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Articles 1 - 12 of 12

Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Organic Carbon Partitioning During Spring Phytoplankton Blooms In The Ross Sea Polynya And The Sargasso Sea, C.A. Carlson, Hugh Ducklow, Da Hansell, Walker O. Smith Jr. Dec 1998

Organic Carbon Partitioning During Spring Phytoplankton Blooms In The Ross Sea Polynya And The Sargasso Sea, C.A. Carlson, Hugh Ducklow, Da Hansell, Walker O. Smith Jr.

VIMS Articles

In this study we evaluate the partitioning of organic carbon between the particulate and dissolved pools during spring phytoplankton blooms in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, and the Sargasso Sea. As part of a multidisciplinary project in the Ross Sea polynya we investigated the dynamics of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool and the role it played in the carbon cycle during the 1994 spring phytoplankton bloom. Phytoplankton biomass during the bloom was dominated by an Antarctic Phaeocystis sp. We determined primary productivity (PP; via H14CO3, incubations), particulate organic carbon (POC), bacterial productivity (BP; via [3H]thymidine incorporation), and DOC during two …


On The Frequency Of Eusociality In Snapping Shrimps (Decapoda : Alpheidae), With Description Of A Second Eusocial Species, Je Duffy Sep 1998

On The Frequency Of Eusociality In Snapping Shrimps (Decapoda : Alpheidae), With Description Of A Second Eusocial Species, Je Duffy

VIMS Articles

Recently, the Caribbean snapping shrimp Synalpheus regalis was shown to be eusocial by the criteria historically used for honeybees, ants, and termites, i.e., colonies contain a single reproducing female and a large number of non-breeding "workers." This finding prompted a reexamination of several previously puzzling reports of unusual population structures in other Synalpheus species. New collections, and observations made by students of this genus over the last century, suggest that several sponge-dwelling Synalpheus species similarly exhibit overlapping generations and monopolization of reproduction by a few individuals, and thus that these species may also be eusocial according to classical entomological criteria. …


The Effects Of Increased Inundation And Wrack Deposition On Photosynthesis And Respiration In A Virginia Salt Marsh, W. David Miller Jan 1998

The Effects Of Increased Inundation And Wrack Deposition On Photosynthesis And Respiration In A Virginia Salt Marsh, W. David Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Caribbean Spiny Lobster And Their Molluscan Prey: Are Top-Down Forces Key In Structuring Prey Assemblages In A Florida Bay Seagrass System, Martha Nizinski Jan 1998

Caribbean Spiny Lobster And Their Molluscan Prey: Are Top-Down Forces Key In Structuring Prey Assemblages In A Florida Bay Seagrass System, Martha Nizinski

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Relative importance of predator-prey dynamics and several environmental variables in structuring gastropod and bivalve diversity and distribution was investigated in the subtropical seagrass and macroalgal community of Florida Bay, a highly productive system and primary nursery and foraging ground for finfish and invertebrate predators, including the numerically dominant Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus. The molluscan assemblage, a primary food source for P. argus in particular, is speciose (75 gastropod and 25 bivalve species) and a significant component of epifaunal and infaunal invertebrate assemblages within Florida Bay. Two experimental areas, located within separate basins and each comprised of two experimental sites, …


Natural Variation In The Vertical Distribution Of Macrobenthic Invertebrates Within Sandy-Mud Habitats, Amanda Maxemchuk-Daly Jan 1998

Natural Variation In The Vertical Distribution Of Macrobenthic Invertebrates Within Sandy-Mud Habitats, Amanda Maxemchuk-Daly

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Habitat Use, Secondary Production, And Trophic Export By Salt Marsh Nekton In Shallow Waters, Giancarlo Cicchetti Jan 1998

Habitat Use, Secondary Production, And Trophic Export By Salt Marsh Nekton In Shallow Waters, Giancarlo Cicchetti

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

I used 1.75 m&\sp2& drop rings and throw rings to sample communities of nekton at high and low tides in contiguous salt marshes, unvegetated flats, and seagrass beds (Ruppia maritima) of lower Chesapeake Bay. Thirty-two species of nekton were captured between June and October 1995, with a mean overall abundance of 28.6 inds m&\sp{lcub}-2{rcub}& and a mean biomass of 3.8 g m&\sp{lcub}-2{rcub}& (dry weight, dw). Blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, were the biomass dominants and used seagrass and marsh edge habitats extensively from recruitment to maturity. Palaemonetes shrimp were the most abundant nekton; patterns of allopatry and apparent sympatry were found …


Development And Analysis Of A Nutrient Trading Program For The James River Watershed, Jennifer M. Reid Jan 1998

Development And Analysis Of A Nutrient Trading Program For The James River Watershed, Jennifer M. Reid

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Ecosystem Analysis Of Water Column Processes In The York River Estuary, Virginia: Historical Records, Field Studies And Modeling Analysis, Yongsik Sin Jan 1998

Ecosystem Analysis Of Water Column Processes In The York River Estuary, Virginia: Historical Records, Field Studies And Modeling Analysis, Yongsik Sin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Analyses of EPA long-term datasets (1985--1994) combined with field studies and ecosystem model development were used to investigate phytoplankton and nutrient dynamics in the York River estuary. Analysis of the EPA dataset showed that algal blooms occurred during winter-spring followed by smaller summer blooms. Peak phytoplankton biomass during the winter-spring blooms occurred in the mid reach of the mesohaline zone whereas during the summer bloom it occurred in the tidal fresh-mesolialine transition zone. River discharge appears to be the major factor controlling the location and timing of the winter-spring blooms and the relative degree of potential nitrogen (N) and phosphorus …


Early Secondary Succession In The Bottomland Hardwood Forests Of Southeastern Virginia, David Randolph Spencer Jan 1998

Early Secondary Succession In The Bottomland Hardwood Forests Of Southeastern Virginia, David Randolph Spencer

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Does Plant Diversity Control Animal Diversity?: An Experimental Approach, John Daniel Parker Jan 1998

Does Plant Diversity Control Animal Diversity?: An Experimental Approach, John Daniel Parker

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Exchanges Of Carbon And Nitrogen Between Tidal Freshwater Wetlands And Adjacent Tributaries : A Final Report, Iris C. Anderson, Scott C. Neubauer, Betty B. Neikirk, Richard L. Wetzel Jan 1998

Exchanges Of Carbon And Nitrogen Between Tidal Freshwater Wetlands And Adjacent Tributaries : A Final Report, Iris C. Anderson, Scott C. Neubauer, Betty B. Neikirk, Richard L. Wetzel

Reports

Tidal freshwater marshes are hypothesized to export materials and energy that support primary and secondary production in estuaries, yet there are few data available to test this hypothesis. A major objective of our study was to measure net exchange of carbon between marsh and atmosphere to determine whether biogenic carbon inputs are in excess of those required to produce observed biomass, satisfy the measured accretion rate, and keep pace with the historical rate of sea level rise. To determine whether the marsh exports materials and energy we measured exchanges of nutrients between marsh sediments and overlying water and of nutrients, …


Phenotypic Clines In The Intertidal Snail Littorina Obtusata: The Role Of Water Temperature And Predator Effluent As Inducers Of Phenotypic Plasticity And Associated Trade-Offs In Shell Form, Geoffrey Clayton Trussell Jan 1998

Phenotypic Clines In The Intertidal Snail Littorina Obtusata: The Role Of Water Temperature And Predator Effluent As Inducers Of Phenotypic Plasticity And Associated Trade-Offs In Shell Form, Geoffrey Clayton Trussell

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

I examined variability in the shell form of 25 Littorina obtusata populations from Massachusetts to northern Maine. I chose this scale because the history of one of L. obtusata's principal predators, the crab Carcinus maenas, has changed dramatically in the past 100 years. Before 1900, Carcinus did not occur north of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, but by 1950 it had reached Canadian border. Moreover, in summer water temperatures during average 6-8&\sp\circ&C colder at northern locations. Shell thickness and mass increased and body mass decreased with increasing latitude. to test whether these patterns reflect plasticity in response to predators, snails from two …