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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The Ecological Role Of Cassiopea In Shallow Mangrove Habitats, David Marcel Durieux
The Ecological Role Of Cassiopea In Shallow Mangrove Habitats, David Marcel Durieux
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea sp., can be locally abundant in shallow mangrove habitats throughout the tropics and subtropics. Unlike other jellyfish, Cassiopea sp. are epibenthic. Due to this unique lifestyle and their ability to achieve high population densities, an understanding is needed of their ecological impacts both individually and in aggregations, particularly given that Cassiopea sp. ranges are expanding poleward due to global climate change. We quantified the fluid flow produced by Cassiopea sp. feeding currents and found that an average-sized Cassiopea sp. can transport over 200 l/h of water in the vertical excurrent jet of their feeding current. Populations of …
Zonation Pattern And Spatial Arrangement Of A Geukensia Granosissima Population In A Mixed Mangrove Forest Of Tampa Bay, Derrick Shane Hudson
Zonation Pattern And Spatial Arrangement Of A Geukensia Granosissima Population In A Mixed Mangrove Forest Of Tampa Bay, Derrick Shane Hudson
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Here I provide the first report on Geukensia granosissima patterns of abundance along a tidal gradient within a mixed mangrove stand located in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA. Specifically, I examined 1) the relationship between G. granosissima size and density with mangrove root type (e.g. prop root, pneumatophore), and of density within the intertidal zones; and 2) the possible role of predation in shaping the lower zonation patterns displayed. Transect surveys located along the lower and upper population limit boundaries were conducted every two months over a ten-month period. Variables measured include size distribution, density of mussels, above ground mangrove prop …