Life Sciences Commons^™

A Study Of The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, In Tampa Bay: Effects Of Perkinsus Marinus On Reproduction And Condition, Bridgit Melora Mccrickard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Five sites in Tampa Bay, Florida, were sampled monthly from February 2006 to January 2007. These sites were located at the mouth of the Alafia River, in an inlet of Cross Bayou, on the easement of Gandy Bridge, near mangrove in Manatee County, and an inlet of Salt Creek, off Bayboro Harbor. Standard methods were used to determine shell height and Condition Index (CI). Intensity and prevalence of Perkinsus marinus were analyzed using Ray's Thioglycollate medium test, while Haplosporidium nelsoni was studied by histological examination. Histological methods were also used to determine sex ratios, reproductive phases, and egg diameters. …

Fishermen, Politics, And Participation: An Ethnographic Examination Of Commercial Fisheries Management In St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cynthia Grace-Mccaskey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Currently, there is widespread debate regarding the overall status of the world's fisheries, with some researchers projecting their total collapse in only a few decades, and others concluding the situation is not quite as bleak. Additional debates include what strategies should be used to manage fisheries at various scales, and further research is needed to determine which strategies are most appropriate for use in particular situations and locales, as context is critical.

Recently, prominent common pool resources scholars have expressed the need for ethnographic approaches to studying resource management institutions in order to move beyond the current focus of simply …

A Spatially Explicit Agent Based Model Of Muscovy Duck Home Range Behavior, James Howard Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Research in GIScience has identified agent-based simulation methodologies as effective in the study of complex adaptive spatial systems (CASS). CASS are characterized by the emergent nature of their spatial expressions and by the changing relationships between their constituent variables and how those variables act on the system's spatial expression over time. Here, emergence refers to a CASS property where small-scale, individual action results in macroscopic or system-level patterns over time. This research develops and executes a spatially-explicit agent based model of Muscovy Duck home range behavior. Muscovy duck home range behavior is regarded as a complex adaptive spatial system …

Chemical Defense In The Cave-Dwelling Millipede Brachydesmus Troglobius Daday, 1889 (Diplopoda, Polydesmidae), Slobodan E. Makarov, Ljubodrag V. Vujisić, Božidar P. M. Ćurčić, Bojan S. Ilić, Vele V. Tešević, Vlatka E. Vajs, Ivan M. Vučković, Bojan M. Mitić, Luka R. Lučić, Iris Ž. Đorđević

International Journal of Speleology

The troglomorphic millipede Brachydesmus troglobius Daday, 1889 (Polydesmida: Polydesmidae) secretes allomones from glands on both lateral surfaces of its body segments. The secretion was identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis with electron and chemical ionization, and was shown to be composed of a mixture of benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, benzoylnitrile, benzoic acid and mandelonitrile benzoate. Hydrogen cyanide was qualitatively identified by the picric acid test. This is the first identification of these compounds in a cave-dwelling polydesmid.

Assessment Of Diver Impact During The Spiny Lobster Sport Season, Florida Keys, Usa, Mark Lewis Hartman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery in Florida is closed during the spawning season (March-July) except for a two-day recreational `miniseason' for sport divers in July, several days prior to the opening of the commercial fishing season. In Monroe County, recreational fishers, who possess a valid Saltwater Fishing License with crawfish stamp, are allowed to harvest six lobsters per day, each with a minimum carapace length of 76.2 mm (3.0 inches). During these two days, approximately 50,000 people attempt to catch lobster, and the number of boats visiting the reef has been estimated to be up to 900 times higher …

The World’S Deepest Subterranean Community - Krubera-Voronja Cave (Western Caucasus), Alberto Sendra, Ana Sofia P.S. Reboleira

International Journal of Speleology

Subsurface biota extends over a wide variety of habitats that can be spatially interconnected. The largest communities of this subsurface biota inhabit cavities and are well known mainly in caves where biologists are able to have access. Data about deep subterranean communities and arthropods living under one thousand meters was unknown.

An expedition to world’s deepest cave, Krubera-Voronja in Western Caucasus, revealed an interesting subterranean community, living below 2000 meters and represented by more than 12 species of arthropods, including several new species for science. This deep cave biota is composed of troglobionts and also epigean species, that can penetrate …