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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Diatom Community Composition Shifts Driven By Coherent Cyclonic Mesoscale Eddies In The California Current System, Zuzanna Maria Abdala Apr 2020

Diatom Community Composition Shifts Driven By Coherent Cyclonic Mesoscale Eddies In The California Current System, Zuzanna Maria Abdala

OES Theses and Dissertations

The California Current System (CCS) is characterized by an equatorward flowing eastern boundary current, as well as seasonal wind-driven coastal upwelling which supplies nutrient-rich waters to the surface and drives high coastal productivity. Cyclonic mesoscale eddies form off the coast in the CCS where they trap the highly productive upwelled coastal waters, along with their resident planktonic communities, and transport them offshore into the more oligotrophic California Current waters. The interaction between waters within and outside of the eddies is limited, and so the eddies act as natural mesocosms, where the resident phytoplankton population undergo ecological succession as the eddy …


Exploring The Potential For Artificial Reefs In Coral Reef Restoration: Responses And Interactions Of Associated Biota To Varying Experimental Treatments In The Mexican Caribbean, Audie Kirk Kilfoyle Mar 2017

Exploring The Potential For Artificial Reefs In Coral Reef Restoration: Responses And Interactions Of Associated Biota To Varying Experimental Treatments In The Mexican Caribbean, Audie Kirk Kilfoyle

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral reefs are being negatively impacted by various causes worldwide, and direct intervention is often warranted following disturbance to restore or replace lost ecosystem structure and function. An experimental coral reef restoration study involving standardized artificial reef modules (ReefballsTM) was conducted in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in the towns of Puerto Morelos and Akumal. The purpose was to explore the use of artificial structure for restoration and mitigation applications in a highly diverse and dynamic Caribbean coral reef environment by applying and evaluating the performance of select experimental treatments hypothesized to accelerate development of the associated biota. The first …