Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Taxonomic Considerations In Listing Subspecies Under The U.S. Endangered Species Act, Susan M. Haig, Erik A. Beever, Steven M. Chambers, Hope M. Draheim, Bruce D. Dugger, Susie M. Dunham, Elise Elliott-Smith, Joseph B. Fontaine, Dylan C. Kesler, Brian J. Knaus, Iara F. Lopes, Pete Loschl, Thomas D. Mullins, Lisa M. Sheffield

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) allows listing of subspecies and other groupings below the rank of species. This provides the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service with a means to target the most critical unit in need of conservation. Although roughly one-quarter of listed taxa are subspecies, these management agencies are hindered by uncertainties about taxonomic standards during listing or delisting activities. In a review of taxonomic publications and societies, we found few subspecies lists and none that stated standardized criteria for determining subspecific taxa. Lack of criteria is attributed to a centuries-old debate …

By The Numbers, J. Michael Scott, Dale D. Goble, Leona K. Svancara, Anna Pidgorna

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The current endangered species list has its administrative beginnings in 1964 when the Department of the Interior's Committee on Rare and Endangered Wildlife Species published a preliminary list of 62 species at risk of extinction (Goble, forthcoming). Following the enactment of the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 (ESPA), the secretary of the interior in 1967 published the first official list of 78 "native fish and wildlife threatened with extinction" (ESPA sec. l(c); U.S. Department of the Interior 1967; Wilcove and McMillan, this volume). By the time the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was adopted in 1973, there were 392 species …

Breeding Biology And Success Of A Reintroduced Population Of The Critically Endangered Puaiohi (Myadestes Palmeri), Erik J. Tweed, Jeffrey T. Foster, Bethany L. Woodworth, William B. Monahan, Jherime L. Kellerman, Alan Lieberman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The ultimate success of reintroduction programs for endangered species depends on the ability of reintroduced animals to breed in the wild. We studied the nesting success and breeding biology of a reintroduced population of Puaiohi (Myadestes palmeri) on the island of Kaua‛i, Hawaii. Thirty-four captive-bred Puaiohi were released into the Alaka‛i Swamp in 1999–2001 and monitored using radiotelemetry. Ten females and two males paired with wild and other released birds, including one polygynous trio. From March to September, 31 nests were built. Mean clutch size was 2.0 eggs, daily nest survival was 0.97 ± 0.01 (mean ± SE) …

Ernesto: Anatomy Of A Storm Tide, John D. Boon

Reports

Virginia residents were warned that tropical depression ERNESTO would bring a lot of rain and consequently some flooding from runoff. Although briefly a hurricane (sustained winds greater than 74 mph) near the island of Haiti, ERNESTO spent most of its life as a tropical storm (windsgreater than 58 mph) before crossing into Virginia on September 1, 2006, as a tropical depression(winds greater than 39 mph). Little did we know that a mere tropical depression would be packing high winds and a walloping storm tide along with the rain.

Introduction To "The Endangered Species Act At Thirty, Volume 1", J. Michael Scott, Dale D. Goble, Frank W. Davis

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

This book examines one legislative effoft to resolve the dilemma, the Endangered Speeies Aet of 1973 (ESA 1973). The ESA was an idealistic and perhaps naive attempt to preserve humanity by preserving other species in the ecological support system that makes life possible. In the words of the House report accompanying the bill:

A certain humility, and a sense of urgency seem indicated .... One might analogize the case to one in which one copy of all the books ever printed were gathered together in one huge building. The position in which we find ourselves today is that of custodians …

Reply To The Discussion By F. Lagroix And S.K. Banerjee Of “Geochemical Evidence For The Origin Of Late Quaternary Loess In Central Alaska”, Daniel R. Muhs, James R. Budahn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We thank F. Lagroix and S.K. Banerjee (2006) for their Muhs and Budahn 1895 interest in our recent paper and welcome this opportunity to clarify our thoughts on the issues they raise. ...

The loess deposits of central Alaska contain a long and detailed record of sedimentation and soil formation. However, we are convinced that this history is a complex one and, therefore, we again thank Lagroix and Banerjee (2006) for the opportunity to articulate some additional thoughts on the geologic record here. We applaud the use of new methods, such as those of Lagroix and Banerjee (2002, 2004), in …

Sources And Composition Of Particulate Organic Matter In The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California, Vicki Pilon

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Determining organic matter sources and their availability to higher organisms is essential to better understanding the link between organic matter (OM) dynamics and secondary production, particularly in highly-disturbed river-delta systems. The San Francisco Bay and its associated Delta, is one of the most modified aquatic systems, and is the focus of an ongoing restoration effort. Particulate organic matter (POM) and surficial sediments were collected in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, CA to document temporal and spatial variations in biochemical, (total protein, carbohydrate and lipid), lipid biomarker, and total hydrolysable amino acid (THAA) composition. Sources, composition and nutritional quality of OM …

Effects Associated With Dredging For Beach Renourishments On Reef Fish Communities Offshore Of Miami-Dade County, Florida:, Christian L. Avila

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Beach erosion is an ongoing problem in South Florida. Beach replenishment has been the primary means of maintaining these economically important beaches, and dredging offshore sand deposits, adjacent to reef tracts, has been the pervasive method since the 1970's. Over the past ten years, greater attention has been paid to potential impacts dredging can have on adjacent reef communities, which has led to increased monitoring efforts. With the increase in monitoring efforts, scope has expanded from a strict focus on the benthic community to include the fish communities. This study evaluates the effects of dredging on reef fish communities associated …

The Influence Of Supplemental Feeding On The Movement Patterns Of The Southern Stingray, Dasyatis Americana, At Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, Mark John Corcoran

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

There are currently over 300 sites in nearly 40 countries where a variety of marine animals are provided supplemental food by humans. The influence of this supplemental feeding on the behavior, physiology, growth, reproduction and movements of the animals involved is seldom known. Intentional supplemental feeding of the southern stingray, Dasyatis americana, has occurred at Stingray City (SC) and Stingray City Sandbar (SCS) at Grand Cayman since 1986. There are no specific regulations governing the feeding of D. americana at Grand Cayman, and neither the species nor the feeding sites are afforded any official protective status. This study investigated …

The Sedimentary Environment Below Earth’S Polar Ice Cap As A Microbial Habitat, David C. Smith, Stephanie Forschner-Dancause, David C. Rowley, Steven D'Hondt

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

University of Rhode Island faculty participated in drilling of the polar ice cap to study microbial diversity and adaptation to subsurface life under conditions that may mimic extraterrestrial subsurface conditions.

The Agricultural Productivity Of Chaco Canyon And The Source(S) Of Pre-Hispanic Maize Found In Pueblo Bonito, Larry Benson, John Stein, Howard Taylor, Richard Friedman, Thomas C. Windes

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Agricultural productivity estimates suggest that the core area of Chaco Canyon could have sustained only a few hundred individuals. Modern analogues of existing Pueblo populations and their domestic habitations with Chaco structures suggest that Chaco at times had a resident population exceeding 2000 people. These data suggest that maize would have had to be imported to feed permanent residents and those visiting Chaco during ritual–political gatherings and those who participated in the accelerated construction and modification of great houses between AD 1030 and 1130. Comparison of strontium-isotope and trace-element ratios of synthetic soil and natural waters from sites within the …

Renewing The Conservation Commitment, Frank W. Davis, Dale D. Goble, J. Michael Scott

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

As we write this in early 2005 there are several ESA-related pieces of legislation pending before Congress. Most of the proposed legislation is championed by Republican leaders from western states, who promise to strengthen the use of science or ensure fairer treatment of private landowners. Ir has become a perennial drama on the American political stage: "conservatives" rally to rein in a law that they believe has reached too far and "conservationists" mobilize ro defend the law that they believe offers the best ho pe for protecting biodiversity from relentless economic exploitation. There is much posturing, finger pointing, and, ultimately, …

Introduction To "The Endangered Species Act At Thirty, Volume 2", Frank W. Davis, J. Michael Scott, Dale D. Goble

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

More than thirty years after its passage, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 continues to be a corners tone of U.S. biodiversity policy and among our most powerful environmentallaws. The ESA set the nation's biodiversity conservation policy on a path that emphasized species-based conservation and triggered action only when a species faced imminent extinction. However, promoting recovery has proven more challenging than the original designers of the law anticipated. The number of listed species has mushroomed from 78 in 1973 to 1,267 in 2005, while in that time only 13 species have recovered sufficiently to be removed from the …

Conserving Biodiversity In Human-Dominated Landscapes, Dale D. Goble, J. Michael Scott, Frank W. Davis

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The two volumes of The Endangered Species Act at Thirty look backward to evaluate the effectiveness of the act over its first three decades (Wilcove and McMillan 2006; Scott et al. 2006, chap. 2; Goble, this volume; Svancara, this volume; Callicott, this volume; Norton, this volume) and also forward to suggest how it can be used as a cornerstone for conserving biological diversity in increasingly human-dominated landscapes (Davis et al. 2006; Bean 2006). The chapters in part 2 of this volume, for example, appraise the science of the 1990s and 2000s at both the large scale (Lomolino, this volume; Naeem …

Physical Processes Behind Delta Propagation And Flood Layer Dynamics, Po River, Italy, Aaron J. Bever

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Rivers discharge around 20 billion tonnes of sediment to the coastal ocean each year (Milliman and Syvitski, 1992). Many supply dominated rivers possess large subareal and subaqueous deltas, whose growth depends on the physical processes controlling sediment deposition or removal. There has yet to be a complete understanding of how short term processes such as settling from buoyant plumes, wave/current resuspension, and transport by currents and gravity flows, interact to produce the depositional products that develop over varying timescales. The Po River in Northern Italy forms a substantial delta in the Adriatic Sea. It has five distributary mouths, and is …

Physiological Consequences Of High Water Flow On The Coral Montastrea Annularis (Ellis And Solander, 1786), Lawrence W. Carpenter

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Water-flow is a vital component to the life histories of sessile marine invertebrates and essential to the structure and function of coral reefs. Recent studies have identified water-flow as an asset in the resistance to and recovery from short-term bleaching events of high irradiance and thermal increases. to determine whether the benefits of water-flow scale from the landscape level down to the flow patterns experienced over individual polyps and to quantify potential metabolic consequences, three studies were performed on Montastrea annularis (Ellis and Solander, 1786), using in situ heated bleaching flow-chambers during two saturation missions at the Aquarius underwater laboratory. …

Linking Land To Ocean: Flux And Fate Of Water And Sediment From The Yangtze River To The East China Sea, Kehui Xu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Although precipitation and runoff for the entire Yangtze River watershed have changed little since 1950, the increase of runoff in Yangtze southern sub-basin has been much larger than that of precipitation, reflecting decreased temperatures and evapotranspiration, In contrast, the marked decreases in runoff in northern Yangtze have been due mainly to increased water consumption. Since the 1980s, the Yangtze sediment load has declined dramatically, and 2004 loads at Yichang (just below the Three Gorges Dam - TGD) and Datong (lower stream) were only 12% and 33% of those in the 1950s and 60s, reflecting precipitation decline, landuse change, and most …

Use Of Mammal Manure By Nesting Burrowing Owls: A Test Of Four Functional Hypotheses, Matthew D. Smith, Courtney J. Conway

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Animals have evolved an impressive array of behavioural traits to avoid depredation. Olfactory camouflage of conspicuous odours is a strategy to avoid depredation that has been implicated only in a few species of birds. Burrowing owls, Athene cunicularia, routinely collect dried manure from mammals and scatter it in their nest chamber, in the tunnel leading to their nest and at the entrance to their nesting burrow. This unusual behaviour was thought to reduce nest depredation by concealing the scent of adults and juveniles, but a recent study suggests that manure functions to attract arthropod prey. However, burrowing owls routinely …

Nutrient Constraints On Plant Community Production And Organic Matter Accumulation Of Subtropical Floating Marshes, Guerry O., Jr. Holm Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the cycle of delta growth and decay, peat-forming wetlands span a time and space continuum. Later in the delta cycle, freshwater floating marshes become increasingly removed from external sediment subsidy and internal nutrient cycling controls plant productivity and organic matter accumulation. An interesting question is whether increased external nutrient loading can affect the basic processes that lead to peat formation—plant production and organic matter decomposition. I conducted several field studies to understand whether belowground organic matter accumulation and decomposition were affected with increased nutrient exposure; in addition, the plant community was monitored over three years. A laboratory soil respiration …

A Community Approach To Identifying Essential Fish Habitat Of Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion Nebulosus, In Barataria Bay, La, Pamela Sharon Dawn Macrae

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Louisiana wetlands are disappearing at a dramatic rate, providing an impetus for identifying essential fish habitat (EFH) in this region. The distribution, relative abundance, biomass, length and food web dynamics of spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, as well as the fish assemblage structure were examined in Barataria Bay, LA, in relation to habitat type and physical/chemical properties of the water. All fish were collected from three sites located along a salinity gradient, each contained the three habitat types of interest: marsh edge, soft bottom and oyster shell, and were sampled monthly from May 2003 to May 2004 with gillnets. Habitat preference …

Modeling The Effects Of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals On Atlantic Croaker: Understanding Biomarkers And Predicting Population Responses, Cheryl Anne Murphy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A number of environmental stressors have been shown to interfere with reproductive and behavioral processes of fish by interfering with endocrine function. Most biomarkers of endocrine disturbance tend to be static measurements from dynamic systems making them difficult to evaluate within the context of an individual, or subtle effects that do not relate well to endpoints of ecological significance. I present an approach that uses a series of models, based on Atlantic croaker, to extrapolate laboratory results to indicators of individual and population health. First, I created a physiologically based model that simulates vitellogenesis in a female fish. The model …

River, Tidal And Wind Interactions In A Deltaic Estuarine System, Gregg Snedden

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The balance between river and marine influences is important in governing landscape sustainability in river deltas. River- and atmospherically driven sea level variability, sediment loading, and estuary-ocean exchange in the Mississippi River delta are examined in this study. Subtidal estuarine sea level variability in the Breton Sound estuary was driven by a combination of remote atmospheric forcing outside the estuary over the continental shelf and controlled river inputs through a gated diversion structure at the estuary head. The highly-frictional deltaic landscape acted as a low-pass filter to coastal fluctuations near the estuary mouth. When substantial quantities river water were discharged …

Quantifying Changes In Fish Habitat Use In Coastal Waters Of Louisiana, Usa: A Hydroacoustic Approach, Kevin Mershon Boswell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The development of reliable tools for identifying essential fish habitat (EFH) has proven problematic. Knowledge of the distribution and biomass of fishes over discrete habitat types is a prerequisite for effective use of EFH in the management of important commercial and recreational fish species. Resolution of the influence of habitat type and environmental factors on the distribution of fishes is confounded by limitations of traditional sampling gears. To date, hydroacoustic technology has been widely accepted as a tool for surveying fishery resources; however few studies have implemented acoustics in ultra shallow (<2 m) coastal waters. Efforts should be made to utilize hydroacoustics for quantifying changes in fish distributions within estuarine environments given the benefits provided through acoustic technology (e.g. ease of deployment, reduced sampling effort, and non-invasive sampling attributes). A technique was developed for acoustically sensing fishes in the shallow, turbid waters of Barataria Bay, Louisiana. A robust and lightweight remotely-controlled transducer platform was designed for deploying acoustic gear. Sources of scattering within the bay were identified through a series of exclosure net experiments designed to quantify potential effects of plankton and suspended solids on acoustic scattering. Analysis filters were developed to reduce the effects of bubble-induced noise, often observed during periods when wind speeds were greater than 4.5 m s^-1. Side-aspect acoustic target strength-length and target …

A Neural Network Model For Classification Of Coastal Wetlands Vegetation Structure With Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (Modis) Data, Evaristo Joseph Liwa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mapping coastal marshes is an important component in the management of coastal environments. Classification of marshes using remote sensing data has traditionally been performed by employing either parametric supervised classification algorithms or unsupervised classification algorithms. The implementation of these conversional classification methods is based on the underlying distributions concerning the probability density functions (PDF). Neural networks provide a practical approach to this classification because they are essentially non-parametric data transformations that are not restricted by any underlying assumptions. The major objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of neural networks using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) data to …

Effects Of Diesel-Fuel And Copper Contaminants On Benthic Microalgae, Soraya Silva

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Salt marshes are dynamic, highly productive habitats and serve as nursery grounds for many commercially and economically important species. Benthic microalgae (BMA) are considered an important food source for benthos and provide the principal source of nutrition that fuels secondary production. Estuarine sediments around the world are a repository for many contaminants from anthropogenic sources. In particular, hydrocarbons and metals are ubiquitous contaminants in coastal systems. The primary goal of this study was to study the effects of diesel fuel and copper, alone and in combination, on the BMA assemblage from a coastal salt marsh. To achieve this objective, salt …

Belowground Biomass Of Spartina Alterniflora: Seasonal Variability And Response To Nutrients, Faith Armand Darby

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Spartina alterniflora is a salt marsh macrophyte found from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico which often provides the dominant plant cover. Although S. alterniflora is well known for its high aboveground productivity, fifty to ninety percent of the total plant production occurs belowground. No previous studies address the seasonal variation of belowground biomass or the response of above-and belowground biomass to nutrients at the southern limits of its U. S. range. The objectives of this study were to: 1) document the seasonal variability of its above- and belowground biomass and test for responses to various combinations of N, P, …

Coral Of Opportunity Survivorship And The Use Of Coral Nurseries In Coral Reef Restoration, Jamie A. Monty, David S. Gilliam, Kenneth Banks, David K. Stout, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Coral reef damage is unfortunately becoming a common occurrence off southeast Florida, U.S.A. Reattachment of the dislodged scleractinian corals usually initiates damage site restoration. Because mortality of dislodged colonies is typically high and natural recovery in southeast Florida is typically slow, transplantation of additional scleractinian corals into a damaged area has been used to accelerate reef recovery. Donor colonies available for transplantation have been grown in situ, grown in laboratories, and taken from nondamaged reef areas. An alternative source of donor colonies for transplantation into damaged sites is “corals of opportunity,” which we define as scleractinian corals that have been …

Application Of Paleoclimatology To Coral Reef Monitoring And Management, C. Mark Eakin, Peter K. Swart, Terrence M. Quinn, Kevin P. Helmle, Jennifer M. Smith, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

The skeletons of reef-building corals are valuable archives of climatic and environmental information. Paleoclimatic data chiefly have been generated in areas most sensitive to global or regional climatic variability. However, these records also provide valuable information on anthropogenic influences – guidance of value to resource managers. NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch targets observations of current and past coral reef health in or near marine protected areas through satellites, in situ sensor platforms, and paleoclimatic analyses. Paleoclimatic data provide retrospective monitoring through multi-century environmental reconstructions that improve our understanding of past stress to coral reefs. Two sites in the Florida Keys National …

Vertical Distribution Of Decapod Larvae In The Entrance Of An Equatorward Facing Bay Of Central Chile: Implications For Transport, Beatriz Yannicelli, Leonardo R. Castro, Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, Larry Atkinson, Dante Figueroa

CCPO Publications

Two short biophysical surveys were carried out in order to assess how the decapod crustacean larvae vertical distribution and circulation patterns in an equatorward facing embayment (Gulf of Arauco, 37° S; 73° W) influenced larval transport into and out of the Gulf. The embayment is located at the upwelling area of south central Chile and features a deep (60 m) and a shallow (25 m) pathway of communication with the adjacent coastal ocean. Profiles of zooplankton, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and current velocity were measured during a 22-h period at the shallow entrance to the gulf. In addition, three zooplankton …

Population Genetic Structure Of Escolar (Lepidocybium Flavobrunneum) And A Molecular Phylogeny Of The Trichiuroidea, Kirsten Brendtro

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.