Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ecological Response Of Phytoplankton To The Oil Spills In The Oceans, Danling Tang, Jing Sun, Li Zhou, Sufen Wang, Ramesh P. Singh, Gang Pan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Oil spills in oceans have substantial influence on marine ecosystems. This study investigates 21 oil spills in the world. Analyzing Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiomerer (MODIS) data after Penglai oil spills on 4 June 2011, found a bloom with peak value of Chl-a (13.66 mg m⁻³) spread over an area of 800 km² during 18–25 June 2011, and a pronounced increase in the monthly Chl-a concentration (6.40 mg m⁻³) on June 2012 in the Bohai Sea. Out of the 21 oil spills, 14 blooms were observed, while 11 …

Molecular Cloning And Characterization Of Two Arnt (Arnt-1 And Arnt-2) Genes In Atlantic Croaker And Their Expression During Coexposure To Hypoxia And Pcb77, Md. Saydur Rahman, Peter Thomas

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) is an important transcriptions factor that binds/coactivates drug-metabolizing genes in vertebrates. In this study, we report the cloning and characterization of two ARNT (ARNT-1 and ARNT-2) genes and their mRNA and protein expression in liver tissues of Atlantic croaker after co-exposure to hypoxia and 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB77). The full-length croaker ARNT-1 and ARNT-2 genes encode proteins of 537 and 530 amino acids, respectively, and are highly homologous to ARNT-1 and ARNT-2 genes of other vertebrates. ARNT mRNAs are ubiquitously expressed in all tissues. Hypoxia (dissolved oxygen: 1.7 mg/L) exposure (1-4 weeks) did not affect hepatic …

A Heuristic Classification Of Woody Plants Based On Contrasting Shade And Drought Strategies, Liang Wei, Chonggang Xu, Steven Jansen, Hang Zhou, Bradley O. Christoffersen, William T. Pockman, Richard S. Middleton, John D. Marshall, Nate G. Mcdowell

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Woody plants vary in their adaptations to drought and shade. For a better prediction of vegetation responses to drought and shade within dynamic global vegetation models, it is critical to group species into functional types with similar adaptations. One of the key challenges is that the adaptations are generally determined by a large number of plant traits that may not be available for a large number of species. In this study, we present two heuristic woody plant groups that were separated using cluster analysis in a three-dimensional trait–environment space based on three key metrics for each species: mean xylem embolism …

Habitat Usage Patterns Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In Terrebonne And Timbalier Bays, Louisiana, Mary Allison Manning

LSU Master's Theses

I coupled fine-scale environmental data with observed behavior and group composition data to examine overall distribution within the bay system and to characterize the habitat associated with foraging and the presence of calves. Semi-isolated populations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) along Louisiana’s coast are undergoing increased risks from boat traffic, oil spills, land subsidence, and planned water diversions (CPRA 2017). Characterizing the habitat use of bottlenose dolphins in Terrebonne and Timbalier bays, Louisiana, is important given the likely high site fidelity, small home ranges, and low exchange of individuals with nearby coastal populations (Lane et al. 2015, McDonald …

Recurring Episodes Of Thermal Stress Shift The Balance From A Dominant Host-Specialist To A Background Host-Generalist Zooxanthella In The Threatened Pillar Coral, Dendrogyra Cylindrus, Cynthia Lewis, Karen L. Neely, Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Most scleractinian corals form obligate symbioses with photosynthetic dinoflagellates (family Symbiodiniaceae), which provide differential tolerances to their host. Previously, research has focused on the influence of symbiont composition and the dynamic processes of symbiont repopulation during single episodes of hyperthermal events, followed by years of less-stressful conditions. In contrast, this study characterized for the first time, the role of Symbiodiniaceae species changes in response to annually recurring hyperthermal events, a scenario soon expected to become the norm. Consecutive hyperthermal events during summer 2014 and 2015 along the Florida Reef Tract offered a unique opportunity to study bleaching susceptibility and recovery …

Comparisons Of Five Dna Repair Pathways Between Elasmobranch Fishes And Humans, Lucia Llorente

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Although DNA repair capacity has been correlated with lifespan in terrestrial vertebrate species, it remains unknown how evolutionarily conserved the process is across all vertebrate taxa. In particular, chondrichthyan fishes have lifespans that range from 3-350 years and they are evolutionarily separated from modern humans Homo sapiens by approximately 400 million years. We hypothesized that chondrichthyan fishes would show significant homology in nuclear excision repair (NER) genes with humans, and that the expression of NER genes will correlate with the lifespan of the respective assessed species. For this study, DNA repair gene homology and expression was performed on the nurse …

Sweet Potato: A Potentially Profitable Summer Crop For South Texas Organic Farmers To Enhance Soil Biological Activity And Nutrient Release, Jahdiel Salazar, Josabeth Navarro, Jihoon Kang, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Bomb Radiocarbon Age Validation For The Long-Lived, Unexploited Arctic Fish Species Coregonus Clupeaformis, John M. Casselman, Cynthia M. Jones, Steven E. Campana

OES Faculty Publications

The growth rates of freshwater fish in the Arctic would be expected to be very low, but some previous studies of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) have reported relatively rapid growth and longevity estimates of less than 15 years. We used bomb radiocarbon chronologies to validate an ageing method based on otolith sections for lake whitefish in both an unexploited Arctic lake (MacAlpine Lake; longevity 50 years) and a lightly exploited temperate population (Lake Simcoe; longevity 49 years). Our results confirm previous suggestions that other ageing methods can seriously underestimate lake whitefish age after ~5–8 years. A Chapman–Robson estimate …

In The Eye Of The Storm: Houston After Hurricane Harvey, Brandon Tolentino-Serrano

Pomona Senior Theses

Situated in one of the wettest climates in America, Houston, TX has had a long history of heavy rains and unprecedented floods. Unfortunately, floods have become more common over the last few decades as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of hurricanes around the globe. To complicate matters further, Houston has quickly sprawled to accommodate over 2.5 billion people. Rapid urbanization has rendered the landscape even more susceptible to floods through excess concretization and watershed disturbance. This thesis traces the history of the Bayou City in relation to the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey. By mapping out the original …

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

Assessing Freshwater Mussel (Bivalvia: Unionidae) Assemblages And Effects Of Eutrophication On Pyganodon Grandis In Lakes Of Eastern South Dakota, Katherine M. Wollman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Globally, the family Unionidae is the most threatened group of freshwater fauna. South Dakota is well known for its agricultural production, leading to cultural eutrophication from enhanced fertilizers and sediments. This impact can alter species presence, age, growth and mortality. Objectives of this study were to 1) implement the first comprehensive lake survey of freshwater mussels in eastern South Dakota lakes and document distribution, occurrence and relative abundance, 2) evaluate relationships between age, growth and mortality of Pyganodon grandis and lake trophic state. Freshwater mussels were sampled in 2017 from 116 proportionally and randomly selected natural lakes and reservoir basins …

A Full-Ocean-Depth Rated Modular Lander And Pressure-Retaining Sampler Capable Of Collecting Hadal-Endemic Microbes Under In Situ Conditions, Logan M. Peoples, Matthew Norenberg, David Price, Madeline Mcgoldrick, Mark Novotny, Alexander Bochdansky, Douglas H. Bartlett

OES Faculty Publications

The hadal zone remains one of the least studied environments because of its inaccessibility, in part because of hydrostatic pressures extending to 110 MPa. Few instruments are capable of sampling from such great depths. We have developed a full-ocean-depth-capable lander that can be fit with sampling packages for the collection of still images, video, motile megafauna, and hadal seawater. One payload includes a pressure-retaining sampler (PRS) able to maintain seawater samples under in situ pressure during recovery. We describe the technical specifications of the lander and the PRS and preliminary results from three deployments at depths in excess of 10,700 …

River Report. State Of The Lower St. Johns River Basin, Florida: Water Quality, Fisheries, Aquatic Life, Contaminants, 2019, Environmental Protection Board, City Of Jacksonville, University Of North Florida, Jacksonville University, Gerry Pinto, Brian P. Zoellner, Christopher Baynard, Charles Closmann, Nisse Goldberg, Scott F. Jones, William Penwell, Radha Pyati, Adam E. Rosenblatt, Gretchen Bielmyer-Fraser

State of the River Report

No abstract provided.

Alkalinity In Tidal Tributaries Of The Chesapeake Bay, R. G. Najjar, M. Herrmann, S. M. Cintrón Del Valle, Jaclyn R. Friedman, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Et Al

VIMS Articles

Despite the important role of alkalinity in estuarine carbon cycling, the seasonal and decadal variability of alkalinity, particularly within multiple tidal tributaries of the same estuary, is poorly understood. Here we analyze more than 25,000 alkalinity measurements, mostly from the 1980s and 1990s,in the major tidal tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, a large, coastal‐plain estuary of eastern North America.The long‐term means of alkalinity in tidal‐fresh waters vary by a factor of 6 among seven tidal tributaries,reflecting the alkalinity of nontidal rivers draining to these estuaries. At 25 stations, mostly in the Potomac River Estuary, wefind significant long‐term increasing trends that …

Synthesis Report: Defining Thresholds And Indicators Of Primary Producer Response To Dredging-Related Pressures: Report Of Theme 5 Prepared For The Dredging Science Node, Paul Lavery, Kathryn Mcmahon, John Statton, Mat Vanderklift, Simone Strydom, Gary Kendrick

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Seagrasses form a small component of a diverse group of organisms termed ‘benthic primary producers’. Benthic primary producers are organisms that grow on the sea-bed that obtain some or all of their energy needs from photosynthesis. This includes animals such as scleractinian corals and some sponges that host microscopic intercellular algae, coralline and turf algae, and the larger seaweeds such as the kelps and sargassum. Seagrasses are marine flowering plants, more closely related to land plants than seaweeds and algae. Seagrasses live mostly in soft sediments, and can be found from the shallow intertidal zone through to a depth of …

Ocean Change Within Shoreline Communities: From Biomechanics To Behaviour And Beyond, Brian Gaylord, Kristina M. Barclay, Brittany M. Jellison, Laura L. Jurgens, Aaron T. Ninokawa, Emily B. Rivest, Lindsey R. Leighton

VIMS Articles

Humans are changing the physical properties of Earth. In marine systems, elevated carbon dioxide concentrations are driving notable shifts in temperature and seawater chemistry. Here, we consider consequences of such perturbations for organism biomechanics and linkages amongst species within communities.In particular,we examine case examples of altered morphologies and material properties, disrupted consumer–prey behaviours, and the potential for modulated positive (i.e. facilitative) interactions amongst taxa, as incurred through increasing ocean acidity and rising temperatures. We focus on intertidal rocky shores of temperate seas as model systems, acknowledging the longstanding role of these communities in deciphering ecological principles. Our survey illustrates the …

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Whose Fish? Subjects: Life Science, Environmental Science, Marine / Ocean Science, Shelby White

Reports

This activity invites students to assume the role of various stakeholders in fisheries management and actively discuss the influence of economics, ecology and human interactions in decision-making.

Students will demonstrate their argument for/against a certain regulation by participating as a specific stakeholder (i.e. commercial fisher, recreational fisher, scientists/researcher, environmental group, management agency, and citizen). Students will recognize that stakeholders tend to advocate based on their individual needs, often making it difficult for proposed policies to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders and achieve sustainability goals.

Trawling Through The Five Gyres: A Microplastic Research Study. Subjects: Life Science, Earth Science, Marine/Ocean Science - Grade 6, Meredith Seeley

Reports

This activity challenges students to help researchers understand what types of plastics are polluting the oceans!

Teachers will prepare samples of microplastics that were collected in each of the 5 ocean gyres, mimicking plastic concentrations actually found in the oceans! Working as a group, students will count the items of plastic and graph their results. They will share their results with the class to compare their gyre to the other four gyres. Finally, students will understand the link between ocean microplastic pollution, and our use of single-use plastics.

This activity can be completed in 45 minutes in the class. An …

Patterns Of Diatom Diversity Correlate With Dissolved Trace Metal Concentrations And Longitudinal Position In The Notheast Pacific Coastal Offshore Transition Zone, P. Dreux Chappell, E. Virginia Armbrust, Katherine A. Barbeau, Randelle M. Bundy, Jagruti Vedamati, Bethany D. Jenkins

OES Faculty Publications

Diatoms are important primary producers in the northeast Pacific Ocean, with their productivity closely linked to pulses of trace elements in the western high nitrate, low chlorophyll (HNLC) region of the oceanographic time series transect 'Line P.' Recently, the coastal-HNLC transition zone of the Line P transect was identified as a hotspot of phytoplankton productivity, potentially controlled by a combination of trace element and macronutrient concentrations. Here we describe diatom community composition in the eastern Line P transect, including the coastal- HNLC transition zone, with a method using high-throughput sequencing of diatom 18S gene amplicons. We identified significant correlations between …

Spatial Variability In Recruitment Of Chilipepper Rockfish (Sebastes Goodei) In The California Current System, Laura K. Solinger

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Properly describing variability in population dynamics (e.g., growth, fecundity, recruitment) is expected to improve management of important fisheries stocks (Maunder & Piner, 2014). As recruitment to most fish stocks is determined during early life history stages (Houde, 1997; Iles & Beverton, 2000), and early life history stages are influenced by oceanographic conditions (Bjorkstedt et al. 2002; Laidig, 2010), understanding how environmental stochasticity influences recruitment deviations has potential to improve estimates of stock productivity and how productivity might change over time to support more effective management. Chilipepper Rockfish (Sebastes goodei) are an important commercial species that is managed as …

Partitioning Of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants And Microbial Communities On Microplastics, Kelley Ann Uhlig

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Microplastic contamination of aquatic environments has only recently caught the attention of scientists, regulators and the public. Microplastics are typically more recalcitrant than naturally occurring polymers and so have the potential to cause a range of issues, including increased exposure of marine life to chemical contaminants sorbed to or leached from microplastics, negative impacts due to ingestion of microplastics by biota, and the potential to carry and transport pathogenic and invasive species long distances. Bio-based, bio-degradable polymers have begun to gain market share as an alternative to traditional petrochemical-based plastics, but not much is known about their impacts in marine …

Continued Eastward Range Expansion Of Black Phoebes (Sayornis Nigricans) In Southernmost Texas, Samuel G. Ortiz, Christopher A. Gabler, Timothy Brush

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

ABSTRACT—We observed black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) nests, breeding pairs, and juveniles in Cameron County, Texas, in 2017. Our first confirmed nesting records in Cameron County document a continued eastward range expansion by black phoebes.

RESUMEN—En el 2017, observamos nidos, parejas reproductoras y juveniles del pajaro mosquero negro (Sayornis nigricans) en el condado de Cameron, Texas. Los primeros registros confirmados de reproducci ´on en el condado de Cameron son evidencia de una continua expansion hacia el este de la distribuci ´on geogr´afica del mosquero negro.

Seagrass Soil Archives Reveal Centennial-Scale Metal Smelter Contamination While Acting As Natural Filters, Anna Lafratta, O Serrano, Pere Masque, Miguel Mateo, Milena Fernandes, Sam Gaylard, Paul Lavery

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The upper Spencer Gulf in South Australia hosts the world's largest single stream Pb-Zn smelter, which has caused environmental and health issues related to elevated metal concentrations in the surrounding environment. The area also has extensive seagrass meadows, occupying >4000 km². We reconstructed the fluxes of heavy metals over the last ~3000 years through a multi-parameter study of the soil archives formed by the seagrass Posidonia australis. Pb, Zn and Cd concentrations increased up to 9-fold following the onset of smelter operations in the 1880s, and the stable Pb isotopic signatures confirmed the smelter has been the main …

Rapidly Expanding Nuclear Arsenals In Pakistan And India Portend Regional And Global Catastrophe, Owen B. Toon, Charles G. Bardeen, Alan Robock, Lili Xia, Hans Kristensen, Matthew Mckinzie, R. J. Peterson, Cheryl S. Harrison, Nicole S. Lovenduski, Richard P. Turco

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Pakistan and India may have 400 to 500 nuclear weapons by 2025 with yields from tested 12- to 45-kt values to a few hundred kilotons. If India uses 100 strategic weapons to attack urban centers and Pakistan uses 150, fatalities could reach 50 to 125 million people, and nuclear-ignited fires could release 16 to 36 Tg of black carbon in smoke, depending on yield. The smoke will rise into the upper troposphere, be self-lofted into the stratosphere, and spread globally within weeks. Surface sunlight will decline by 20 to 35%, cooling the global surface by 2° to 5°C and reducing …

Measuring, Mapping And Quantifying The Effects Of Trust And Informal Communication On Transboundary Collaboration In The Great Lakes Fisheries Policy Network, Andrew M. Song, Owen Temby, Dongkyu Kim, Angel Saavedra Cisneros, Gordon M. Hickey

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ecosystem-based management of fisheries and other transboundary natural resources require a number of organizations across jurisdictions to exchange knowledge, coordinate policy goals and engage in collaborative activities. Trust, as part of social capital, is considered a key mechanism facilitating the coordination of such inter-organizational policy networks. However, our understanding of multi-dimensional trust as a theoretical construct and an operational variable in environmental and natural resource management has remained largely untested. This paper presents an empirical assessment of trust and communication measures applied to the North American Great Lakes fisheries policy network. Using a scale-based method developed for this purpose, we …

Adaptive Signatures In Thermal Performance Of The Temperate Coral Astrangia Poculata, H. E. Aichelman, Richard C. Zimmerman, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Variation in environmental characteristics and divergent selection pressures can drive adaptive differentiation across a species' range. Astrangia poculata is a temperate scleractinian coral that provides unique opportunities to understand the roles of phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary adaptation in coral physiological tolerance limits. A. poculata inhabits hard bottom ecosystems from the northwestern Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico and withstands an annual temperature range up to 20° C. Additionally, A. poculata is facultatively symbiotic and co-occurs in both symbiotic ("brown") and aposymbiotic ("white") states. Here, brown and white A. poculata were collected from Virginia (VA) and Rhode Island (RI), USA and …

Sponges Structure Water-Column Characteristics In Shallow Tropical Coastal Ecosystems, Marla M. Valentine, Mark J. Butler Iv

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Sponges can have powerful effects on ecosystem processes in shallow tropical marine ecosystems. They drive benthic-pelagic coupling by filtering dissolved and particulate organic matter from the water column, alter water chemistry in association with their symbiotic microorganisms, and increase habitat structural complexity. Anthropogenic degradation of coastal waters is widespread and can reduce the density and diversity of foundation species such as sponges, potentially diminishing their contributions to ecosystem processes. We used a novel mesocosm design that minimized artifacts associated with traditional single-species and closed-system filtration experiments to examine the effects of water turnover and sponge biomass on water-column properties. Using …

Spatial Structuring And Life History Connectivity Of Antarctic Silverfish Along The Southern Continental Shelf Of The Weddell Sea, Jilda Alicia Caccavo, Julian R. Ashford, Svenja Ryan, Chiara Papetti, Michael Schröder, Lorenzo Zane

OES Faculty Publications

A multi-disciplinary approach was employed to examine a physical-biological population hypothesis for a critical forage species, the Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarctica. Caccavo et al. (2018; Sci Rep 8:17856) had shown strong gene flow along the westward Antarctic Slope Current, in addition to spatially recurring length modes that provided evidence for episodic connectivity. In this paper, otolith nucleus chemistry from a subset of fish collected in the southern Weddell Sea as part of a hydrographic survey of the Filchner Trough system was used to test between connectivity scenarios. Nucleus chemistry, which reflects environmental exposure during early life, showed significant …

Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of Callogorgia Cf. Gracilis (Octocorallia: Calcaxonia: Primnoidae), Erin E. Easton, David Hicks

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report the first complete mitochondrial genome of Callogorgia. Callogorgia cf. gracilis isolate DFH32_518B was collected by a remotely operated vehicle at 98 m on McGrail Bank (27.9840725°N, 92.604242°W). The complete mitogenome is 18,937 bp (27.8% A, 18.3% C, 19.8% G, and 34.1% T) and has the ancestral octocoral gene order for its 14 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, and one tRNA gene. It is sister to and ∼96.6% similar (uncorrected) to Narella hawaiiensis, the only other complete mitogenome reported for Primnoidae. The cox1 + igr1 + mtMutS region differs by two base pairs (0.12%) from the only reported …

A High-Latitude, Mesophotic Cycloseris Field At 85 M Depth Off Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Bert W. Hoeksema, Javier Sellanes, Erin E. Easton

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Published records of mesophotic zooxanthellate corals from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) are rare and so far based only on dredged specimens and observations during scuba dives (Wells 1972, Glynn et al. 2003, 2007). During recent remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys off Rapa Nui (March 2016), a large and dense aggregation of zooxanthellate Cycloseris corals (Scleractinia: Fungiidae) with a density of approximately 500 ind m−2 was discovered (27°08΄55˝S, 109°26΄46˝W) on black sand in a depth range of approximately 79–85 m (Panels A, B). A few corals were overturned, exposing their white (azooxanthellate) undersides and sutures along which self-fragmentation took place (Panel …