Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Dinitrogen Fixation Across Physico-Chemical Gradients Of The Eastern Tropical North Pacific Oxygen Deficient Zone, C. R. Selden, M. R. Mulholland, P.W. Bernhardt, B. Widner, A. Macías-Tapia, Q. Ji, A. Jayakumar

OES Faculty Publications

The Eastern Tropical North Pacific Ocean hosts one of the world's largest oceanic oxygen deficient zones (ODZs). Hot spots for reactive nitrogen (N_r) removal processes, ODZs generate conditions proposed to promote N_r inputs via dinitrogen (N₂) fixation. In this study, we quantified N₂ fixation rates by ¹⁵N tracer bioassay across oxygen, nutrient, and light gradients within and adjacent to the ODZ. Within subeuphotic oxygen‐deplete waters, N₂ fixation was largely undetectable; however, addition of dissolved organic carbon stimulated N₂ fixation in suboxic (μmol/kg O₂) waters, suggesting that diazotroph communities are …

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 …

Recent Trends In Stratospheric Chlorine From Very Short‐Lived Substances, Ryan Hossaini, Elliot Atlas, Sandip S. Dhomse, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Peter F. Bernath, Anton M. Fernando, Jens Mühle, Amber A. Leeson, Stephen A. Montzka, Wuhu Feng

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Very short‐lived substances (VSLS), including dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂), chloroform (CHCl₃), perchloroethylene (C₂Cl₄), and 1,2‐dichloroethane (C₂H₄Cl₂), are a stratospheric chlorine source and therefore contribute to ozone depletion. We quantify stratospheric chlorine trends from these VSLS (VSLCl_tot) using a chemical transport model and atmospheric measurements, including novel high‐altitude aircraft data from the NASA VIRGAS (2015) and POSIDON (2016) missions. We estimate VSLCl_tot increased from 69 (±14) parts per trillion (ppt) Cl in 2000 to 111 (±22) ppt Cl in 2017, with >80% delivered to …

Observations And Scaling Of Tidal Mass Transport Across The Lower Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta Plain: Implications For Delta Management And Sustainability, Richard Hale, Rachel Bain, Steven Goodbred Jr., Jim Best

OES Faculty Publications

The landscape of southwest Bangladesh, a region constructed primarily by fluvial processes associated with the Ganges River and Brahmaputra River, is now maintained almost exclusively by tidal processes as the fluvial system has migrated east and eliminated the most direct fluvial input. In natural areas such as the Sundarbans National Forest, year-round inundation during spring high tides delivers sufficient sediment that enables vertical accretion to keep pace with relative sea-level rise. However, recent human modification of the landscape in the form of embankment construction has terminated this pathway of sediment delivery for much of the region, resulting in a startling …

Global Perspectives On Observing Ocean Boundary Current Systems, Robert E. Todd, Francisco P. Chavez, Sophie Clayton, Sophie Cravatte, Marlos Goes, Michelle Graco, Xiaopei Lin, Janet Sprintall, Nathalie V. Zilberman, Matthew Archer, Javier Arístegui, Magdalena Balmaseda, John M. Bane, Molly O. Baringer, John A. Barth, Lisa M. Beal, Peter Brandt, Paulo H.R. Calil, Edmo Campos, Luca R. Centurioni, Maria Paz Chidichimo, Mauro Cirano, Meghan F. Cronin, Enrique N. Curchitser, Russ E. Davis, Marcus Dengler, Brad Deyoung, Shenfu Dong, Ruben Escribano, Andrea J. Fassbender, Sarah E. Fawcett, Ming Feng, Gustavo J. Goni, Alison R. Gray, Dimitri Gutiérrez, Dave Hebert, Rebecca Hummels, Shin-Ichi Ito, Marjorlaine Krug, François Lacan, Lucas Laurindo, Alban Lazar, Craig M. Lee, Matthieu Lengaigne, Naomi M. Levine, John Middleton, Ivonne Montes, Mike Muglia, Takeyoshi Nagai, Hilary I. Palevsky, Jaine B. Palter, Helen E. Phillips, Alberto Piola, Albert J. Plueddemann, Bo Qiu, Regina R. Rodrigues, Moninya Roughan, Daniel L. Rudnick, Ryan R. Rykaczewski, Martin Saraceno, Harvey Seim, Alex Sen Gupta, Lynne Shannon, Bernadette M. Sloyan, Adrienne J. Sutton, Luanne Thompson, Anja K. Van Der Plas, Denis Volkov, John Wilkin, Dongxiao Zhang, Linlin Zhang

OES Faculty Publications

Ocean boundary current systems are key components of the climate system, are home to highly productive ecosystems, and have numerous societal impacts. Establishment of a global network of boundary current observing systems is a critical part of ongoing development of the Global Ocean Observing System. The characteristics of boundary current systems are reviewed, focusing on scientific and societal motivations for sustained observing. Techniques currently used to observe boundary current systems are reviewed, followed by a census of the current state of boundary current observing systems globally. Next steps in the development of boundary current observing systems are considered, leading to …

Metagenomic Sequencing Identifies Highly Diverse Assemblages Of Dinoflagellate Cysts In Sediments From Ships' Ballast Tanks, Lixia Shang, Zhangxi Hu, Yunyan Deng, Yuyang Liu, Xinyu Zhai, Zhaoyang Chai, Xiaohan Liu, Zifeng Zhan, Fred C. Dobbs, Ying Zhong Tang

OES Faculty Publications

Ships' ballast tanks have long been known as vectors for the introduction of organisms. We applied next-generation sequencing to detect dinoflagellates (mainly as cysts) in 32 ballast tank sediments collected during 2001-2003 from ships entering the Great Lakes or Chesapeake Bay and subsequently archived. Seventy-three dinoflagellates were fully identified to species level by this metagenomic approach and single-cell polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based sequencing, including 19 toxic species, 36 harmful algal bloom (HAB) forming species, 22 previously unreported as producing cysts, and 55 reported from ballast tank sediments for the first time (including 13 freshwater species), plus 545 operational taxonomic units …

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 …

Internal Waves Influence The Thermal And Nutrient Environment On A Shallow Coral Reef, Emma C. Reid, Thomas M. Decarlo, Anne L. Cohen, George T.F. Wong, Steven J. Lentz, Aryan Safaie, Austin Hall, Kristen A. Davis

OES Faculty Publications

Internal waves can influence water properties in coastal ecosystems through the shoreward transport and mixing of subthermocline water into the nearshore region. In June 2014, a field experiment was conducted at Dongsha Atoll in the northern South China Sea to study the impact of internal waves on a coral reef. Instrumentation included a distributed temperature sensing system, which resolved spatially and temporally continuous temperature measurements over a 4‐km cross‐reef section from the lagoon to 50‐m depth on the fore reef. Our observations show that during summer, internal waves shoaling on the shallow atoll regularly transport cold, nutrient‐rich water shoreward, altering …

Automatic Detection And Analysis Of Rip Currents At Haeundae Beach Using X-Band Marine Radar, Chanyeong Oh, Kyungmo Ahn, Se-Hyeon Cheon

OES Faculty Publications

The observation system has been developed to investigate the rip currents at Haeundae beach using Xband marine radar. X-band radar system can observe shape, size, and velocity of rip currents, which is difficult to obtain through field observation by conventional device. Algorithms which automatically detect locations, shapes, and magnitudes of rip currents were developed using time averaged X-band radar sea clutter images. X-band sea clutter images are transformed through 3D FFT into 2D wave number spectrum and frequency spectrum. Rip current velocities were estimated using differences in wave-number spectra and wave frequency spectra due to Doppler shift. The algorithm was …

Nitrogen Assimilation In Picocyanobacteria Inhabiting The Oxygen-Deficient Waters Of The Eastern Tropical North And South Pacific, Montserrat Aldunate, Carlos Henriquez-Castillo, Qixing Ji, Jessica Lueders-Dumont, Margaret R. Mulholland, Bess B. Ward, Peter Von Dassow, Osvaldo Ulloa

OES Faculty Publications

Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are the most abundant free-living photosynthetic microorganisms in the ocean. Uncultivated lineages of these picocyanobacteria also thrive in the dimly illuminated upper part of oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs), where an important portion of ocean nitrogen (N) loss takes place via denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation. Recent metagenomic studies revealed that ODZ Prochlorococcus have the genetic potential for using different N forms, including nitrate and nitrite, uncommon N sources for Prochlorococcus, but common for Synechococcus. To determine which N sources ODZ picocyanobacteria are actually using in nature, the cellular 15N natural abundance (δ15N) and assimilation rates of …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #4: Neighborhood Flooding And Flood Insurance, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[Introductory paragraph]

Respondents were asked whether or not they own or are in the process of buying their home, rent, or have some other arrangement. Similar to past years, the majority of residents reported that they own or are in the process of buying their home (66.8%), marking the second highest percentage in the past five years, only behind last year’s percentage of 67.7. Another 28.6 percent indicated that they rent, while only 2.8 percent reported having another arrangement.

Towards Comprehensive Observing And Modeling Systems For Monitoring And Predicting Regional To Coastal Sea Level, Rui M. Ponte, Mark Carson, Mauro Cirano, Catia M. Domingues, Tal Ezer, Xuebin Zhang

CCPO Publications

A major challenge for managing impacts and implementing effective mitigation and adaptation strategies for coastal zones affected by future sea level (SL) rise is our very limited capacity to predict SL change on coastal scales, over various timescales. Predicting coastal SL requires the ability to monitor and simulate a multitude of physical processes affecting SL, from local effects of wind waves and river runoff to remote influences of the large-scale ocean circulation on the coast. Here we assess our current understanding of the causes of coastal SL variability on seasonal to multi-decadal timescales, including geodetic, oceanographic and atmospheric aspects of …

Regional Differences In Sea Level Rise Between The Mid-Atlantic Bight And The South Atlantic Bight: Is The Gulf Stream To Blame?, Tal Ezer

CCPO Publications

Recent studies appear to show that a "hot spot" for accelerated sea level rise (SLR) shifted around 2010 from the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) to the South Atlantic Bight (SAB) and south Florida. The role of the Gulf Stream (GS) in this shift was thus investigated. The findings show that in the ~15–20 years before, SLR was accelerating in the MAB due to weakening and southward shifting of the GS. After 2010, however, SLR started slowing down in the MAB due to strengthening and northward shifting of the GS. Thermosteric effects seen in altimeter data indicate a warming trend south of …

Modeling The Seasonal Cycle Of Iron And Carbon Fluxes In The Amundsen Sea Polynya, Antarctica, P. St-Laurent, P. L. Yager, R. M. Sherrell, H. Oliver, M. S. Dinniman, S. E. Stammerjohn

CCPO Publications

The Amundsen Sea Polynya (ASP) is distinguished by having the highest net primary production per unit area in the coastal Antarctic. Recent studies have related this high productivity to the presence of fast-melting ice shelves, but the mechanisms involved are not well understood. In this study we describe the first numerical model of the ASP to represent explicitly the ocean-ice interactions, nitrogen and iron cycles, and the coastal circulation at high resolution. The study focuses on the seasonal cycle of iron and carbon, and the results are broadly consistent with field observations collected during the summer of 2010–2011. The simulated …

The Tides They Are A-Changin': A Comprehensive Review Of Past And Future Nonastronomical Changes In Tides, Their Driving Mechanisms, And Future Implications, Ivan D. Haigh, Mark D. Pickering, J. A. Mattias Green, Brian K. Arbic, Arne Arns, Sönke Dangendorf, David F. Hill, Kevin Horsburgh, Tom Howard, Déborah Idier, David A. Jay, Leon Jänicke, Serena B. Lee, Malte Müller, Michael Schindelegger, Stefan A. Talke, Sophie-Berenice Wilmes, Philip L. Woodworth

CCPO Publications

Scientists and engineers have observed for some time that tidal amplitudes at many locations are shifting considerably due to nonastronomical factors. Here we review comprehensively these important changes in tidal properties, many of which remain poorly understood. Over long geological time scales, tectonic processes drive variations in basin size, depth, and shape and hence the resonant properties of ocean basins. On shorter geological time scales, changes in oceanic tidal properties are dominated by variations in water depth. A growing number of studies have identified widespread, sometimes regionally coherent, positive, and negative trends in tidal constituents and levels during the 19th, …

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 …

An Introduction To The 'Oceans And Society: Blue Planet' Initiative, Emily A. Smail, Paul M. Digiacomo, Sophie Seeyave, Samy Djavidnia, Louis Celliers, Pierre-Yves Le Traon, Jeremy Gault, Elva Escobar-Briones, Hans-Peter Plag, Christine Pequignet, Lenore Bajona, Li Zhang, Jay Pearlman, Andy Steven, Jonathan Hodge, Marie-Fanny Racault, Curt Storlazzi, William Skirving, Ron Hoeke, John Marra, Ap Van Dongeren, Frank Muller-Karger, Douglas Cripe, Daniel Takaki

OES Faculty Publications

We live on a blue planet, and Earth’s waters benefit many sectors of society. The future of our blue planet is increasingly reliant on the services delivered by marine, coastal and inland waters and on the advancement of effective, evidence-based decisions on sustainable development. ‘Oceans and Society: Blue Planet’ is an initiative of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) that aims to ensure the sustained development and use of ocean and coastal observations for the benefit of society. The initiative works to advance and exploit synergies among the many observational programmes devoted to ocean and coastal waters; to improve engagement …

The Dominant Global Modes Of Recent Internal Sea Level Variability, Benjamin Dillon Hamlington, Se-Hyeon Cheon, Christopher G. Piecuch, Kristopher B. Karnauskas, Philip R. Thompson, Kwang-Yul Kim, John Thomas Reager, Felix W. Landerer, Thomas Frederikse

OES Faculty Publications

The advances in the modern sea level observing system have allowed for a new level of knowledge of regional and global sea level in recent years. The combination of data from satellite altimeters, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, and Argo profiling floats has provided a clearer picture of the different contributors to sea level change, leading to an improved understanding of how sea level has changed in the present and, by extension, may change in the future. As the overlap between these records has recently extended past a decade in length, it is worth examining the extent to …

Recommended Priorities For Research On Ecological Impacts Of Ocean And Coastal Acidification In The U.S. Mid-Atlantic, Grace K. Saba, Kaitlin A. Goldsmith, Sarah R. Cooley, Daniel Grosse, Shannon L. Meseck, A. Whitman Miller, Beth Phelan, Matthew Poach, Robert Rheault, Kari St. Laurent, Jeremy M. Testa, Judith S. Weis, Richard Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

The estuaries and continental shelf system of the United States Mid-Atlantic are subject to ocean acidification driven by atmospheric CO₂, and coastal acidification caused by nearshore and land-sea interactions that include biological, chemical, and physical processes. These processes include freshwater and nutrient input from rivers and groundwater; tidally-driven outwelling of nutrients, inorganic carbon, alkalinity; high productivity and respiration; and hypoxia. Hence, these complex dynamic systems exhibit substantial daily, seasonal, and interannual variability that is not well captured by current acidification research on Mid-Atlantic organisms and ecosystems. We present recommendations for research priorities that target better understanding of the …

Metaproteomics Reveal That Rapid Perturbations In Organic Matter Prioritize Functional Restructuring Over Taxonomy In Western Arctic Ocean Microbiomes, Molly P. Mikan, H. Rodger Harvey, Emma Timmins-Schiffman, Michael Riffle, Damon H. May, Ian Salter, William S. Noble, Brook L. Nunn

OES Faculty Publications

We examined metaproteome profiles from two Arctic microbiomes during 10-day shipboard incubations to directly track early functional and taxonomic responses to a simulated algal bloom and an oligotrophic control. Using a novel peptide-based enrichment analysis, significant changes (p-value < 0.01) in biological and molecular functions associated with carbon and nitrogen recycling were observed. Within the first day under both organic matter conditions, Bering Strait surface microbiomes increased protein synthesis, carbohydrate degradation, and cellular redox processes while decreasing C1 metabolism. Taxonomic assignments revealed that the core microbiome collectively responded to algal substrates by assimilating carbon before select taxa utilize and metabolize nitrogen intracellularly. Incubations of Chukchi Sea bottom water microbiomes showed similar, but delayed functional responses to identical treatments. Although 24 functional terms were shared between experimental treatments, the timing, and degree of the remaining responses were highly variable, showing that organic matter perturbation directs community functionality prior to alterations to the taxonomic distribution at the microbiome class level. The dynamic responses of these two oceanic microbial communities have important implications for timing and magnitude of responses to organic perturbations within the Arctic Ocean and how community-level functions may forecast biogeochemical gradients in oceans.

Ebullition Of Oxygen From Seagrasses Under Supersaturated Conditions, Matthew H. Long, Kevin Sutherland, Scott D. Wankel, David J. Burdige, Richard C. Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

Gas ebullition from aquatic systems to the atmosphere represents a potentially important fraction of primary production that goes unquantified by measurements of dissolved gas concentrations. Although gas ebullition from photosynthetic surfaces has often been observed, it is rarely quantified. The resulting underestimation of photosynthetic activity may significantly bias the determination of ecosystem trophic status and estimated rates of biogeochemical cycling from in situ measures of dissolved oxygen. Here, we quantified gas ebullition rates in Zostera marina meadows in Virginia, U.S.A. using simple funnel traps and analyzed the oxygen concentration and isotopic composition of the captured gas. Maximum hourly rates of …

Flow Reorganization In An Anthropogenically Modified Tidal Channel Network: An Example From The Southwestern Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta, R. L. Bain, Rip P. Hale, S. L. Goodbred

OES Faculty Publications

We examine variations in discharge exchange between two parallel, 1‐ to 2‐km‐wide tidal channels (the Shibsa and the Pussur) in southwestern Bangladesh over spring‐neap, and historical timescales. Our objective is to evaluate how large‐scale, interconnected tidal channel networks respond to anthropogenic perturbation. The study area spans the boundary between the pristine Sundarbans Reserved Forest, where regular inundation of the intertidal platform maintains the fluvially abandoned delta plain, and the anthropogenically modified region to the north, where earthen embankments sequester large areas of formerly intertidal landscape. Estimates of tidal response to the embankment‐driven reduction in basin volume, and hence tidal prism, …

High Rates Of N² Fixation In Temperate, Western North Atlantic Coastal Waters Expands The Realm Of Marine Diazotrophy, Margaret R. Mulholland, P. W. Bernhardt, Brittany Widner, C. R. Selden, P. D. Chappell, S. Clayton, A. Mannino, K. Hyde

OES Faculty Publications

Dinitrogen (N₂) fixation can alleviate N limitation of primary productivity by introducing fixed nitrogen (N) to the world's oceans. Although measurements of pelagic marine N₂ fixation are predominantly from oligotrophic oceanic regions, where N limitation is thought to favor growth of diazotrophic microbes, here we report high rates of N₂ fixation from seven cruises spanning four seasons in temperate, western North Atlantic coastal waters along the North American continental shelf between Cape Hatteras and Nova Scotia, an area representing 6.4% of the North Atlantic continental shelf area. Integrating average areal rates of N₂ fixation during …

Improving Stem Recruitment Through A Theme-Based Summer Residential Camp Focused On Sea Level Rise, Vukica M. Jovanović, Balša Terzić, Mujde Erten-Unal, Victoria Hill, George Mcleod, Michelle Covi, David Burdige, Jenifer Alonzo, Justin Mason, Tysha Batts, Cynthia Tomovic

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

In this paper, the authors present an enrichment program that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) concepts. The program is named Building Leaders to Advance Science and Technology (BLAST) and is held each summer at three universities across the Commonwealth of Virginia: Old Dominion University, the University of Virginia, and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. BLAST is sponsored in partnership among these three universities and the Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC), and is funded by the General Assembly of Commonwealth of Virginia. Its main purpose is to expose high school students to topics related to different STEM fields through …

Comparison Of Observed And Simulated Drop Size Distributions From Large Eddy Simulations With Bin Microphysics, Mikael K. White, Patrick Y. Chuang, Orlando Ayala, Lian-Ping Wang, Graham Feingold

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Two case studies of marine stratocumulus (one nocturnal and drizzling, the other daytime and nonprecipitating) are simulated by the UCLA large-eddy simulation model with bin microphysics for comparison with aircraft in situ observations. A high-bin-resolution variant of the microphysics is implemented for closer comparison with cloud drop size distribution (DSD) observations and a turbulent collision–coalescence kernel to evaluate the role of turbulence on drizzle formation. Simulations agree well with observational constraints, reproducing observed thermodynamic profiles (i.e., liquid water potential temperature and total moisture mixing ratio) as well as liquid water path. Cloud drop number concentration and liquid water content profiles …

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 …