Graduate Water Degree Program, Texas A&M University

32 slides

Metabolic Theory Explains Latitudinal Variation In Common Carp Populations And Predicts Responses To Climate Change, Michael J. Weber, Michael L. Brown, David H. Wahl, Daniel E. Shoup

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Climate change is expected to alter temperature regimes experienced by fishes, which may also alter life history traits. However, predicting population-level responses to climate change has been difficult. Metabolic theory of ecology has been developed to explain how metabolism controls a variety of ecological processes, including life history attributes. Thus, this theory may be a useful tool for predicting fish population responses to climate change. To understand how climate change may alter freshwater fish life history, we measured population characteristics (e.g., recruitment, growth, body size, and mortality) of 21 North American common carp Cyprinus carpio populations spanning a latitudinal gradient …

Collaborative Research: Globec Pan-Regional Synthesis: End-To-End Energy Budgets In Us-Globec Regions, Andrew C. Thomas

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The research addresses the overarching question: are marine food webs leading to fisheries controlled from the top-down, the bottom up, or a combination of the two? To address this question we will (1) compare end-to-end energy budgets of the 4 US-GLOBEC study regions in the context of top-down v. bottom-up forcing, (2) assess the skills of the regional models in capturing basic material fluxes, (3) extract diagnostics from the regional models that will be used to evaluate the effects of climate change and fishing pressure across GLOBEC regions and (4) develop quantitative methods to compare the diagnostics. The major successes …

Fisheries Management In A Changing Climate: Lessons From The 2012 Ocean Heat Wave In The Northwest Atlantic., Katherine E. Mills, Andrew Pershing, Curtis J. Brown, Yong Chen, Fu-Sung Chiang, Daniel S. Holland, Sigrid Lehuta, Janet A. Nye, Jenny C. Sun, Andrew C. Thomas, Richard A. Wahle

Publications

No abstract provided.

Nantucket Shellfish Management Plan, Kristin Uiterwyk, Steve Bliven, Dan Leavitt, Jack Wiggin, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Nantucket’s shellfish resources are an important part of the Island’s history, culture, and economy. Nantucket waters support one of the country’s last wild-caught bay scallop fisheries. Elsewhere along the Atlantic coast, fishing pressure, habitat loss, and disease have severely depleted bay scallop populations. Although Nantucketers continue to make a living harvesting shellfish from the Island’s waters, many do so with concern for the future of the resources and the habitats that support them. Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) provided technical assistance to the community to develop a Shellfish Management Plan (SMP) that addresses issues of water quality, habitat loss, climate change, …

Temperature Effects On Growth And Stress Physiology Of Brook Trout: Implications For Climate Change Impacts On An Iconic Cold-Water Fish, Joseph G. Chadwick Jr

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Despite the threat of climate change, the physiological mechanisms by which temperature drives the distribution of species are unclear. Here we used chronic temperature exposures to determine that the upper limit for positive growth in the eastern brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is 23.4 °C. Additionally, brook trout exposed to daily temperature oscillations of 8 °C, around a mean of 21 °C, exhibited growth rates that were 43 and 35% lower by length and weight respectively, than in constant 21 °C controls. Limitations in growth were associated with increases in indicators of the physiological stress response. Individuals exposed to …

Diversity And Distribution Of Mongolian Fish: Recent State, Trends And Studies, Yuri Dgebuadze, Bud Mendsaikhan, Ayurin Dulmaa

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The studies in recent years (2000-2011) have allowed to make more precise the list and ranges of Mongolian fish. This is connected with new findings as well as the continuing process of invasion of alien species. Climate change and increase of human impact transformed ranges and local distribution of fish during last 30 years. Bias on ratio of ecological guilds, number of pathological findings are increasing, and declining of local diversity, rate of growth and fecundity of many species of fish are observed. In the course of long-term observation was confirmed periodically drying of waters of the Central Asian Lake …

Slides: Rethinking Western Water Law: Restoring The Public Interest In Western Water Law, Mark Squillace

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

20 slides

Slides: Regional Energy-Water Resilience Under Climate Change, Bonnie G. Colby

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Dr. Bonnie G. Colby, Professor of Resource Economics & Hydrology, University of Arizona

24 slides

Slides: Market-Based Stream Flow Restoration And Mitigation, Amanda Cronin

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Amanda Cronin, Washington Water Trust, Seattle, WA

23 slides