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Priming In Interpersonal Contexts: Implications For Affect And Behavior., Na Wyer, G Calvini, A Nash, N Miles
Priming In Interpersonal Contexts: Implications For Affect And Behavior., Na Wyer, G Calvini, A Nash, N Miles
School of Psychology
Priming stereotypes can lead to a variety of behavioral outcomes, including assimilation, contrast, and response behaviors. However, the conditions that give rise to each of these outcomes are unspecified. Furthermore, theoretical accounts posit that prime-to-behavior effects are either direct (i.e., unmediated) or mediated by cognitive processes, whereas the role of affective processes has been largely unexplored. The present research directly investigated both of these issues. Three experiments demonstrated that priming a threatening social group ("hoodies") influences both affect and behavior in an interpersonal context. Hoodie priming produced both behavioral avoidance and several affective changes (including social apprehension, threat sensitivity, and …
Integrating The Promotion Of Physical Activity Within A Smoking Cessation Programme: Findings From Collaborative Action Research In Uk Stop Smoking Services., Adrian H. Taylor, Emma S. Everson-Hock, Michael Ussher
Integrating The Promotion Of Physical Activity Within A Smoking Cessation Programme: Findings From Collaborative Action Research In Uk Stop Smoking Services., Adrian H. Taylor, Emma S. Everson-Hock, Michael Ussher
Peninsula Medical School
BACKGROUND: Within the framework of collaborative action research, the aim was to explore the feasibility of developing and embedding physical activity promotion as a smoking cessation aid within UK 6/7-week National Health Service (NHS) Stop Smoking Services. METHODS: In Phase 1 three initial cycles of collaborative action research (observation, reflection, planning, implementation and re-evaluation), in an urban Stop Smoking Service, led to the development of an integrated intervention in which physical activity was promoted as a cessation aid, with the support of a theoretically based self-help guide, and self monitoring using pedometers. In Phase 2 advisors underwent training and offered …
Biparental Mucus Feeding: A Unique Example Of Parental Care In An Amazonian Cichlid., Jonathan Buckley, Richard J. Maunder, Andrew Foey, Janet Pearce, Adalberto L. Val, Katherine A. Sloman
Biparental Mucus Feeding: A Unique Example Of Parental Care In An Amazonian Cichlid., Jonathan Buckley, Richard J. Maunder, Andrew Foey, Janet Pearce, Adalberto L. Val, Katherine A. Sloman
School of Biomedical Sciences
Vertebrates display a wide variety of parental care behaviours, including the guarding of offspring pre and post nutritional independence as well as the direct provision of nutrients during the early development period. The Amazonian cichlid Symphysodon spp. (discus fish) is unusual among fish species, in that both parents provide offspring with mucus secretions to feed from after hatching. This extensive provision of care, which can last up to a month, imposes a physiological demand on both parents and gives rise to conflict between the parent and offspring. Here, we investigated the relationship between parents and offspring during a breeding cycle, …
Effects Of Dietary Mannan Oligosaccharide (Mos) Supplementation In Relation To Intestinal Integrity, Microbiota, Health And Production Of Cultured Fish Species, Arkadios Dimitroglou
Effects Of Dietary Mannan Oligosaccharide (Mos) Supplementation In Relation To Intestinal Integrity, Microbiota, Health And Production Of Cultured Fish Species, Arkadios Dimitroglou
School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses
A series of investigations were conducted in order to evaluate the effect of MOS supplementation in finfish aquaculture. Fish with great potential in aquaculture industry were tested with regards to effect of dietary MOS supplementation on intestinal histology and microbiology as well as overall animal health and production. Two levels of MOS supplementation were applied 0.2% and 0.4%. Experimental fish were Atlantic salmon (Salmon salar), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchys mykiss), sole (Solea senegalensis) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). The results from the sea bream studies revealed that MOS supplementation may have a beneficial effect on growth performance of fish greater …
Climate Change And The Green Energy Paradox: The Consequences For Twaite Shad Alosa Fallax From The River Severn, U.K., Mw Aprahamian, Cd Aprahamian, Am Knights
Climate Change And The Green Energy Paradox: The Consequences For Twaite Shad Alosa Fallax From The River Severn, U.K., Mw Aprahamian, Cd Aprahamian, Am Knights
School of Biological and Marine Sciences
A stock–recruitment model with a temperature component was used to estimate the effect of an increase in temperature predicted by climate change projections on population persistence and distribution of twaite shad Alosa fallax. An increase of 1 and 2° C above the current mean summer (June to August) water temperature of 17·8° C was estimated to result in a three and six-fold increase in the population, respectively. Climate change is also predicted to result in an earlier commencement to their spawning migration into fresh water. The model was expanded to investigate the effect of any additional mortality that might arise …
Exploring The Grocery Store Satisfaction Of England's Older Population: An Evaluation Of Antecedents And Consequences Using Structural Equation Modelling, Robert Angell
Plymouth Business School Theses
The number of people aged 60 years and above is increasing in the UK. In total, this age group represents 22% of the population with estimates indicating a rise to 29% by 2050 (United Nations, 2009). One market sector that is extremely important to the health and wellbeing of older people is grocery retail (Khan, 1981). However, little previous research has addressed how older people rate the service delivered by their grocery provider, particularly in regard to satisfaction. To reconcile this gap in theoretical understanding, a sequential transformative mixed-method research design was specified using 36 qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaires …
Future Sustainability Of Organic Vegetable Production In The Uk: Perception Of The Growers, Pankaj Kumar Banik
Future Sustainability Of Organic Vegetable Production In The Uk: Perception Of The Growers, Pankaj Kumar Banik
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses
A study was carried out to investigate future sustainability of organic vegetable production in the UK based on perception of the vegetable growers. The objectives were to determine the economic and social sustainability of organic vegetables production and to examine whether there are any relationships between economic and social indicators. Data and opinions were collected by interviewing and through a postal questionnaire. Only 14% growers (26 out of 175) had replied by post. About 61% of the respondents had been farming in the conventional way before switching to organic and 39% growers started organic farming straightway. Those who started organic …
Marine Plankton Phenology And Life History In A Changing Climate: Current Research And Future Directions, R Ji, M Edwards, Dl Mackas, Ja Runge, Ac Thomas
Marine Plankton Phenology And Life History In A Changing Climate: Current Research And Future Directions, R Ji, M Edwards, Dl Mackas, Ja Runge, Ac Thomas
School of Biological and Marine Sciences
Increasing availability and extent of biological ocean time series (from both in situ and satellite data) have helped reveal significant phenological variability of marine plankton. The extent to which the range of this variability is modified as a result of climate change is of obvious importance. Here we summarize recent research results on phenology of both phytoplankton and zooplankton. We suggest directions to better quantify and monitor future plankton phenology shifts, including (i) examining the main mode of expected future changes (ecological shifts in timing and spatial distribution to accommodate fixed environmental niches vs. evolutionary adaptation of timing controls to …
First‐Trimester Combined Screening For Trisomy 21 At 7–14 Weeks' Gestation, D Wright, K Spencer, Kk Kagan, N Tørring, Et Al
First‐Trimester Combined Screening For Trisomy 21 At 7–14 Weeks' Gestation, D Wright, K Spencer, Kk Kagan, N Tørring, Et Al
Peninsula Medical School
Objective To establish an algorithm for first-trimester combined screening for trisomy 21 with biochemical testing from 7 to 14 weeks' gestation and ultrasound testing at 11–13 weeks. Methods This was a multicenter study of 886 pregnancies with trisomy 21 and 222 475 unaffected pregnancies with measurements of free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) at 7–14 weeks' gestation. Multiple regression modeling of log-transformed marker values was used to produce log multiples of the median (MoM) values for PAPP-A and free β-hCG. The models included terms for the center attended and the machine used for biochemical analysis, gestational …
Impaired Immune Tolerance ToPorphyromonas GingivalisLipopolysaccharide Promotes Neutrophil Migration And Decreased Apoptosis, S Zaric, C Shelburne, R Darveau, Dj Quinn, Et Al
Impaired Immune Tolerance ToPorphyromonas GingivalisLipopolysaccharide Promotes Neutrophil Migration And Decreased Apoptosis, S Zaric, C Shelburne, R Darveau, Dj Quinn, Et Al
Peninsula Dental School
Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the tissues supporting the teeth, is characterized by an exaggerated host immune and inflammatory response to periopathogenic bacteria. Toll-like receptor activation, cytokine network induction, and accumulation of neutrophils at the site of inflammation are important in the host defense against infection. At the same time, induction of immune tolerance and the clearance of neutrophils from the site of infection are essential in the control of the immune response, resolution of inflammation, and prevention of tissue destruction. Using a human monocytic cell line, we demonstrate that Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is a major etiological …
Teaching And Research Within Further Education Colleges: Chalk And Cheese?, M Mason, J Bardsley, J Mann, R Turner
Teaching And Research Within Further Education Colleges: Chalk And Cheese?, M Mason, J Bardsley, J Mann, R Turner
Plymouth Institute of Education
The expansion of Higher Education (HE) into Further Education (FE) Colleges has resulted in college lecturers with responsibility for teaching HE courses experiencing considerable changes in their working practices. College lecturers have worked collaboratively with universities to develop HE courses and been presented with opportunities to engage in scholarly activity and research. This paper draws on the experience of a group of college lecturers who undertook research into aspects of their teaching practice through an initiative introduced by the Higher Education Learning Partnerships (HELP) Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). Through a series of semi-structured interviews, this paper …
New Mechanism For Notch Signaling To Endothelium At A Distance By Delta-Like 4 Incorporation Into Exosomes, H Sheldon, E Heikamp, H Turley, R Dragovic, Et Al
New Mechanism For Notch Signaling To Endothelium At A Distance By Delta-Like 4 Incorporation Into Exosomes, H Sheldon, E Heikamp, H Turley, R Dragovic, Et Al
School of Biomedical Sciences
Notch signaling is an evolutionary conserved pathway that is mediated by cell-cell contact. It is involved in a variety of developmental processes and has an essential role in vascular development and angiogenesis. Delta-like 4 (Dll4) is a Notch ligand that is up-regulated during angiogenesis. It is expressed in endothelial cells and regulates the differentiation between tip cells and stalk cells of neovasculature. Here, we present evidence that Dll4 is incorporated into endothelial exosomes. It can also be incorporated into the exosomes of tumor cells that overexpress Dll4. These exosomes can transfer the Dll4 protein to other endothelial cells and incorporate …
Selective Self-Categorization: Meaningful Categorization And The In-Group Persuasion Effect, Na Wyer
Selective Self-Categorization: Meaningful Categorization And The In-Group Persuasion Effect, Na Wyer
School of Psychology
Research stemming from self-categorization theory (Turner et al., 1987) has demonstrated that individuals are typically more persuaded by messages from their in-group than by messages from the out-group. The present research investigated the role of issue relevance in moderating these effects. In particular, it was predicted that in-groups would only be more persuasive when the dimension on which group membership was defined was meaningful or relevant to the attitude issue. In two studies, participants were presented with persuasive arguments from either an in-group source or an out-group source, where the basis of the in-group/out-group distinction was either relevant or irrelevant …
Stereotyping Starlings Are More ‘Pessimistic’, Bo Brilot, L Asher, M Bateson
Stereotyping Starlings Are More ‘Pessimistic’, Bo Brilot, L Asher, M Bateson
School of Biological and Marine Sciences
Negative affect in humans and animals is known to cause individuals to interpret ambiguous stimuli pessimistically, a phenomenon termed 'cognitive bias'. Here, we used captive European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to test the hypothesis that a reduction in environmental conditions, from enriched to non-enriched cages, would engender negative affect, and hence 'pessimistic' biases. We also explored whether individual differences in stereotypic behaviour (repetitive somersaulting) predicted 'pessimism'. Eight birds were trained on a novel conditional discrimination task with differential rewards, in which background shade (light or dark) determined which of two covered dishes contained a food reward. The reward was small when …
Framework For Development Of Clean Coal: Consultation Response, He Huppert, Mj Golding, Ma Hallworth, Et Al
Framework For Development Of Clean Coal: Consultation Response, He Huppert, Mj Golding, Ma Hallworth, Et Al
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics
We welcome the broad thrust of the draft framework for the development of clean coal. We are particularly pleased to note the emphasis on a diverse range of measures for mitigating climate change, the recognition that both market-based and regulatory approaches to encouraging the deployment of CCS are valuable, and the suggestion that the proposed requirement to demonstrate CCS should apply immediately. We make several suggestions on matters of detail in response to the consultation questions. Specifically, we suggest the establishment of a process of continual review of the realistic capacity of carbon dioxide storage reservoirs. We further suggest that, …
Integration Of Action And Language Knowledge: A Roadmap For Developmental Robotics, A Cangelosi, G Metta, G Sagerer, S Nolfi, C Nehaniv, K Fischer, J Tani, T Belpaeme, G Sandini, F Nori, L Fadiga, B Wrede, K Rohlfing, E Tuci, K Dautenhahn, J Saunders, A Zeschel
Integration Of Action And Language Knowledge: A Roadmap For Developmental Robotics, A Cangelosi, G Metta, G Sagerer, S Nolfi, C Nehaniv, K Fischer, J Tani, T Belpaeme, G Sandini, F Nori, L Fadiga, B Wrede, K Rohlfing, E Tuci, K Dautenhahn, J Saunders, A Zeschel
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics
This position paper proposes that the study of embodied cognitive agents, such as humanoid robots, can advance our understanding of the cognitive development of complex sensorimotor, linguistic, and social learning skills. This in turn will benefit the design of cognitive robots capable of learning to handle and manipulate objects and tools autonomously, to cooperate and communicate with other robots and humans, and to adapt their abilities to changing internal, environmental, and social conditions. Four key areas of research challenges are discussed, specifically for the issues related to the understanding of: 1) how agents learn and represent compositional actions; 2) how …
A Review Of Human Factors Principles For The Design And Implementation Of Medication Safety Alerts In Clinical Information Systems, S Phansalkar, J Edworthy, E Hellier, Dl Seger, Et Al
A Review Of Human Factors Principles For The Design And Implementation Of Medication Safety Alerts In Clinical Information Systems, S Phansalkar, J Edworthy, E Hellier, Dl Seger, Et Al
School of Psychology
The objective of this review is to describe the implementation of human factors principles for the design of alerts in clinical information systems. First, we conduct a review of alarm systems to identify human factors principles that are employed in the design and implementation of alerts. Second, we review the medical informatics literature to provide examples of the implementation of human factors principles in current clinical information systems using alerts to provide medication decision support. Last, we suggest actionable recommendations for delivering effective clinical decision support using alerts. A review of studies from the medical informatics literature suggests that many …
A Study Of Iterative Capacity-Approaching Codes And Their Optimal Decoding Algorithms., Li Yang
A Study Of Iterative Capacity-Approaching Codes And Their Optimal Decoding Algorithms., Li Yang
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses
Since the invention of turbo codes in 1993 and the rediscovery of Gallager’s LDPC codes in 1999, Shannon’s determination of the capacity of memoryless channels has become touchable and achievable by adopting these codes iterative decoding scheme. Theoretically, turbo codes and LDPC codes have essentially revolutionised the coding field and become the most focused research topic in recent years. Although these remarkable codes have demonstrated an asymptotic performance close to the Shannon limit, there exists a fact that the practice still lags behind the theory by some margins, for instance the code constructional difficulty, decoding complexity and the hardware or …
Six Decades Of Agricultural Land Use Change In Bangladesh: Effects On Crop Diversity, Productivity, Food Availability And The Environment, 1948-2006, S Rahman
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
This paper provides a detailed analysis of agricultural land use change in Bangladesh over a 59-year period (1948-2006) and examines how these have impacted crop diversity, productivity, food availability and the environment. The key findings of the analysis are: first, land use intensity has increased significantly over this period, mainly from the widespread adoption of a rice-based Green Revolution technology package beginning in the early 1960s; second, contrary to expectation, crop diversity too has increased; third, although land productivity has increased significantly, declines in the productivity of fertilizers and pesticides raise doubts over sustaining agricultural growth; fourth, food availability has …
Common House Spiders Could Be Vectors Of Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, Richard Roberts
Common House Spiders Could Be Vectors Of Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, Richard Roberts
The Plymouth Student Scientist
Aim: To identify whether common household spiders such as Tegenaria saeva and Amaurobius ferox are likely vectors and reservoirs for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Methods and Results: Spiders were tested for the presence of S.aureus on the fangs, lower and upper abdomen and the legs. S.aureus was isolated from the fangs and isolates were subcultured to test for oxacillin resistance. Of the sample that was tested a mean of 83.4 x 102 cfu/fang for total counts of S.aureus was found. While 23% of the isolates tested for oxacillin-resistance were oxacillin resistant. Conclusion: Common household spiders can easily act as vectors and …
Environmental Factors And Patterns Of Behaviour In Zoo-Housed Sumatran Tigers, Panthera Tigris Sumatrae, Kimberley Jayne
Environmental Factors And Patterns Of Behaviour In Zoo-Housed Sumatran Tigers, Panthera Tigris Sumatrae, Kimberley Jayne
The Plymouth Student Scientist
This study investigated how increased environmental predictability in captivity can impact upon animal behaviour. ‘Busyness’ was piloted as a method of measuring activity in relation to environmental factors and observations were conducted on the behaviour of 2 zoo-housed Sumatran tigers, Panthera tigris sumatrae. Graphical analysis revealed the tigers to show increased Busyness leading up to the time they were taken off-show, possibly indicating anticipation of this event. Both animals displayed stereotyped pacing within specific enclosure sections. The female tiger showed increased pacing leading up to the time she was taken off-show, whereas the male showed the opposite. Suggestions were made …
The Effects Of Consonantal Specificity, Articulatory Phonetics And Prosody In Young Infants' Lexical Acquisition, Victoria Farley
The Effects Of Consonantal Specificity, Articulatory Phonetics And Prosody In Young Infants' Lexical Acquisition, Victoria Farley
The Plymouth Student Scientist
The present study was designed to investigate the role of consonants within word-initial consonantal contrasts, articulatory phonetics (involving place of articulation and voicing features) and prosody in young infants’ lexical acquisition. The participants were twenty-four 25-month-old infants, who were recruited from the Babylab database at The University of Plymouth. All children participated in a modified name-categorisation task and the actual experiment involved the use of eight disyllable paired pseudowords. The results found that this age group were unable to learn phonetically similar pseudowords that had a consonantal contrast and were unable to distinguish between word-initial contrasts that used articulatory phonetic …
The Cytotoxic Effect Of Glycerophospholipid: Cholesterol Acyltransferase (Gcat) On Mammalian And Fish Cell Lines In Vitro, Andrew Moriarty
The Cytotoxic Effect Of Glycerophospholipid: Cholesterol Acyltransferase (Gcat) On Mammalian And Fish Cell Lines In Vitro, Andrew Moriarty
The Plymouth Student Scientist
Glycerophospholipid: cholesterol acyltransferase (GCAT) is an enzyme produced by the bacteria Aeromonas salmonicida. A. salmonicida is the causative agents of the fish disease furunculosis and GCAT is an important enzyme when considering the virulence and progression of this disease. This study aims to show how the cytotoxic affects of the GCAT enzyme can vary between mammalian and fish cells. Both cloned and crude native forms of GCAT were exposed to mammalian and fish cell lines and observed for signs of damage over a 24 hour period. The cloned GCAT extraction was exposed to both fish and mammalian erythrocytes, while the …
The Effect Marina Design And Recreational Boating Has On The Spread Of Non Indigenous Species, Amy Brock-Morgan
The Effect Marina Design And Recreational Boating Has On The Spread Of Non Indigenous Species, Amy Brock-Morgan
The Plymouth Student Scientist
The spread of Non Indigenous Species (NIS) is a global problem and has major implications for the pattern of local biodiversity and ultimately the functioning of ecosystems. Invasive NIS are recognised as a major threat to biodiversity in article 8 on the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). Once NIS are introduced controlling them is expensive, time-consuming and can have negative effects on native biota. It recent years, the marine environment has seen an increase in recreational boating, international shipping and aquaculture but to date only the latter two have received international attention. In 2008 legislation changed to prohibit the use …
The Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore Components, Zoltan Mohar
The Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore Components, Zoltan Mohar
The Plymouth Student Scientist
The mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) is a non-specific channel in the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) that opens following ischaemia and reperfusion due to the presence of various stimuli, such as oxidative stress, elevated phosphate concentration, and adenine nucleotide depletion. MPTP opening causes the mitochondria to swell and become dysfunctional. This results in cell death, especially by necrosis, due to the loss of oxidative phosphorylation and the subsequent drop in adenosine triphosphate levels. In search of the identity of the pore numerous studies have been done by several research groups in the last three decades. For many years a widely …
Characteristics Of Wool Fibres From Mule Sheep, Nicola Bishop
Characteristics Of Wool Fibres From Mule Sheep, Nicola Bishop
The Plymouth Student Scientist
A study was conducted to find out if there were any differences in the characteristics of wool fibres from mule sheep in sheep of different ages. Wool samples were taken from 91 North of England Mule Sheep from Seale Hayne Farm in Newton Abbot, Devon. The hypothesis tested was that there are no differences in the characteristics of wool fibres (greasy weight, clean weight, dirt content, mean length and mean diameter) due to the age of the sheep. The age of each sheep was determined by the number of pairs of incisor teeth located on their lower jaw according to …
The Mechanisms Of Marine Bacterial Interactions, Grace Phillips
The Mechanisms Of Marine Bacterial Interactions, Grace Phillips
The Plymouth Student Scientist
Bacteria are found in numerous habitats within the vast marine realm. Many marine bacteria live together as a biofilm which allows them to closely interact and intimately influence each other‟s lives, mainly by the production of extracellular compounds such as antibiotics and exopolysaccharides. Coordination of the biofilm and communication between bacteria is controlled by a mechanism known as quorum sensing in which signal molecules called autoinducers are released and detected, resulting in an alteration of behaviour. These activities ultimately have implications on other organisms; controlling populations of invertebrates and algae, and affecting the health of eukaryotes, a major cause for …
The Effect Of Handedness On Interhemispheric Interaction In A Simple Reaction Time Task, Claire Nunan
The Effect Of Handedness On Interhemispheric Interaction In A Simple Reaction Time Task, Claire Nunan
The Plymouth Student Scientist
An individual’s handedness was hypothesised to affect their reaction times when using them to measure interhemispheric interaction. 40 male and female participants filled out an Edinburgh Handedness Inventory and took part in a simple reaction time experiment on a computer. A crossed-uncrossed difference was calculated and a mixed analysis of variance was carried out. The study found a crossed-uncrossed difference of -3.8 milliseconds (ms), while right handers were found to react faster, -2.7ms, than left handers, -4.9ms. No main effect of handedness was found, 0.277 (p=> 0.05) and no interaction between hand and visual field was found, 0.241 (p=> 0.05). …
Abundance And Diversity Of Anuran Species In Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo, Abigail Porter
Abundance And Diversity Of Anuran Species In Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo, Abigail Porter
The Plymouth Student Scientist
1. Anurans are important components of tropical ecosystems; however, the biodiversity of these species is under threat due to the rapid deforestation of Southeast Asian forests. 2. Abundances and numbers of individuals of anuran species from three different sites were surveyed. One site being that of a relatively undisturbed primary Dipterocarp forest, the other two being disturbed habitats, a secondary forest recovering from logging and a drainage ditch which has formed a pool site. 3. Species abundance and numbers of individuals was significantly different P<0.05 between the three sites. The primary forest site showed higher mean abundances of species and individuals of anuran species, with the secondary forest having the lowest abundances and the pool site having an intermediate value. 4. Variables of temperature and light levels were shown to have an impact upon frog species, with the highest temperatures and light readings found in the sites with less species and individuals. pH was neutral for all three sites so was not seen as a consequence effecting anurans. 5. The differences in anuran abundances and species in the three sites may indicate that environmental factors may be having detrimental impacts on anurans. 6. The need to census amphibians has never been more urgent than it is now. Among herpetologists, there is a growing awareness that amphibians are declining and becoming extinct in many parts of the world.
The Microbial Role In Carbon Cycling Within Seagrass Sediments, Heather Guy
The Microbial Role In Carbon Cycling Within Seagrass Sediments, Heather Guy
The Plymouth Student Scientist
Seagrasses are an important feature of coastal systems worldwide, capable of fixing significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into cellular material, potentially helping to alleviate rising carbon dioxide levels. However, the capacity of seagrass beds to act as carbon sinks is largely dependent on the amount of organic matter accumulated within the sediments following transformations by the microbial community. The microbial role in carbon cycling within seagrass sediments has been poorly researched, most likely because the importance of marine microbes in ocean cycling processes was only recently recognized, due to key advancements in molecular biology. This review examines …