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Estimation Of Relative Abundance Of Recreationally Important Juvenile Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay Project Rfol-3 July 2001 - June 2002, Marcel M. Montaine, Herbert M. Austin, Patrick J. Geer, Wendy A. Lowery

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia, Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 1999-2003 Annual Report, 1 September 2001 - 31 October 2002, Philip W. Sadler, Robert J. Latour, Robert E. Harris, Kristin L. Maki, John E. Olney

Reports

This report presents the results of striped bass (Marone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the penod 1 September 2001 through 31 October 2002. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2002 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survtval based on annual spring tagging, and the results of the fall 2001 directed mortality study that is cooperative with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The information contained in this report is required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is used to implement a coordinated management plan for striped bass …

Biodiversity And Ecosystem Function: The Consumer Connection, J. Emmett Duffy

VIMS Articles

Proposed links between biodiversity and ecosystem processes have generated intense interest and controversy in recent years. With few exceptions, however, empirical studies have focused on grassland plants and laboratory aquatic microbial systems, whereas there has been little attention to how changing animal diversity may influence ecosystem processes. Meanwhile, a separate research tradition has demonstrated strong top‐down forcing in many systems, but has considered the role of diversity in these processes only tangentially. Integration of these research directions is necessary for more complete understanding in both areas. Several considerations suggest that changing diversity in multi‐level food webs can have important ecosystem …

The Yeast Nuclear Pore Complex Functionally Interacts With Components Of The Spindle Assembly Checkpoint, Tatiana Louk, Oliver Kerscher, Robert J. Scott, Munira A. Basrai, Richard W. Wozniak

Arts & Sciences Articles

Aphysical and functional link between the nuclear pore complex (NPC) and the spindle checkpoint machinery has been established in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that two proteins required for the execution of the spindle checkpoint, Mad1p and Mad2p, reside predominantly at the NPC throughout the cell cycle. There they are associated with a subcomplex of nucleoporins containing Nup53p, Nup170p, and Nup157p. The association of the Mad1p–Mad2p complex with the NPC requires Mad1p and is mediated in part by Nup53p. On activation of the spindle checkpoint, we detect changes in the interactions between these proteins, including the release of …

Continuous In Vitro Culture Of The Carpet Shell Clam Tapes Decussatus Protozoan Parasite Perkinsus Atlanticus, Sm Casas, Jf La Peyre, Kimberly S. Reece, C Azevedo, A Villalba

VIMS Articles

Continuous in vitro cultures of the clam Tapes decussatus parasite Perkinsus atlanticus were established from infected gill fragments, infected haemolymph and parasite hypnospores isolated from infected gill fragments following incubation in Ray's fluid thioglycollate medium (RFTM). No continuous cultures could be initiated from P. atlanticus zoospores. Cultures initiated from hypnospores yielded the highest percentage of continuous cultures (100%, 6/6), followed by cultures initiated from gill fragments (93%, 43/46) and from haemolymph (30%, 3/10). Failures to establish continuous cultures were due to microbial contamination, The source of parasite influenced the success rate, the time taken to establish cultures and the size …

Long-Distance Dispersal Potential In A Marine Macrophyte, Mc Harwell, R J. Orth

VIMS Articles

Plant populations have long been noted to migrate faster than predicted based on their life history and seed dispersal characteristics (i.e., Reid's paradox of rapid plant migration). Although precise mechanisms to account for such phenomena are not fully known for all plant species, a combination of theoretical and empirically driven mechanisms often resolves this paradox. Here, we couple a series of direct and indirect field and laboratory exercises on one marine macrophyte, Zostera marina L. (eelgrass), to measured distances between new patches and established beds in order to elucidate the longdistance dispersal and colonization potential of this marine seagrass. Detached, …

Application Of An Integrated Watershed And Tidal Prism Model To The Poquoson Coastal Embayment, Jian Shen, Harry V. Wang, Mac Sisson

Reports

No abstract provided.

Assessing Larval American Shad Growth And Survival With In Situ Mesocosm Experiments In Three Differing Habitats Within A Coastal Estuary, Donna Marie Bilkovic, David Stanhope, Carl Hershner

Reports

Habitat can be defined as the place where the organism lives including all its physical, chemical and biological dimensions (Odum 1971; Hoss and Thayer 1993). These dimensions include water quality, physical structure, flow regime and biotic interaction. Essential fish habitat (EFH) is further defined as “those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity” (Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) With new mandates to identify and protect EFH for all species managed under fisheries management plans, evaluation of fish habitat has become a priority. The methods used to identify and define essential fish …

Application Of An Integrated Watershed And Tidal Prism Model To Cockrell Creek, Jian Shen, Harry V. Wang, Mac Sisson

Reports

No abstract provided.

Instruction For Using An Integrated Watershed Tidal Prism Modeling System For Simulating Fecal Colifrom, Jian Shen, Mac Sisson, Harry V. Wang

Reports

No abstract provided.

Detectability Of Excitatory Versus Inhibitory Drive In An Integrate-And-Fire-Or-Burst Thalamocortical Relay Neuron Model, Gregory D. Smith, S. M. Sherman

Arts & Sciences Articles

Although inhibitory inputs are often viewed as equal but opposite to excitatory inputs, excitatory inputs may alter the firing of postsynaptic cells more effectively than inhibitory inputs. This is because spike cancellation produced by an inhibitory input requires coincidence in time, whereas an excitatory input can add spikes with less temporal constraint. To test for such potential differences, especially in the context of the function of thalamocortical (TC) relay nuclei, we used a stochastic “integrate-and-fire-or-burst” TC neuron model to quantify the detectability of excitatory and inhibitory drive in the presence and absence of the low-threshold Ca 2+ current, IT, and …

Marina Site Suitablity Tool : Final Project Report, Marcia Berman, Kirk J. Havens, Tamia Rudnicky, Thomas A. Barnard

Reports

In coordination with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), the Center for Coastal Resources Management at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) was contracted to develop a tool for local governments that would assist in the decision-making process for marina development. In particular, the agencies wanted to develop a visual representation of the VMRC Criteria for the Siting of Marinas or Community Facilities for Boat Mooring. This was accomplished by gathering available data sets and developing geographic information system (GIS) data …

Teachers' Authentic E-Learning, Judi Harris, Neal Grandgenett

School of Education Articles

If professional development is understood to be teachers’professional learning, then authentic professional development occurs when we actively learn—and reflect on that learning, both individually and collaboratively—as we teach. What might characterize authentic learning for teachers—especially as it applies to using Internet tools and resources in the classroom? A series of research studies we have been doing provides some interesting insights into and potential answers to this question.

A Perspective On Two Decades Of Policies And Regulations Influencing The Protection And Restoration Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Chesapeake Bay, Usa, R J. Orth, Ra Batiuk, Pw Bergstrom, Ken Moore

VIMS Articles

Seagrasses along with many other species of freshwater rooted submerged macrophytes in Chesapeake Bay (collectively called SAV) underwent serious declines in population abundances in the 1970s and have not as yet rebounded to previous levels. Cooperative efforts by scientists, politicians, federal and state resource managers, and the general public have developed policies and plans to protect, preserve and enhance SAV populations of Chesapeake Bay. These include the Chesapeake Bay Agreements (1983, 1987, 1992, 1993, 2000), an SAV Management Policy and Implementation Plan for Chesapeake Bay and Tidal Tributaries (1989 and 1990), Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan (1997), as …

The Magnitude Of Spring Bacterial Production In The North Atlantic Ocean, Hw Ducklow, Dl Kirchman, Tr Anderson

VIMS Articles

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a major reservoir in the ocean carbon cycle, is produced by a profusion of plankton sources and processes but is consumed mainly by bacterioplankton. Thus bacterial metabolism regulates the entry of DOC into the longer scale global carbon cycle. Bacterial production (BP) is the routinely measured quantity for evaluating the roles of bacteria in carbon cycling. However BP cannot be measured directly and instead is estimated from related metabolic processes requiring the use of poorly constrained conversion factors. BP and thus the total carbon utilization, are potentially uncertain by a factor of two or more. In …

An Analysis Of Shoreline Development Risk For Secondary Dune Systems In Tidewater Virginia With Associated Management Recommendations, Lyle M. Varnell, C. Scott Hardaway Jr.

Reports

This project was done in response to concerns by environmental resource managers of historic and potential adverse impacts to Virginia’s secondary dune ecosystems. Virginia environmental regulatory programs have little decision-making authority over the use of secondary dunes as these areas are not included in the Coastal Primary Sand Dune Act (the Dunes Act). These areas function as estuarine edge habitat and provide natural upland erosion control, and are thus valuable to estuarine and coastal plain fauna and adjacent upland property owners.

City Of Norfolk - Shoreline Situation Report, Marcia Berman, Harry Berquist, Carl Hershner, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Daniel E. Schatt, David Weiss, Helen Woods

Reports

No abstract provided.

Marine Resource Bulletin Vol. 34, No. 2, Virginia Sea Grant, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Marine Resource Bulletin

In This Issue

Providing Sanctuary to An Old Friend By Dr. Romuald Lipcius & Jacques van Montfrans

Making a Case for the Oyster: Putting Ecological Benefits into Economic Terms By Thomas J. Murray When it Comes to Wild Ponies, Legends and Lore Abound By Charlie Petrocci

’Tis the Season for a Storm Surge By Dr. Carl H. Hobbs, III

Using Aquaculture to Slay the SOLs By Angela

Correa Bay Sites are Magnets for Cobia and Flounder By Jon Lucy

News from the Point

The Virginia Wetlands Report Vol. 17, No. 3, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Wetlands Reports

• Red Drum, Sciaenops oscellatus. Walter I. Priest, III
• Marina Site Suitability Tool Available. Marcia Berman, Tamia Rudnicky, Kirk Havens and Thomas Barnard
• Virginia Wetlands Report Reader Survey Result. Tom Barnard
• Sphagnum Moss: Natural Properties Promote Historic Uses. Pam Mason
• Private Piers and Tidal Marsh Cumulative Impacts. Tom Barnard

The Crest, Fall 2002, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• VIMS researchers win 5-year, $1.7 million NSF award
• Pair complete 3-year study of clam disease
• VIMS joins National Shark Research Consortium
• McNinch receives Young Investigator award
• Field research sheds light on barndoor skate
• Management is key to scallop fishery's success
• VIMS acquires new code for model
• Yes vote on bond referendum good news for VIMS
• CBNERR announces Summer 2003 educational programs
• Workshop series targets charter boat operators
• Ducklow elected AAAS Fellow
• VIMS takes to the air(port)
• VIMS scientists to host international conferences
• Web update
• VIMS researchers in educational videos
• Hoenig writes "hot paper"
• VIMS and partners win …

Molecular Diagnostics, Field Validation, And Phylogenetic Analysis Of Quahog Parasite Unknown (Qpx), A Pathogen Of The Hard Clam Mercenaria Mercenaria, Na Stokes, Lm Ragone Calvo, Kimberly S. Reece, Em Burreson

VIMS Articles

Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX) is a protistan parasite that causes disease and mortality in the hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria. PCR primers and DNA oligonucleotide probes were designed and evaluated for sensitivity and specificity for the QPX organism specifically and for the phylum Labyrinthulomycota in general. The best performing QPX-specific primer pair amplified a 665 bp region of the QPX small-subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) and detected as little as 1 fg cloned QPX SSU rDNA and 20 fg QPX genomic DNA. The primers did not amplify DNA of uninfected hard clams M. mercenaria or of the thraustochytrids Schizochytrium aggregatum, Thraustochytrium …

Relative Strengths Of Competition For Space And Food In A Sessile Filter Feeder, David P. Lohse

VIMS Articles

Previous workers have demonstrated that sessile filter feeders compete for food and space, but little is known about the relative strengths of these two processes. To determine this, the density and position of barnacles (Balanus improvisus) in a unidirectional current were manipulated to alter the amount of competition for space and food, respectively. Results indicated that competition for space significantly reduced growth, and marginally reduced survivorship. Competition for food was also detected, but only among uncrowded individuals; thus, it appears to be the weaker of the two interactions. However, under crowded conditions, downstream individuals actually grew more than those upstream. …

Mycobacteriosis In Striped Bass Of The Chesapeake Bay: Expansion Of Studies Emphasizing Cultural And Rapid Molecular Diagnostic Methods To Evaluate Disease Prevalence: A Final Report, Ilsa Kaattari, Martha Rhodes Rhodes, Howard Kator

Reports

During 1997-99, the Aquatic Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (AADDL) at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) investigated and documented an epizootic of disease in wild striped bass, Morone saxatilis, from many portions of the lower Chesapeake Bay. Some of these fish exhibited an ulcerative dermatitis initially suspected of being caused by Pfiesteria piscicida, a dinoflagellate. Skin ulcers ranged from pinpoint, pigmented spots to large, shallow hemorrhagic (bloody) wounds. This disease was determined to be due not to Pfiesteria, but to a group of bacteria called Mycobacterium spp. This disease syndrome is referred to as mycobacteriosis. Further investigations by VIMS …

Evaluating The Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, To The Potomac - Spring 2002 : February 2002 - June 2002, Hank Brooks, M. Todd Mathes, Marcel M. Montane

Reports

Measures of juvenile recruitment success have long been recognized as valuable fisheries management tools. In Chesapeake Bay, these measures provide reliable indicators for future year class strength for blue crabs (Lipcius and Van Engel, 1990), striped bass (Goodyear, 1985), as well as several other recreationally and commercially important species (Geer and Austin, 1999).

The American Eel, Anguilla rostrata, is a valuable commercial species along the entire Atlantic coast from New Brunswick to Florida. Landings along the U.S. Atlantic coast have varied from 290 MT in 1962 to a high of 1600 MT in 1975 (NMFS, 1999). In recent years, harvests …

Public Beach Assessment Report Central Beach And Castlewood Park Beach Colonial Beach, Virginia, Donna A. Milligan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., R. H. Brindley, G. R. Thomas

Reports

The purpose of this report is to document the recent history of Colonial Beach’s Potomac River shoreline as well as assess the historical shoreline evolution and status of the beach zone. Review of previously-published literature, field survey data, aerial photos, and computer modeling were used to address the study objectives.

Differences In The Biological Carbon Pump At Three Subtropical Ocean Sites, S Neuer, R Davenport, T Freudenthal, G Wefer, O Llinaus, Mj Rueda, Deborah K. Steinberg, Dm Karl

VIMS Articles

We report primary production of organic matter and organic carbon removal from three subtropical open ocean time-series stations, two located in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific, to quantify the biological components of the oceanic carbon pump. We find that within subtropical gyres, export production varies considerably despite similar phytoplankton biomass and productivity. We provide evidence that the removal of organic carbon is linked to differences in nutrient input into the mixed layer, both from eddy induced mixing and dinitrogen fixation. These findings contribute to our knowledge of the spatial heterogeneity of the subtropical oceans, which make up more …

The Microbial And Metazoan Community Associated With Colonies Of Trichodesmium Spp.: A Quantitative Survey, Cc Sheridan, Deborah K. Steinberg, Gw Kling

VIMS Articles

Association with resource-rich particles may benefit a number of planktonic species in oligotriphic, open-ocean regimes. This study examined communities of microbes and Zooplankton associated with colonies of the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium spp. in the Sargasso Sea. Trichodesmium colonies and seawater controls were collected near Bermuda using SCUBA during September 1995, and June, July and August 1996. Organisms associated with the colonies and those in the surrounding seawater were enumerated using light and fluorescence microscopy. We found that 85% of the Trichodesmium puff and tuft colonies examined harbored associated organisms. Associated organisms included bacteria (rod and coccoid),fungi, pennate diatoms, centric diatoms, heterotrophic …

A Study Of The River Origin Of American Shad Captured In The Atlantic Ocean Intercept Fishery In Virginia : Final Report, 2001, Kristin L. Maki, John E. Olney, John M. Hoenig

Reports

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) has been releasing larval American shad into the James and York river systems since 1993 and these fish are given river-specific marks before release. Our in-river monitoring program had established that we could estimate the proportion of fish returning to spawn in the rivers that have hatchery marks. Furthermore, we were able to obtain a sample of 200 fish from the intercept fishery off Chincoteague Island, Virginia, in 2000 and screening of the otoliths by VDGIF personnel revealed the presence of one fish with a James River hatchery mark and one …

Estimating Population Parameters Of American Shad In The York River, Virginia : Final Report, 2001, K. L. Maki, J. E. Olney, J. M. Hoenig

Reports

No abstract provided.

Hydrologic And Chemical Control Of Phragmites Growth In Tidal Marshes Of Sw Connecticut, Usa, Randolph Chambers

Arts & Sciences Articles

We compared hydrology and porewater chemistry along transects in 3 tidal marshes vegetated by Spartina alterniflora and by the invasive species Phragmites australis. Relative to the Phragmites zone, the S. alterniflora zone occurred at lower tidal elevations in all 3 marshes and was characterized by greater depth of flooding and shorter periods of water-table drawdown below the soil surface. Penetration by Phragmites into the S. alterniflora zone appeared to be limited by extensive soil saturation at the leading edge of Phragmites growth. This mixed-species zone occurred at the intersection of the low-tide groundwater table with the soil surface and …