Life Sciences Commons^™

Ecological Functions Of Constructed Oyster Reefs Along An Environmental Gradient In Chesapeake Bay: Final Report, Fx O'Beirn, Mark Luckenbach, Roger L. Mann, J Harding, J Nestlerode

Reports

Oyster reef habitat restoration within the Chesapeake Bay has as its objectives not only the enhancement of the commercially important oyster stocks, but also the restoration of associated assemblages of organisms and, most importantly, the restoration of ecological functions associated with natural reef communities. Despite our efforts to date, many uncertainties still exist with respect to achieving these restoration goals. These include long-term information on the temporal sequence of community development on new reef substrate, evaluating oyster recruitment patterns (a) across restored reef systems and (b) in relation to resident brood stocks.

In this study we sought to characterize the …

The Crest, Summer 1999, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• New Research Aquarium System
• Finfish Aquaculture at VIMS
• Virginia Creates State Research Reserve System
• Pollution-Laden Sediments In Constant Flux
• Survey of Mid-Atlantic Sea Scallop Closed Areas
• Pfiesteria Update
• New Computer Program Helps Planners Balance Growth, Protection
• Virginia Sea Grant to Administer Commercial Fishery Resource Program
• VIMS Stranded Sea Turtle Project Underway Coastal Sediments Offer Clues to Climate Change, Pollution
• Seemingly Barren Habitat Proves Vital for Economically Important Virginia Fish (juvenile flounder)

Increasing The Probability Of Success In Restored Forested Wetlands, Kirk J. Havens, Gene Silberhorn

Reports

This study investigated survival and growth of two distinct ecotypic populations, with varying tolerance to waterlogging, of four species, Taxodium distichum (L.) Richard, Carpinus caroliniana Walt., Quercus michauxii Nutt. and Quercus pagoda Raf. (Syn. Q.falcata var. pagodifolia Ell.).

Status Of The Major Oyster Diseases In Virginia 1998 A Summary Of The Annual Monitoring Program, Lisa M. Ragone Calvo, Eugene M. Burreson

Reports

No abstract provided.

Estimation Of Bacterial Respiration And Growth Efficiency In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, C. A. Carlson, N. R. Bates, H. W. Ducklow, D. A. Hansell

VIMS Articles

Seawater cultures were conducted in large volume (36 l) gas impermeable tri-laminate bags for the purpose of empirically deriving bacterial growth efficiency (BGE) and carbon conversion factors (CCF) in the south central Ross Sea. This experimental design allowed for concomitant measurements of metabolic reactants (loss of total and dissolved organic carbon [TOC and DOG]) and products (gain of total carbon dioxide [TCO2] and bacterial biomass) to be made from a single incubation vessel. Some previous studies have relied on proxy measurements (e.g. O-2, H-3-thymidine incorporation and cell abundance) to determine BGE and CCF rather than direct carbon measurements. Our experimental …

Bacterial Growth In Experimental Plankton Assemblages And Seawater Cultures From The Phaeocystis Antarctica Bloom In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, H. W. Ducklow, C. Carlson, Walker O. Smith Jr.

VIMS Articles

A series of seawater culture experiments was carried out during the Phaeocystis antarctica bloom in the Ross Sea polynya (76.5 degrees S, 180 degrees W; November to December 1994 and December 1995 to January 1996) to examine bacterioplankton growth and derive empirical factors for estimating bacterial production rates. Bacterial growth was exponential over 3 to 10 d in all experiments, at rates of ca 0.1 to 0.7 d(-1), even in persistently cold waters (-2 to + 1 degrees C). Growth rates were lower in the early part of the bloom (early to mid-November) and highest during the period of peak …

The Crest, Winter 1999, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• Experimental Fishery on Georges Bank Holds Promise for the Scallop Industry
• New VIMS Center Boosts Aquafarming
• Invader Threatens Stressed Ecosystem (Rapa Whelk)
• Microscopic Phytoplankton Live Large
• Reality By the Numbers (Computer Modeling)
• Tautog Research
• Latest Returns From the Game Fish Tagging Program
• Educational Landscape Center (VIMS Teaching Marsh)
• Responding to the Chesapeake Executive Council Directive for Wetlands Protection and Restoration Goals
• Dangers to Blue Crabs Accelerating

Oyster Reef Habitat Restoration : A Synopsis And Synthesis Of Approaches; Proceedings From The Symposium, Williamsburg, Virginia, April 1995, Mark Luckenbach, Roger L. Mann, James A. Wesson

Reports

This volume has its origin in a symposium held in Williamsburg, VA in April 1995, though most of the chapters have been significantly revised in the interim. The primary purpose of the symposium was to bring together state fisheries managers involved in fisheries-directed oyster enhancement and research scientists to refine approaches for enhancing oyster populations and to better develop the rationale for restoring reef habitats. We could hardly have anticipated the degree to which this been successful. In the interim between the symposium and the publication of this volume the notion that oyster reefs are valuable habitats, both for oysters …

Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 1998, John A. Lucy, C.M. Bain, M. D. Arendt

Reports

The Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program (VGFTP), a cooperative project of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), set records for fish tagged and fish recaptured during 1998, its fourth year of operation.

Spatial And Temporal Distributions Of Organic Matter And Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) In Surface Waters Of The York River, Va Estuary, Rebecca E. Countway

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Environmental Stress In Hard Coral: Evaluating Lipid As An Indicator Of Sublethal Stress On Short Time Scales, David Harold Niebuhr

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Lipid quality was evaluated in Montastrea spp. under sediment- and heat-stressed conditions to evaluate lipid ratio as an indicator of sub-lethal stress on short time scales. The ratio of storage lipid (wax ester + triacylglyceride) to structural lipid (sterol esters + phospholipid) decreased significantly (0.25 to 0.14, p < 0.01) after experimental sedimentation. FAME analysis of colonies exposed to experimental sedimentation showed a reduction of the algal, 18:3(n-6) and 18:4(n-3), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the polar lipid fraction. This loss of PUFA suggests a loss of algal membrane in sediment-stressed colonies. Lipid quality was similarly measured in M. faveolata over a 10-day period. Mean (n = 20) ratio of storage to structural lipid in M. faveolata dropped from 2.43 to a level of 0.98 immediately following a natural sedimentation event before recovering to levels of 1.4 and 2.9 on post-storm days 2 and 4, respectively. Colonies of M. annularis subject to heat-stress (35??C) exhibited no significant change in storage lipid ratio, while levels of Free Fatty Acids increased significantly from 0.012 (n = 22) to 0.156 mg lipid/g dry tissue (n = 22)(p < 0.05). FAME analysis of tissue lipids extracted from the heat-stressed colonies showed changes in the polar fraction, with significant decreases in the 18:3(n-6), 18:3(n-3), 18:4(n-3), 20:4(n-6) and 20:5(n-3) (p < 0.05) PUFA and subsequent significant increases in the saturated fatty acids, 16:0 and 18:0 (p < 0.05). These changes in lipid quantity and quality indicate possible oxidation and preferential digestion of zooxanthellar membranes. Stress experiments were repeated in M. annularis using VacutainerRTM blood collection tubes to collect micro-tissue samples without destroying skeleton of the sample colonies. A significant decrease in storage: structural lipid ratio after sedimentation was also detected using the micro-tissue technique. This study indicates that the relative abundance of lipid subclass components can indicate sub-lethal environmental stress, on short time scales, in M. annularis and M. faveolata. Furthermore, micro-tissue collection techniques permit repeated monitoring coral colonies to assess the manifestation of stress from first detection of impact at the cellular level to changes in community to changes in community structure detectable over longer time scales.

Reproductive Success Of Black Skimmers On An Artificial Island: Effects Of Hatching Date And Feeding Rate, Christopher Alan Gordon

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.