Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ocean Acidification Accelerates The Growth Of Two Bloom-Forming Macroalgae, Craig S. Young, Christopher J. Gobler

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

While there is growing interest in understanding how marine life will respond to future ocean acidification, many coastal ecosystems currently experience intense acidification in response to upwelling, eutrophication, or riverine discharge. Such acidification can be inhibitory to calcifying animals, but less is known regarding how non-calcifying macroalgae may respond to elevated CO2. Here, we report on experiments performed during summer through fall with North Atlantic populations of Gracilaria and Ulva that were grown in situ within a mesotrophic estuary (Shinnecock Bay, NY, USA) or exposed to normal and elevated, but environmentally realistic, levels of pCO2 and/or nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus). …

Erratum To: Zn (Ii) And Cu (Ii) Adsorption And Retention Onto Iron Oxyhydroxide Nanoparticles: Effects Of Particle Aggregation And Salinity, Rebecca B. Chesne, Christopher S. Kim

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

In the original version of this article errors in Figs. 5 and 9 were identified by the authors. The corrected figures are given.

The Effect Of Disturbance And Freshwater Availability On Lower Florida Keys’ Coastal Forest Dynamics, Danielle E. Ogurcak

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal forest retreat in the Florida Keys during the 20^th century has been attributed to a combination of sea level rise and hurricane storm surge impacts, but the interactions between these two disturbances leading to forest decline are not well understood. The goal of my research was to assess their effects over a period spanning more than two decades, and to examine the relationships between these press and pulse disturbances and freshwater availability in pine rockland, hardwood hammock, and supratidal scrub communities. Impacts and recovery from two storm surges, Hurricanes Georges (1998) and Wilma (2005), were assessed with satellite-derived …

Slides: Urban Water Reliability And The Salton Sea: Can We Have Both?, Michael Cohen

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Michael Cohen, Senior Research Associate, Pacific Institute

29 slides

Housatonic Organic Contaminants: Physical Data Archive, Michael M. Whitney

Department of Marine Sciences

This archive includes physical data from a Connecticut Sea Grant Project on organic contaminants in the Housatonic River estuary and Long Island Sound. The data included are water: temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and current velocities. Observations were collected in 2012 and 2013 from the R/V Weicker.

The Effect Of Mineral-Ion Interactions On Soil Hydraulic Conductivity, Maya C. Buelow, Kerri Steenwerth, Sanjai J. Parikh

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The reuse of winery wastewater (WW) could provide an alternative water source for vineyard irrigation.The shift of many wineries and other food processing industries to K+-based cleaners requires studies onthe effects of K+on soil hydraulic conductivity (HC). Depending on clay content and mineral composition,K+additions can affect the HC either positively or negatively. Soil mineralogy was anticipated to exhibita strong influence on HC responses and, therefore, soils of contrasting mineralogy were evaluated forchanges in soil HC resulting from applications of solutions elevated in Na+and K+. To examine the impactof mineral-ion relationships on HC, soils dominant in montmorillonite, vermiculite, or kaolinite from …

Ecological Drivers And Habitat Associations Of Estuarine Bivalves, C. Seabird Mckeon, Björn G. Tunberg, Cora A. Johnston, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Community composition of the infaunal bivalve fauna of the St. Lucie Estuary and southern Indian River Lagoon, eastern Florida was sampled quarterly for 10 years as part of a long-term benthic monitoring program. A total of 38,514 bivalves of 137 taxa were collected and identified. We utilized this data, along with sediment samples and environmental measurements gathered concurrently, to assess the community composition, distribution, and ecological drivers of the infaunal bivalves of this estuary system. Salinity had the strongest influence on bivalve assemblage across the 15 sites, superseding the influences of sediment type, water turbidity, temperature and other environmental parameters. …

Applying Downscaled Global Climate Model Data To A Hydrodynamic Surface-Water And Groundwater Model, Eric Swain, Lydia Stefanova, Thomas Smith

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Precipitation data from Global Climate Models have been downscaled to smaller regions. Adapting this downscaled precipitation data to a coupled hydrodynamic surface-water/groundwater model of southern Florida allows an examination of future conditions and their effect on groundwater levels, inundation patterns, surface-water stage and flows, and salinity. The downscaled rainfall data include the 1996-2001 time series from the European Center for MediumRange Weather Forecasting ERA-40 simulation and both the 1996-1999 and 2038-2057 time series from two global climate models: the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamic Laboratory (GFDL). Synthesized surface-water inflow datasets were developed for the 2038-2057 …

Salinity And Temperature Distribution Of Jellyfish In The San Francisco Estuary, Trisha Huynh, Brooke Bemowski, Lindsay Sullivan, Wim Kimmerer

STAR Program Research Presentations

Jellyfish are generally characterized by their jelly-like bodies and internal lining (two tissue layers). They found both in the phylum Ctenophora and the phylum Cnidaria. Ctenophores differ from cnidarians primarily due to the rows of “combs”, or cilia, which are used for transportation. Additionally, ctenophores possess sticky cells while cindarians possess stinging cells. Jellyfish depend on zooplankton (small floating aquatic animals) as a food source; as a result, they are potential competitors and predators to plankton-eating fish and may negatively impact fish populations.

As recently as 1950, jellyfish have entered the San Francisco Bay from the Mediterranean Sea (probably …

Variational Data Assimilation With Telemac. Proof Of Concept For Model State Correction On The Berre Lagoon 3d-Model, Sophie Ricci, Andrea Piacentini, Anthony Weaver, Riadh Ata, Nicole Goutal

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

TELEMAC is a component of the open-source integrated suite of solvers TELEMAC-MASCARET for use in the field of free-surface flow that solves the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Generally speaking, uncertainties in the model formulation itself due to simplified physics and also in the input fields to the model such as the boundary conditions, initial conditions and hydraulic parameters translate into errors in the simulated hydraulic variables. In spite of significant advances in numerical schemes, description of geographical data (topography, bathymetry) and environmental conditions (hydrologycal and meteorological fields), the representation of the true state of a system as well as its …

Salinity Risk Mapping For Assessing Carbon Farming Initiative Proposals: Decision Support And Data Requirements, Paul Raper, Peter Gardiner

Resource management technical reports

The Clean Energy Legislation passed by the Australian Parliament on 8 November 2011 links the carbon price to the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI). Under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (the Act), proponents need to consider regional natural resource management (NRM) plans to ensure that tree plantings for carbon bio-sequestration maximise environmental benefits and avoid unintended adverse effects on biodiversity, water and agricultural production systems.

Characterization Of Rhizobial Diversity And Relationship Of Rhizobial Partner And Legume Performance In Four South Florida Pine Rockland Soils, Vanessa Sánchez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pine rocklands are endangered ecosystems unique to south Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba. As a result of their karstic calcium carbonate­rich soil, these systems are limited in phosphorus and nitrogen, making symbiotic associations critical to plant growth. Four leguminous species (Cajanus cajan, Chamaecrista fasciculata, Tephrosia angustissima, and Abrus precatorious) were used to determine the relationship between rhizobial partners and plant performance, and the symbiosis related gene nifH was amplified to characterize the diversity of rhizobial symbionts. Plants were grown in soils from four different south Florida pine rocklands, and a salinity treatment was added to determine …

Zn(Ii) And Cu(Ii) Adsorption And Retention Onto Iron Oxyhydroxide Nanoparticles: Effects Of Particle Aggregation And Salinity, Rebecca B. Chesne, Christopher S. Kim

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Iron oxyhydroxides are commonly found in natural aqueous systems as nanoscale particles, where they can act as effective sorbents for dissolved metals due to their natural surface reactivity, small size and high surface area. These properties make nanoscale iron oxyhydroxides a relevant option for the remediation of water supplies contaminated with dissolved metals. However, natural geochemical processes, such as changes in ionic strength, pH, and temperature, can cause these particles to aggregate, thus affecting their sorption capabilities and remediation potential. Other environmental parameters such as increasing salinity may also impact metal retention, e. g. when particles are transported …

The Influence Of Basin Morphometry On The Regional Coherence Of Patterns Of Diatom-Inferred Salinity In Lakes Of The Northern Great Plains (Usa), Courtney R. Wigdahl, Jasmine E. Saros, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Jeffery R. Stone, Daniel R. Engstrom

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Sedimentary diatom profiles from saline lakes are frequently used to reconstruct lakewater salinity as an indicator of drought. However, diatom-inferred salinity (DI-salinity) reconstructions from geographically proximal sites in the Great Plains (USA) have yielded disparate results. This study explores how physical changes in lake habitat resulting from drought may affect climate inferences from salinity reconstructions. Differences in relationships among drought, lake-level change, and diatom community structure over the last century were examined for three saline lakes in the northern Great Plains with dissimilar DI-salinity records. At each site, models were developed relating available planktic:benthic (P:B) habitat area to lake-level change, …

Parental Environments And Interactions With Conspecifics Alter Salinity Tolerance Of Offspring In The Annual Medicago Truncatula, Brenna M. Castro, Ken S. Moriuchi, Maren L. Friesen, Mounawer Badri, Sergey V. Nuzhdin, Sharon Y. Strauss, Douglas R. Cook, Eric Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Summary: Based on expectations of the stress-gradient hypothesis for conspecific interactions, stress-sensitive genotypes may be able to persist in stressful environments when positive interactions between individuals occur under stressful environments. Additionally, we test how parental environmental effects alter responses to stress and outcomes of conspecific interactions in stress. While the stress-gradient hypothesis focuses on plant growth, earlier flowering may provide stress avoidance in short-lived organisms. We studied responses to soil salinity and conspecific neighbour using genotypes of Medicago truncatula (Fabaceae) originating from saline or non-saline environments, utilizing seeds from parental plants grown in saline or non-saline environments. During the early …

Can The Causeway In The Great Salt Lake Be Used To Manage Salinity, Sarah E. Null, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Craig Miller

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Applying Dc Resistivity Imaging To Investigating The Relationship Between Water Quality And Transpiration Beneath Circular Islands In The Okavango Delta, Botswana: A Case Study Of Thata Island, E. M. Shemang, L. N. Molwalefhe, Kevin L. Mickus

College of Natural and Applied Sciences

An electrical resistivity survey was carried out on Thata Island, one of the numerous circular islands in the Okavango Delta, to investigate the mechanism governing interactions between surface water, vegetation and groundwater. Seven data profiles were collected across the island and modelling results indicated that the centre of the island had low resistivity values (less than 10 ohm-m), while resistivity values increased laterally outside the island. Such lateral resistivity zoning responded to variation in shallow groundwater chemistry below the islands having a high concentration of solutes inside and the presence of fresh water outside the islands. Borehole to surface resistivity …

Benefits And Costs Of Saltland Pastures On Moderately Salt-Affected Land, Justin Hardy, Arjen Ryder

Resource management technical reports

Summary The analyses in this report show that there could be significant economic benefits to the state, regions and affected farm businesses from establishing improved saltland pasture systems on moderately salt-affected land. The report clearly describes the methods of analysis and the assumptions about prices, productivity and adoption levels. The price of grain has been used as the key factor controlling the economic value of the saltland grazing because grain is the alternative supplementary feed for sheep over the summer and autumn period. Therefore, where yield is below break-even on moderately salt-affected land, it has a higher economic value and …

Circulation And Water Properties And Their Relationship To The Oyster Disease Msx In Delaware Bay, Zhiren Wang, Dale B. Haidvogel, David Bushek, Susan E. Ford, Eileen E. Hofmann, Eric N. Powell, John Wilkin

CCPO Publications

We apply a high-resolution hydro-dynamical model to investigate the role of physical factors influencing infection prevalence of Haplosporidium nelsoni, causative agent of MSX disease in the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), in Delaware Bay, USA. Validation studies conducted for the years 2000 and 2010-2011 confirm that the model, based upon the Regional Ocean Modeling System, has significant skill in the recovery of observed water level, temperature, salinity, and velocity. Multi-year simulations are performed for periods representing temporal and spatial variations in H. nelsoni infection prevalence (1974-76, 1979-81, 1984-86, 1990-92, and 2006-09) to assess the degree to which the …

A Conceptual Model Of An Arctic Sea, P. St-Laurent, F. Straneo, D. G. Barber

CCPO Publications

We propose a conceptual model for an Arctic sea that is driven by river runoff, atmospheric fluxes, sea ice melt/growth, and winds. The model domain is divided into two areas, the interior and boundary regions, that are coupled through Ekman and eddy fluxes of buoyancy. The model is applied to Hudson and James Bays (HJB, a large inland basin in northeastern Canada) for the period 1979-2007. Several yearlong records from instruments moored within HJB show that the model results are consistent with the real system. The model notably reproduces the seasonal migration of the halocline, the baroclinic boundary current, spatial …

Larval Tolerance To Salinity In Three Species Of Australian Anuran: An Indication Of Saline Specialisation In Litoria Aurea, Brian D. Kearney, Phillip G. Byrne, Richard D. Reina

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Recent anthropogenic influences on freshwater habitats are forcing anuran populations to rapidly adapt to high magnitude changes in environmental conditions or face local extinction. We examined the effects of ecologically relevant elevated salinity levels on larval growth, metamorphosis and survival of three species of Australian anuran; the spotted marsh frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis), the painted burrowing frog (Neobatrachus sudelli) and the green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea), in order to better understand the responses of these animals to environmental change. Elevated salinity (16% seawater) negatively impacted on the survival of L. tasmaniensis (35% survival) …

Groundwater Chemistry Of The Weaber Plain: Preliminary Results, Adam Lillicrap, Paul Raper, Richard J. George Dr, D L. Bennett

Resource management technical reports

In 2008, the Ord Irrigation Expansion Project was approved by the Western Australian Government to develop irrigated agriculture on the Weaber Plain. Construction of the M2 supply channel connecting the ORIA and the Weaber Plain, and the final period of irrigation design, environmental management and related approval processes, commenced later in 2009. This process followed a protracted period of public and private industry planning and environmental assessment (Kinhill 2000). This report summarises an analysis of groundwater salinity trends on the Ivanhoe and Weaber plains and the preliminary results of an intensive water-quality sampling program carried out in 2010 as part …

Environmental History Of A Closed-Basin Lake In The Us Great Plains: Diatom Response To Variations In Groundwater Flow Regimes Over The Last 8500 Cal. Yr Bp, William O. Hobbs, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Jeffery R. Stone, Joseph J. Donovan, Eric C. Grimm, James E. Almendinger

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Sediment records from closed-basin lakes in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) of North America have contributed significantly to our understanding of regional paleoclimatology. A high-resolution (near decadal) fossil diatom record from Kettle Lake, ND, USA that spans the last 8500 cal. yr BP is interpreted in concert with percent abundance of aragonite in the sediment as an independent proxy of groundwater flow to the lake (and thus lake water level). Kettle Lake has been relatively fresh for the majority of the Holocene, likely because of the coarse substrata and a strong connection to the underlying aquifer. Interpretation of diatom assemblages …

Climate Change And San Francisco Bay-Delta Tidal Wetlands, V Thomas Parker, John Callaway, Lisa M. Schile, Michael C. Vasey, Ellen R. Herbert

Environmental Science

Climate change will affect tidal wetlands with higher rates of sea-level rise and higher concentrations of salt in brackish and freshwater tidal systems, in addition to causing increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration, warmer temperatures, and shifts in precipitation. In the San Francisco Bay–Delta, the areas most likely to be affected—brackish and freshwater tidal wetlands—are also the sites with the majority of endemic plant species and the greater biodiversity and productivity. Effects on the San Francisco Bay– Delta estuary are complex and difficult to predict, but a few things are clear. Biodiversity of the tidal wetland system in the San Francisco …

Microzooplankton Grazing And Productivity In The Central And Southern Sector Of The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Jennifer Putland, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Microzooplankton grazing was measured with the dilution method in the central and southern sectors of the Indian River Lagoon during summer 2006 and 2007. Microzooplankton actively grazed phytoplankton during all experiments. Grazing rates averaged (± SD) 0.956 ± 0.19 d^-1 and ranged from 0.54 to 1.36 d^-1. Phytoplankton carbon, measured by microscopy, averaged 314 ± 251 μg C L^-1 and ranged from 115 to 936 μg C L^-1. Microzooplankton ingestion rates averaged 303 ± 260 μg C L^-1d^-1 and ranged from 90 to 907 μg C L^-1d^-1. …

Water Management Plan For The Town Of Pingelly, Mark Pridham

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Water Management Plan For The Town Of Perenjori, Mark Pridham

All other publications

The Rural Towns – Liquid Assets (RT–LA) project was established with the aim of integrating salinity, waterlogging and flooding control with development of new water supplies in wheatbelt towns, and where possible, finding ways of putting the excess water to commercial use. Following the identification of effective integrated water management strategies, these have been applied to the 15 Shires participating in the DAFWA led RT–LA project. This report summarises the outcomes from all scientific investigations undertaken for Perenjori. In addition it presents the water management options, a preliminary analysis of those options and the priority recommended ones. Due to the …

Thermohaline Circulation, Rob Snyder

IPY STEM Polar Connections

Surface currents, such as the Gulf Stream, are pushed by the wind. Deep ocean currents, called the “Thermohaline Circulation”, are the result of changes in the density of water. In this activity you can investigate how differences in the temperature and salinity of water can produce deep ocean currents

Western Australian Resource Condition Monitoring Projects 2007-2009, Ceidwen Pengelly, 2010

All other publications

Monitoring the status and trends of our natural resources is the only way we can assess whether the actions that have been implemented are making a difference. The impetus for this resource condition monitoring program (RCM) was the recognition that our monitoring networks, baseline data and data management systems were inadequate to enable quantitative reporting to government, and the community, on the difference their investments in natural resource management were making. It was considered that making a significant investment in raising our ability to report would be a long-lasting legacy of value to the state.

Factors Influencing Perennial Pasture Adoption In The Medium Rainfall Zone Of The South West Natural Resource Management Region Of Western Australia, Ned Crossley, Stephen Tunbridge, Kathi Mcdonald

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.