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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Effects Of Dissolved And Suspended Solids On Freshwater Meiofauna, Jessica Cline
The Effects Of Dissolved And Suspended Solids On Freshwater Meiofauna, Jessica Cline
Honors Theses
Meiofauna include small-sized animals (< 1mm) distributed in all aquatic ecosystems on Earth, where they play fundamental trophic and ecological roles. The biodiversity of marine meiofauna and its links with anthropogenic activities is routinely investigated, however, freshwater communities are less known. This is particularly true for the Southeastern United States, which is greatly investigated and elected a hotspot of biodiversity for larger species but very little is known about the meiofauna. The purpose of this research is to reveal the biodiversity of meiofauna from the Tennessee River and test for potential correlations with anthropogenic activities. As a proxy for pollution, dissolved and suspended solids were considered in this study. The research hypothesis is that meiofaunal biodiversity would be affected by possible changes of dissolved and suspended solids in the water column. Possible mechanisms causing biodiversity shifts could be ascribed to osmotic stresses of animals to cope with variation in dissolved solids or, more indirectly, because different sunlight penetration caused by suspended solids would affect primary production. To test the hypothesis, water samples were collected from nine stations located along the Tennessee River in Hamilton County. Each station was visited three times, and, during each visit, environmental parameters (including dissolved and suspended solids) were measured. Meiofauna biodiversity (estimated as richness, community composition, and phylogenetic diversity) was revealed using a metagenomic approach. Statistical analyses were applied to test for possible correlations between the biodiversity estimates and the measured environmental parameters. Results show a high biodiversity of meiofauna with more than 200 amplicon-sequence variants distributed across 10 metazoan phyla. Environmental conditions are highly variable among stations and statistical analyses show that while both dissolved solids (TDS) and turbidity (suspended solids, NTU) did not significantly affect meiofauna biodiversity in the collected samples, various other water, and sediment metrics were found to be significant predictors of meiofauna biodiversity. In conclusion, the results of this project not only reveal for the first time the meiofauna biodiversity from the Tennessee River, but also suggest that meiofauna could be used as bioindicators for several anthropogenic activities in freshwater ecosystems.
Anthropogenic Change On The Distribution Of Marine Megafauna And Their Prey, Baylie Fadool
Anthropogenic Change On The Distribution Of Marine Megafauna And Their Prey, Baylie Fadool
Honors Theses
Anthropogenic change is impacting the distribution and survival of marine megafauna and their prey. Humans are changing every aspect of the marine environment, with effects reaching as large as changing the composition of marine environments to directly overexploiting species through the fishing industry. The role that marine megafauna play in balancing ecosystems, including as top apex predators, leads to detrimental results in the absences and population declines of these species. Migrations and declines due to threats on marine apex predator species will alter their environments by causing mesopredator release and changes in community structure, which is often associated with reduced …
Buffernomics: Assessing Willingness To Pay For Lake Conservation On North Pond And East Pond, Sophie D. Sarkar
Buffernomics: Assessing Willingness To Pay For Lake Conservation On North Pond And East Pond, Sophie D. Sarkar
Honors Theses
Hedonic property valuations in Maine have estimated that a one-meter decrease in water clarity can reduce shoreline property values by 4 to 16%. To avoid a loss on their lakefront investment, shoreline property owners have a particularly large incentive to conserve lake water quality. Nevertheless, while some shoreline residents voluntarily install vegetated buffers and actively participate in lake stewardship, others continue to ignore shoreline zoning laws at the expense of lake health. In this thesis, I examine the dichotomy of active and indifferent shoreline residents by analyzing the motivations that distinguish residents who are willing to pay (WTP) for and …
Zooplankton Of The Belgrade Lakes: The Influence Of Top-Down And Bottom-Up Forces In Family Abundance, Kimberly M. Bittler
Zooplankton Of The Belgrade Lakes: The Influence Of Top-Down And Bottom-Up Forces In Family Abundance, Kimberly M. Bittler
Honors Theses
The purpose of this study was to assess the abundance and family diversity of zooplankton communities in the Belgrade Lakes, and to identify the broad scale and local variables that structure zooplankton communities in this region. The local effects of shoreline development and the presence of macrophyte patches were compared to larger scale variables, such as watershed wide residential development. Zooplankton are an intermediate link in the freshwater food web, and communities respond both to predation pressures as well as nutrient inputs. Shoreline development was expected to influence zooplankton densities by the increased nutrient inputs via erosion off developed sites …