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Full-Text Articles in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

Coastal Sediment Elevation Change Following Anthropogenic Mangrove Clearing, Heather Lyn Hayden, Elise F. Granek Sep 2015

Coastal Sediment Elevation Change Following Anthropogenic Mangrove Clearing, Heather Lyn Hayden, Elise F. Granek

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coastal mangrove forests along tropical shorelines serve as an important interface between land and sea. They provide a physical buffer protecting the coastline from erosion and act as sediment “traps” catching terrestrial sediment, thus preventing smothering of subtidal coral reefs. Coastal development that removes mangrove habitat may impact adjacent nearshore coral reefs through sedimentation and nutrient loading. We examined differences in sediment elevation change between patches of open-coast intact and anthropogenically cleared red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) on the east side of Turneffe Atoll, Belize, to quantify changes following mangrove clearing. Samples were collected over a 24 month period at five …


Stream-Associated Amphibian Habitat Assessment In The Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Region, Andrew Evans Dietrich Dec 2012

Stream-Associated Amphibian Habitat Assessment In The Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Region, Andrew Evans Dietrich

Dissertations and Theses

This study assessed the influence of landscape development on stream-associated amphibians in forested riparian areas within the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region. Human alteration of landscapes may dramatically affect the ecology of neighboring aquatic systems. It was hypothesized that lotic amphibians would be negatively associated with greater amounts of landscape development and positively associated with forested area within the surrounding watershed. Thirty-seven 1st-3rd order streams were sampled between June 21st and September 21st in 2011. Streams potentially providing adequate habitat for stream-obligate amphibians were randomly selected. Amphibians were surveyed along 30-meter stream transects using an active-cover search (ACS). Environmental variables associated with …


Links From Mantle To Microbe At The Lau Integrated Study Site: Insights From A Back-Arc Spreading Center, Margaret K. Tivey, Erin Becker, Roxanne Beinart, Charles R. Fisher, Peter Girguis, Charles H. Langmuir, Peter J. Michael, Anna-Louise Reysenbach Mar 2012

Links From Mantle To Microbe At The Lau Integrated Study Site: Insights From A Back-Arc Spreading Center, Margaret K. Tivey, Erin Becker, Roxanne Beinart, Charles R. Fisher, Peter Girguis, Charles H. Langmuir, Peter J. Michael, Anna-Louise Reysenbach

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Lau Integrated Study Site (ISS) has provided unique opportunities for study of ridge processes because of its back-arc setting in the southwestern Pacific. Its location allows study of a biogeographical province distinct from those of eastern Pacific and mid-Atlantic ridges, and crustal compositions along the ridge lie outside the range of mid-ocean ridge crustal compositions. The Lau ISS is located above a subduction zone, at an oblique angle. The underlying mantle receives water and other elements derived from the downgoing lithospheric slab, with an increase in slab influence from north to south. Water lowers the mantle melting temperature and …


Greenhouse Gas Fluxes In Southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain Wetlands Under Contrasting Land Uses, Jennifer L. Morse, Marcelo Ardón, Emily S. Bernhardt Jan 2012

Greenhouse Gas Fluxes In Southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain Wetlands Under Contrasting Land Uses, Jennifer L. Morse, Marcelo Ardón, Emily S. Bernhardt

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Whether through sea level rise or wetland restoration, agricultural soils in coastal areas will be inundated at increasing rates, renewing connections to sensitive surface waters and raising critical questions about environmental trade-offs. Wetland restoration is often implemented in agricultural catchments to improve water quality through nutrient removal. Yet flooding of soils can also increase production of the greenhouse gases nitrous oxide and methane, representing a potential environmental trade-off. Our study aimed to quantify and compare greenhouse gas emissions from unmanaged and restored forested wetlands, as well as actively managed agricultural fields within the North Carolina coastal plain, USA. In sampling …


Dispersal Limitation And Climate-Related Environmental Gradients Structure Microcrustacean Composition In Freshwater Lakes, Ellesmere Island, Canada, Angela L. Strecker, Rebecca Milne, Shelley E. Arnott Aug 2008

Dispersal Limitation And Climate-Related Environmental Gradients Structure Microcrustacean Composition In Freshwater Lakes, Ellesmere Island, Canada, Angela L. Strecker, Rebecca Milne, Shelley E. Arnott

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Dramatic environmental change is expected in the Arctic, yet little is known about the occurrence and community composition of microcrustaceans in Arctic lakes and how this will be influenced by future environmental change. We sampled and calculated relative abundances of microcrustacean species in 54 lakes on Ellesmere Island, Canada. New species records on Ellesmere Island included Daphnia umbra, Tachidius discipes, and Artemeopsis stefanssoni. Daphnia middendorffiana/tenebrosa was the most common taxon and often dominated microcrustacean assemblages, likely a result of its pigmentation, which offers resistance to ultraviolet radiation. Species richness was positively associated with nutrients, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), temperature, calcium, …


Impact Of Bythotrephes Invasion On Zooplankton Communities In Acid-Damaged And Recovered Lakes On The Boreal Shield, Angela L. Strecker, Shelley E. Arnott Oct 2005

Impact Of Bythotrephes Invasion On Zooplankton Communities In Acid-Damaged And Recovered Lakes On The Boreal Shield, Angela L. Strecker, Shelley E. Arnott

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Invasive species introductions into freshwater ecosystems have had a multitude of effects on aquatic communities. Few studies, however, have directly compared the impact of an invader on communities with contrasting structure. Historically high levels and subsequent reductions of acid deposition have produced landscapes of lakes of varying acidity and zooplankton communitystructure. We conducted a 30-day enclosure experiment in Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, to test the effects ofBythotrephes longimanus, an invasive invertebrate predator, on two contrasting zooplankton communities at different stages of recovery from acidification: recovered and acid damaged. Bythotrephes significantly decreased zooplankton biomass and abundance in both communities but …


Limnology Of Two New Lakes, Mount St. Helens, Wa, Valerie Jean Kelly Jan 1991

Limnology Of Two New Lakes, Mount St. Helens, Wa, Valerie Jean Kelly

Dissertations and Theses

Coldwater Lake and Castle Lake are two new lakes which were formed in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption of Mount St . Helens, WA in May, 1980. This research describes the limnology of these lakes ten years later, and includes physical, chemical, and biological parameters. The two lakes are compared and contrasted. Previous research on the eruption and its aftermath, as well as earlier studies of the lakes are described.