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Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology
Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Arctic Nearshore Fish Community And Food Web Structures, Mark B. Barton
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 …
Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia Mydas) In Bermuda Exhibit An Ontogenetic Diet Shift Despite Overexploitation Of Resources In Their Developmental Habitat, Claire Margaret Burgett
Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia Mydas) In Bermuda Exhibit An Ontogenetic Diet Shift Despite Overexploitation Of Resources In Their Developmental Habitat, Claire Margaret Burgett
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Green sea turtles in Bermuda are overgrazing the seagrasses on which later life stages are thought to specialize. I hypothesized that larger green turtles in Bermuda would display individual diet specializations during seagrass scarcity. Stable isotope methods were used to determine the diet composition of green sea turtles from the Bermuda Platform as a function of size class and in turtles captured in successive years. Individual turtles had a wide range of diets, however, the variation in diets was driven by differences among size class rather than within the size classes of larger turtles, indicating that green turtles undergo a …
Investigating Trophic Interactions Of Deep-Sea Animals (Sharks, Teleosts, And Mobile Scavengers) In The Gulf Of Mexico Using Stable Isotope Analysis, Diana A. Churchill
Investigating Trophic Interactions Of Deep-Sea Animals (Sharks, Teleosts, And Mobile Scavengers) In The Gulf Of Mexico Using Stable Isotope Analysis, Diana A. Churchill
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The deep-sea is the largest habitat on earth, containing over 90 percent of the world’s oceans and home to over 20,000 species. Deep-sea ecosystems are increasingly impacted by human activities including fishing and oil extraction. To understand potential impacts on deep-sea food webs, it is crucial to gather baseline data in these systems. I quantified the trophic interactions of three groups of deep-water animals across a range of trophic levels living in the northern and eastern Gulf of Mexico using stable isotope analysis. First, I propose methods for correcting δ15N values for the presence of nitrogenous metabolic waste …