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Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology

A Review Of Shellfish Restoration As A Tool For Coastal Water Quality Management., Michael A. Rice Nov 2000

A Review Of Shellfish Restoration As A Tool For Coastal Water Quality Management., Michael A. Rice

Michael A Rice

In many areas, coastal residents and others oppose establishment of bivalve molluscan aquaculture projects on the basis of perceived negative environmental impacts. Often overlooked are positive environmental impacts of shellfish aquaculture that can potentially mitigate the impacts of other anthropogenic activities. Filter feeding by populations of bivalve mollusks is reviewed with respect to their ability to act as an estuarine filter, increase clarity of coastal waters and facilitate the removal of nitrogen and other nutrients from eutrophic coastal waters. Most species of cultured bivalve mollusks clear particles from waters at rates of 1 to 4 L/h, and populations of shellfish …


Effects Of Blood Extraction On The Mortality Of The Horseshoe Crab, Limulus Polyphemus, Elizabeth A. Walls, Jim Berkson Oct 2000

Effects Of Blood Extraction On The Mortality Of The Horseshoe Crab, Limulus Polyphemus, Elizabeth A. Walls, Jim Berkson

Virginia Journal of Science

Horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) are bled by biomedical companies for the extraction of Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL), a clotting agent used in the detection of endotoxins. In 1998, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission mandated that all biomedical companies collecting horseshoe crabs for the production of LAL study the horseshoe crab mortality rates resulting from the company's blood extraction process. BioWhittaker, a Cambrex Company is one of the largest producers of LAL in the world. During the summer of 1999, bled and unbled horseshoe crabs were transported from BioWhittaker's bleeding facility in Chincoteague, Virginia to the Virginia Seafood …


Fall 2000, Nsu Oceanographic Center Oct 2000

Fall 2000, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.


Phytosociological Analysis Of Restored And Managed Grassland Habitat Within An Urban National Park, Andrew M. Greller, Celestine Durando, Leslie F. Marcus, D. Siril A. Wijesundara, Michael D. Byer, Robert Cook, John T. Tanacredi Ph.D. Oct 2000

Phytosociological Analysis Of Restored And Managed Grassland Habitat Within An Urban National Park, Andrew M. Greller, Celestine Durando, Leslie F. Marcus, D. Siril A. Wijesundara, Michael D. Byer, Robert Cook, John T. Tanacredi Ph.D.

Faculty Works: CERCOM

Floyd Bennett Field (FBF), 579 ha in extent, is a division of Gateway National Recreation Area. It is the site of a former airfield, constructed by filling salt marshes with dredged materials. Except for the portion known locally as the “North Forty,” all sections of FBF have been cut over to maintain low vegetation. A grassland management plan (GRAMP) for 165 ha was initiated in 1986, to maintain habitats for open-country birds. Over the next few years, encroaching woody vegetation was removed manually and mechanically from the management area. Since then, it has been maintained as a grassland and receives …


Biological And Physical Observations On Larval Spot (Leiostomus Xanthurus) Recruiting To Oregon And Ocracoke Inlets North Carolina, Thomas R. Wasaff Oct 2000

Biological And Physical Observations On Larval Spot (Leiostomus Xanthurus) Recruiting To Oregon And Ocracoke Inlets North Carolina, Thomas R. Wasaff

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Patterns of abundance, length, age, and growth of larval spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) were compared to assess the variability between spot larvae ingressing to two North Carolina inlets. The source of variability for the recruitment of larval fishes to estuarine nurseries has been linked to environmental stochasticity. Wind data and seasurface temperature satellite images were analyzed as two influential environmental variables that may help explain recruitment variability. As part of the South Atlantic Bight Recruitment Experiment (SABRE), spot larvae were collected between October 1994 and April 1995 as they recruited to Pamlico Sound through Oregon Inlet, located north of Cape Hatteras, …


Comparison Of Larval Myomere Counts Among Species Of Nocomis In Virginia (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae), Terre D. Green, Eugene G. Maurakis Apr 2000

Comparison Of Larval Myomere Counts Among Species Of Nocomis In Virginia (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae), Terre D. Green, Eugene G. Maurakis

Virginia Journal of Science

Larval myomere counts of Nocomis platyrhynchus were made using a dissecting light microscope equipped with polarizing filters, and then compared to those of the three other species of Nocomis (Nocomis leptocephalus, Nocomis micropogon, and Nocomis raneyi) found in Virginia. Average preanal myomere counts for N. platyrhynchus (26.9) were significantly different from those of the other three species (N. raneyi =28.7; N. micropogon =26.0; and N. leptocephalus =25.9). This is especially important as larvae of N. leptocephalus, the only other species of Nocomis syntopic with N. platyrhynchus in the upper New River drainage, can now …


Spring 2000, Nsu Oceanographic Center Apr 2000

Spring 2000, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.


Organic Matter Composition Of Sediments And The History Of Eutrophication And Anoxia In The Mesohaline Chesapeake Bay, Andrew R. Zimmerman Jan 2000

Organic Matter Composition Of Sediments And The History Of Eutrophication And Anoxia In The Mesohaline Chesapeake Bay, Andrew R. Zimmerman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

To evaluate the effects of anthropogenic alteration of the Chesapeake Bay (CB) watershed since European settlement, the historical progression of eutrophication and anoxia in the mesohaline region of CB was reconstructed. Lipid biomarker and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic and elemental composition of CB surficial sediments were examined seasonally in order to identify the present sources of organic matter to CB sediments and the processes controlling their distribution. Temporal variability in surficial sediment composition could be linked to seasonal changes in phytoplankton community composition and biomass while spatial variation was dominated by the delivery of alloclithonous versus autochthonous sources of …


The Role Of Stress In Determining Community Structure: Effects Of Hypoxia On An Estuarine Epifaunal Community, Alessandra Sagasti Jan 2000

The Role Of Stress In Determining Community Structure: Effects Of Hypoxia On An Estuarine Epifaunal Community, Alessandra Sagasti

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Community models predict the effects of stress on community structure and processes. I tested the Menge and Sutherland 1987 model in an estuarine epifaunal community experiencing low oxygen stress, termed hypoxia. Epifauna, animals living on the surfaces of substrates, are ecologically important in many estuaries where hypoxia occurs, yet little is known about the effects of hypoxia on these communities. Epifauna formed dense communities in the York River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, USA, despite frequent hypoxia. Abundance and species composition was similar in two areas of the river, even though the downstream study area often experienced lower oxygen …


Biochemical Composition Of Particles And Dissolved Organic Matter Slong An Estuarine Gradient: Sources And Implications For Dom Reactivity, Antonio Mannino, H. Rodger Harvey Jan 2000

Biochemical Composition Of Particles And Dissolved Organic Matter Slong An Estuarine Gradient: Sources And Implications For Dom Reactivity, Antonio Mannino, H. Rodger Harvey

OES Faculty Publications

The chemical composition of high molecular weight dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM) was examined along the salinity gradient of the Delaware Estuary. DOM was collected and fractionated by tangential-flow ultrafiltration into 1-30 kDa (HDOM; high molecular weight) and 30 kDa to 0.2 μm (VHDOM; very high molecular weight) and compared to particles collected in parallel. Polysaccharides comprised 12-43% of particulate organic carbon (POC), 30-56% of VHDOM carbon, and 7.5-19% of HDOM carbon. Hydrolyzable amino acids comprised 17-38% of POC, 5.4-12% of VHDOM carbon, and 1.5-4.2% of HDOM carbon. Only 7-43% of dissolved organic nitrogen in VHDOM …


Demographics, Production, And Benthic -Pelagic Coupling By The Suspension Feeding Polychaete Chaetopterus Pergamentaceus In The Lower Chesapeake Bay, Michelle Lynne Thompson Neubauer Jan 2000

Demographics, Production, And Benthic -Pelagic Coupling By The Suspension Feeding Polychaete Chaetopterus Pergamentaceus In The Lower Chesapeake Bay, Michelle Lynne Thompson Neubauer

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

For many shallow water environments, ecosystem function depends on the cycling and flow of materials and energy between benthic and pelagic subsystems. Benthic suspension feeders often are important links between the water column and sediment in coastal ecosystems. Populations of the suspension feeding polychaete Chaetopterus pergamentaceus (previously reported as Chaetopterus variopedatus) are widely distributed along the United States East Coast, ranging from New England to Florida. This species is a structurally and functionally important member of the lower Chesapeake Bay benthic community, where it has maintained stable populations for at least the last 15 years. Little is known regarding the …


Ecological Interactions Between Benthic Oyster Reef Fishes And Oysters, Juliana Maria Harding Jan 2000

Ecological Interactions Between Benthic Oyster Reef Fishes And Oysters, Juliana Maria Harding

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Restoration of oyster reef structures rehabilitates habitats and the multi-level ecological communities built on eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica), the keystone species. Quantitative descriptions of ecological interactions within a habitat are required to delineate essential fish habitats for management and protection. Parallel development of primary (oysters) and secondary trophic levels (benthic fishes) offer an ecological metric of restoration progress over time. The interaction between larval oysters and larval fishes (e.g., Gobiosoma bosc, Chasmodes bosquianus) is quantitatively examined. Oyster settlement estimates for Palace Bar reef, Piankatank River, Virginia are of the same order of magnitude as field densities of recently settled oysters. …


Ecological Dispersal Mechanisms, Reproductive Ecology, And The Importance Of Scale In Zostera Marina In Chesapeake Bay, Matthew C. Harwell Jan 2000

Ecological Dispersal Mechanisms, Reproductive Ecology, And The Importance Of Scale In Zostera Marina In Chesapeake Bay, Matthew C. Harwell

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Previous knowledge of the seed ecology of the clonal seagrass Zostera marina L. (eelgrass) suggests that sexual reproduction is not very important to the population dynamics of eelgrass; however, researchers have hypothesized long-distance dispersal for nearly a century. From a bay-wide sampling effort, viable eelgrass seeds in the seed bank were found throughout most of the lower and middle Chesapeake Bay, but abundance of seeds was highly variable. Lower seed-bank densities were found in middle Chesapeake Bay, the region with slow recovery of eelgrass populations. From natural and artificially created eelgrass populations, regional environmental conditions were found to have a …