Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Incorporating Early Life History And Recruitment In Analysis Of Population Dynamics Of Wetland Fishes, John Vincent Gatto

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hydrological variation is believed to be the major abiotic factor influencing fish recruitment in floodplain ecosystems. However, past studies fail to address the impact of hydrology on the three major drivers of recruitment: age-specific growth and mortality, and dispersal. I examined long-term recruitment dynamics for six fish species inhabiting the Everglades by addressing the impact of hydrology on these important characteristics. I then linked these changes to annual fluctuations in population size.

Before interpreting time-series data on recruitment, I evaluated the impact of size-selective bias from sampling gear on our interpretation of hydrological drivers of recruitment. Analyses revealed that individuals …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Arctic Nearshore Fish Community And Food Web Structures, Mark B. Barton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change and increasing anthropogenic activities are causing rapid changes to environmental and ecological processes in the Arctic Ocean. To better understand these changes, scientists have increased research efforts in these regions, but to date the number of studies on Arctic nearshore habitats are lacking. My dissertation responds to the paucity of information and investigates patterns in Arctic nearshore fish communities and food webs to gain insight to how these ecosystems may shift as these changes continue. I used multivariate statistical analysis to examine patterns in community structure and composition to determine that Arctic nearshore fish communities are largely driven …

Experimental Analysis Of The Effects Of Hydroscape Structure On Fishes In A Dynamic Wetland, Michael R. Bush

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hydroscape structure can play a critical role in animal behavior, abundance, and community structure dynamics. Hydroscape configuration can be dynamic and can change quickly in ephemeral systems. However, ephemeral freshwater wetlands are among the most impacted systems in the world and restoration efforts often rely on incomplete information when establishing management objectives. Further understanding how alterations in hydroscape structure in dynamic systems affect animals is critical for conservation and management success.

To determine impacts that changing hydroscape conditions can have on consumers in freshwater wetlands, I examined the effects of a large-scale physical model on fish behavior, abundance, and community …

Linking Old Librarianship To New: Aligning 5-Steps Of The Innovator's Dna In Creating Thematic Discovery Systems For The Everglades, L. Bryan Cooper, Margarita Perez Martinez

Works of the FIU Libraries

This poster presentation from the May 2015 Florida Library Association Conference, along with the Everglades Explorer discovery portal at http://ee.fiu.edu, demonstrates how traditional bibliographic and curatorial principles can be applied to: 1) selection, cross-walking and aggregation of metadata linking end-users to wide-spread digital resources from multiple silos; 2) harvesting of select PDFs, HTML and media for web archiving and access; 3) selection of CMS domains, sub-domains and folders for targeted searching using an API.

Choosing content for this discovery portal is comparable to past scholarly practice of creating and publishing subject bibliographies, except metadata and data are housed in …

Anthropogenic Disturbances In Estuarine Ecosystems: The Effects Of Altered Freshwater Inflow, Introduction Of Invasive Species, And Habitat Alteration In The Loxahatchee River, Fl, Zachary R. Jud

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the majority of Earth’s population living in coastal areas, estuarine ecosystems have been particularly affected by anthropogenic disturbances. My dissertation research focused on three interrelated types of human disturbance that affect estuaries: Anthropogenic alteration of freshwater inflow, the introduction of invasive species, and habitat alteration. Using the LoxahatcheeRiver(Jupiter, FL) as a model system, my goal was to understand how these disturbances affect estuarine organisms, particularly fishes. One of the most ecologically harmful disturbances affecting estuaries is anthropogenic alteration of freshwater inflow (and resulting changes in salinity patterns). To identify effects of freshwater inflow on the behavior of an ecologically …

Examining Gradients In Novelty: Native And Non-Native Fish Assemblages In Everglades Canals, David A. Gandy

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Novel ecosystems emerge from alterations to historic abiotic regimes and contain new species combinations. Everglades canals offer an opportunity to understand the function of novel habitat for native and non-native fishes and how novel conditions in turn influence distribution, abundance and assembly patterns. I examined native and non-native fish assemblages collected across a gradient in novelty, defined by the loss of wetland connectivity and habitat complexity. As novelty increased, native species richness and abundance strongly declined, and the contribution of non-natives increased. Community structure vastly differed among canals and was strongly influenced by spatial factors and secondarily by hydrological factors. …