Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Assessing The Cooling Effects Of Urban Vegetation On Urban Heat Mitigation In Selected U.S. Cities, Qiuyan Yu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a growing problem worldwide. Mitigation of UHI is necessary for cities to adapt to climate change and enhance sustainable development at a city scale. Cooling cities with urban vegetation management is a sustainable solution for urban heat mitigation. Urban vegetation influences urban microclimate through the shading effect, surface roughness, and evapotranspiration. The differences in horizontal and vertical structures of urban vegetation determine the shading effect, surface roughness, and evapotranspiration. Enhancing the cooling effect of urban vegetation requires a comprehensive understanding of how vegetation structure affects UHI. The effects of horizontal structure on land surface temperature …

Assessments Of Surface-Pelagic Drift Communities And Behavior Of Early Juvenile Sea Turtles In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Robert F. Hardy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge of species distribution and habitat associations are essential for conservation measures. Such information is lacking for many marine species due to their occupancy of broad and ephemeral habitats that are difficult to access for study. Sea turtles, specifically the surface-pelagic juvenile stage of some species, are a group for which significant knowledge gaps remain surrounding their distribution and habitat use. Recent research has confirmed the long-standing hypothesis that the surface-pelagic juvenile stage occurs within surface-pelagic drift communities (SPDC). Within the North Atlantic and surrounding basins, the holopelagic macroalgae Sargassum spp. dominates SPDC and serves as a remotely-detectable indicator of …

Evaluating Habitat Vulnerability And Sustainability Of Urban Seagrass Resources To Sea Level Rise, Cynthia A. Meyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The seagrass resource provides essential ecosystem functions for many marine species. This research evaluated the vulnerability and sustainability of the seagrass resource in an urbanized area to the effects of sea level rise. The assessment required analysis of information regarding the biogeography of the seagrass resource, and developing a method to model the spatial extent of the suitable habitat for seagrass, and applying the model to predict the implications of simulated sea level rise scenarios on the seagrass resource.

Examining the biogeography of the seagrass resource required the development of a seagrass monitoring and assessment field survey and a comprehensive …