Life Sciences Commons^™

Iodine-131: Measurement And Application Of A Novel Tracer In Lake Michigan, Michael Patrick Montenero

Theses and Dissertations

Iodine-131 is a short-lived (half-life=8.0233 days), gamma emitting, radiopharmaceutical that, when excreted by patients, enters aquatic systems via sewage effluent discharged from water reclamation facilities (WRFs). Here, I report on 131I activities in the nearshore of southwest Lake Michigan in the vicinity of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This is the first report on 131I activity in any of the Great Lakes of North America.

The flux of 131I from Milwaukee’s two WRFs was monitored from July 2013 to December 2014. Mean discharge of 131I from the Jones Island WRF was (0.664 ± 0.012)×108 Bq d-1 (mean effluent 131I activity: ~0.25 Bq L-1; …

Macrobenthic Communities In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Hypoxic Zone: Testing The Pearson-Rosenberg Model, Shivakumar Shivarudrappa

Dissertations

The Pearson and Rosenberg (P-R) conceptual model of macrobenthic succession was used to assess the impact of hypoxia (dissolved oxygen [DO] ≤ 2 mg/L) on the macrobenthic community on the continental shelf of northern Gulf of Mexico for the first time. The model uses a stress-response relationship between environmental parameters and the macrobenthic community to determine the ecological condition of the benthic habitat. The ecological significance of dissolved oxygen in a benthic habitat is well understood. In addition, the annual recurrence of bottom-water hypoxia on the Louisiana/Texas shelf during summer months is well documented.

The P-R model illustrates the decreasing …

Rare Occurrences Of Free-Living Bacteria Belonging To Sedimenticola From Subtidal Seagrass Beds Associated With The Lucinid Clam, Stewartia Floridana, Aaron M. Goemann

Masters Theses

Lucinid clams and their sulfur-oxidizing endosymbionts comprise two compartments of a three-stage, biogeochemical relationship among the clams, seagrasses, and microbial communities in marine sediments. A population of the lucinid clam, Stewartia floridana, was sampled from a subtidal seagrass bed at Bokeelia Island Seaport in Florida to test the hypotheses: (1) S. floridana, like other lucinids, are more abundant in seagrass beds than bare sediments; (2) S. floridana gill microbiomes are dominated by one bacterial operational taxonomic unit (OTU) at a sequence similarity threshold level of 97% (a common cutoff for species level taxonomy) from 16S rRNA genes; …

Suspended Particulate Matter Longitudinal Survey – Currituck Sound, Nc; Oct 13-15, 2015, Cruise: Cs151013-15, Chsd Stations: S5566-5587, Grace M. Massey, Kelsey A. Fall

Data

Dataset consists of water column and bottom burst data, PICS, and light attenuation data collected as part of a 21 station longitudinal survey of the Currituck Sound, NC along a ~60 km transect northward from the Wright Memorial Bridge.

Diel Vertical Distribution Patterns Of Zooplankton Along The Western Antarctic Peninsula, Patricia S. Thibodeau, John A. Conroy, Deborah K. Steinberg

Presentations

The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a region that has undergone significant change over the past several decades due to unprecedented increases sea surface temperature and decreases in sea ice cover. The ongoing Palmer Antarctica Long-Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER) study shows that these environmental changes are significantly affecting the marine pelagic ecosystem along the WAP. The goal of this study was to analyze diel vertical distribution patterns of zooplankton along the WAP.

Temporal Variation In Optical Properties Of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (Cdom) In Southern California Coastal Waters With Nearshore Kelp And Seagrass, Catherine D. Clark, Warren J. De Bruyn, Paige Aiona

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Optical properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) were measured in surf zone waters in diurnal field studies at a Southern California beach with nearshore kelp and seagrass beds and intertidal plant wrack. Absorption coefficients (aCDOM(300 nm)) ranged from 0.35 m21 to 3.7 m21 with short-term variability<1 h, increases at ebb and flood tides and higher values (6 m21) during an offshore storm event. Spectral slopes (S) ranged from 0.0028 nm21 to 0.017 nm21, with higher values after the storm; S was generally inversely correlated with aCDOM(300 nm). 3-D excitation–emission matrix spectra (EEMs) for samples with lower S values had humic-type peaks associated with terrestrial material (A, C), marine microbial material (M) and protein peaks, characteristic of freshly produced organic material. Samples with high S values had no or reduced protein peaks, consistent with aged material. Fluorescent indexes (f450/f500 >2.5, BIX>1.1) were consistent with microbial aquatic sources. Leachates of senescent kelp and seagrass had protein and humic-type EEM peaks. After solar simulator irradiation (4 h), protein peaks rapidly photochemically degraded, humic-type peak C increased in intensity and peak M disappeared. Optical characteristics of kelp leachates were most similar to field samples, …

Coastal Sediment Elevation Change Following Anthropogenic Mangrove Clearing, Heather Lyn Hayden, Elise F. Granek

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coastal mangrove forests along tropical shorelines serve as an important interface between land and sea. They provide a physical buffer protecting the coastline from erosion and act as sediment “traps” catching terrestrial sediment, thus preventing smothering of subtidal coral reefs. Coastal development that removes mangrove habitat may impact adjacent nearshore coral reefs through sedimentation and nutrient loading. We examined differences in sediment elevation change between patches of open-coast intact and anthropogenically cleared red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) on the east side of Turneffe Atoll, Belize, to quantify changes following mangrove clearing. Samples were collected over a 24 month period at five …

Taxonomy Of The Bitentaculate Cirratulidae (Polychaeta), Stacy A. Tewari

Graduate Masters Theses

The bitentaculate cirratulid polychaetes are an important faunal element of both near shore and deep-sea benthic faunal communities. The true diversity of the family is currently unknown due to a large number of undescribed species and erroneously applied “cospmopolitan” names being applied to local species. Cirratulids have been misidentified even in the local waters near the University of Massachusetts Boston. The current study presents six new species from North America. Caulleriella venefica, Chaetozone anasimus, Chaetozone diodonta, and Chaetozone hystricosus are described from Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay where only two species had previously been reported. Aphelochaeta bullata …

Assessing Biogeochemical Impacts And Environmental Conditions Associated With Cross-Shelf High Chlorophyll Plumes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Erin Brooke Jones

Dissertations

The northern Gulf of Mexico is a complex marine system subject to episodic physical phenomena such as loop current eddies. Flow fields generated by these eddies can result in cross-shelf exchanges between riverine influenced shelf waters and the offshore water column. This study considers the impacts of high chlorophyll plumes (HCPs) resulting from cross-shelf exchanges to the bio-optical properties of affected waters and how these plumes are influenced by their environment. The seasonal, interannual and decadal chlorophyll cycles of the Gulf of Mexico and the northern Gulf of Mexico are described to provide context for evaluating the ecological effects of …

Mate Choice In Temperate And Tropical Spiny Lobsters With Contrasting Reproductive Systems, Mark Butler Iv, Rodney Bertelsen, Alison Macdiarmid

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Sperm limitation of reproductive success is common in decapod crustaceans, favouring mating systems in which females compete for large males of high reproductive value. We investigated these phenomena in two species of spiny lobsters—one temperate, one tropical—with contrasting reproductive systems: the Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii) and the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus). We hypothesized that female mate selection should be more pronounced in the temperate J. edwardsii than in the tropical P. argus because J. edwardsii matures later, has a shorter mating season, and produces just one clutch of eggs per year that benefit from …

Contrasting Environmental Drivers Of Adult And Juvenile Growth In A Marine Fish: Implications For The Effects Of Climate Change, Joyce Jia Lin Ong, Adam Nicholas Rountrey, Jessica Jane Meeuwig, Stephen J. Newman, Jens Zinke, Mark Gregory Meekan

Fisheries Research Articles

Many marine fishes have life history strategies that involve ontogenetic changes in the use of coastal habitats. Such ontogenetic shifts may place these species at particular risk from climate change, because the successive environments they inhabit can differ in the type, frequency and severity of changes related to global warming. We used a dendrochronology approach to examine the physical and biological drivers of growth of adult and juvenile mangrove jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) from tropical north-western Australia. Juveniles of this species inhabit estuarine environments and adults reside on coastal reefs. The Niño-4 index, a measure of the status of …

Elucidating The Impact Of Roseophage On Roseobacter Metabolism And Marine Nutrient Cycles, Nana Yaw Darko Ankrah

Doctoral Dissertations

As the most abundant biological entities in marine environments, viruses are an important component of marine food webs. The activity of viruses contributes significantly to the mortality of marine microorganisms, ultimately influencing biological function and chemical composition of aquatic systems by impacting species composition and flow of carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients. Despite the growing recognition that viral activity contributes to marine biogeochemical cycles, the extent to which virus infection reshapes host metabolism and the effect of this alteration on the composition of host lysate remains poorly understood. Additionally, the degree to which natural bacterioplankton communities metabolise the released lysate …

Characterizing The Influence Of Atlantic Water Intrusion On Water Mass Formation And Primary Production In Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, Courtney Michelle Payne

Honors Projects

With warming global temperatures and changes to large-scale ocean circulation patterns, warm water intrusion into Arctic fjords is increasingly affecting fragile polar ecosystems. This study investigated how warm Atlantic water intrusion and the tidewater glacial melting it causes impacted water mass formation and primary productivity in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Data were collected over a 2-week period during the height of the melt season in August near the Kronebreen/Kongsvegen glacier complex, the most rapidly retreating glacier in Spitsbergen. Since 1998, intruding waters have warmed between 4 and 5.5˚C, which has prevented sea ice formation and changed the characteristics of fjord bottom waters. …

Imber- Research For Marine Sustainability: Synthesis And The Way Forward, Eileen Hofmann, Alida Bundy, Ken Drinkwater, Alberto R. Piola, Bernard Avril, Carol Robinson

CCPO Publications

The Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) project aims at developing a comprehensive understanding of and accurate predictive capacity of ocean responses to accelerating global change and the consequent effects on the Earth system and human society. Understanding the changing ecology and biogeochemistry of marine ecosystems and their sensitivity and resilience to multiple drivers, pressures and stressors is critical to developing responses that will help reduce the vulnerability of marine-dependent human communities. This overview of the IMBER project provides a synthesis of project achievements and highlights the value of collaborative, interdisciplinary, integrated research approaches as developed and implemented through …

Acclimation, Adaptation, Traits And Trade-Offs In Plankton Functional Type Models: Reconciling Terminology For Biology And Modelling, Kevin J. Flynn, Michael St. John, John A. Raven, David O. F. Skibinski, J. Icarus Allen, Aditee Mitra, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

We propose definitions in terminology to enhance ongoing collaborations between biologists and modellers on plankton ecology. Organism "functional type" should refer to commonality in ecology not biogeochemistry; the latter is largely an emergent property of the former, while alignment with ecology is also consistent with usage in terrestrial science. Adaptation should be confined, as in genetics, to consideration of species inter-generational change; most so-called "adaptive" plankton models are thus acclimative, modifying vital rates in response to stimuli. Trait trade-off approaches should ideally only be considered for describing intra-generational interactions; in applications between generations, and certainly between unrelated species, such concepts …

The American Lobster Settlement Index: An Early Warning System?, Maine Sea Grant College Program

Maine Sea Grant Publications

The harvest of American lobsters is the Gulf of Maine’s largest, most valuable, and most iconic fishery. The catch has never been higher, but how long will it last? Fishing communities in eastern Maine and southern Nova Scotia are seeing historically high landings, some five times higher than the 1980s. At the same time, the lobster fishery south of Cape Cod has all but collapsed, plagued by shell disease and stressfully warm summers. It has never been more important to monitor this vital fishery. The American Lobster Settlement Index measures the annual pulse of baby lobsters to rocky nurseries some …

The Value Of Captains’ Behavioral Choices In The Success Of The Surfclam (Spisula Solidissima) Fishery On The U.S. Mid-Atlantic Coast: A Model Evaluation, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Daphne M. Munroe, Eileen E. Hofmann, Paula Moreno, Roger Mann

CCPO Publications

The response of the surfclam Spisula solidissima to warming of the Mid-Atlantic Bight is manifested by recession of the southern and inshore boundary of the clam’s range. This phenomenon has impacted the fishery through the closure of southern ports and the movement of processing capacity north, impacts that may require responsive actions on the part of fishery captains to mitigate a decline in fishery performance otherwise ineluctably accompanying this shift in range. The purpose of this study was to evaluate options in the behavioral repertoire of captains that might provide mitigation. A model capable of simulating a spatially and temporally …

The Influence Of Short-Term Events On The Hydrographic And Biological Structure Of The Southwestern Ross Sea, Randolph M. Jones

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Relative to the rest of the Southern Ocean, the Ross Sea continental shelf experiences very high productivity and phytoplankton biomass, which supports an extensive food web including high concentrations of upper trophic level biomass. Conventional observational methods, including ship-based sampling, instrumented moorings, satellite imagery, and computer-based modelling, have illustrated the seasonal progression of the phytoplankton bloom over the past four decades. While we have been sampling phytoplankton variability in the Ross Sea on a variety of relatively large scales, with observations at specific locations or times, over spans of time, or at specific depths, our understanding of smaller scales of …

Mathematical Modeling Of Emiliania Huxleyi And A Host-Specific Virus, Julia Middleton

Honors Theses

The world’s oceans provide the basis for life on the planet. One microscopic algae, the coccolithophores, and Emiliania huxleyi in particular, is a major source of carbon drawdown in the context of the global carbon cycle and account for a significant amount of the primary production in oceanic ecosystems. We know that the oceans are packed with marine viruses and they have an important role in the rise and fall of plankton populations but current mathematical models do not accurately account for virus-host interactions when predicting plankton blooms. Therefore I am using model optimization and comparison techniques to evaluate current …

Population Dynamics Of The Little Gulper Shark (Centrophorus Uyato) And Community Analyses Of Elasmobranch Species In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Jacquelin Joye Hipes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In chapter 1 I describe the population dynamics of an understudied species of gulper shark, Centrophorus uyato (common name, the Little Gulper), found in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Sharks in the family Centrophoridae are mid-sized, demersal fish, with seven species identified in North American waters. These deepwater species can be difficult to study due to the extreme depths at which they occur. During four longlining cruises from 2012-2014, 593 sharks were landed, predominantly in the Mississippi Canyon off the Louisiana coast. Mean depth of capture was 290 m. Supplementing these data are catch records for C. uyato from a …

Predicting Carbon Isotope Discrimination In Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) From The Environmental Parameters- Light, Flow, And [Dic], Meredith L. Mcpherson, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill

OES Faculty Publications

Isotopic discrimination against ¹³C during photosynthesis is determined by a combination of environmental conditions and physiological mechanisms that control delivery of CO₂ to RUBISCO. This study investigated the effects of light, flow, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration, and its speciation, on photosynthetic carbon assimilation of Zostera marinaL. (eelgrass) using a combination of laboratory experiments and theoretical calculations leading to a mechanistic understanding of environmental conditions that influence leaf carbon uptake and determine leaf stable carbon isotope signatures δ¹³C. Photosynthesis was saturated with respect to flow at low velocity ~ 3 cm s^-1, but …

Predicting Effects Of Ocean Warming, Acidification, And Water Quality On Chesapeake Region Eelgrass, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill, Charles L. Gallegos

OES Faculty Publications

Although environmental requirements of seagrasses have been studied for years, reliable metrics for predicting their response to current or future conditions remain elusive. Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) populations of the Chesapeake region lie near the southern limit of their range in the Western North Atlantic, exposing them to increasing thermal stress as the climate warms. However, CO₂ stimulated photosynthesis may offset some of the negative effects of temperature stress. The combined effects of temperature, CO₂, and light availability controlled by water quality and epiphytes were explored using GrassLight, a bio-optical model that provided a predictive …

Understanding Ocean Acidification Impacts On Organismal To Ecological Scales, Andreas J. Andersson, David I. Kline, Peter J. Edmunds, Stephen D. Archer, Nina Bednarsek, Robert C. Carpenter, Meg Chadsey, Philip Goldstein, Andrea G. Grottoli, Thomas P. Hurst, Andrew L. King, Janet E. Kübler, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Katherine R.M. Mackey, Bruce A. Menge, Adina Paytan, Ulf Riebesell, Astrid Schnetzer, Mark E. Warner, Richard C. Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

Ocean acidification (OA) research seeks to understand how marine ecosystems and global elemental cycles will respond to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry in combination with other environmental perturbations such as warming, eutrophication, and deoxygenation. Here, we discuss the effectiveness and limitations of current research approaches used to address this goal. A diverse combination of approaches is essential to decipher the consequences of OA to marine organisms, communities, and ecosystems. Consequently, the benefits and limitations of each approach must be considered carefully. Major research challenges involve experimentally addressing the effects of OA in the context of large natural variability in seawater …

Living On The Margin In The Anthropocene: Engagement Arenas For Sustainability Research And Action At The Ocean-Land Interface, B. C. Glavovic, K. Limburg, K-K. Liu, K-C. Emeis, H. Thomas, H. Kremer, B. Avril, J. Zhang, M. R. Mulholland, M. Glaser, D. P. Swaney

OES Faculty Publications

The advent of the Anthropocene underscores the need to develop and implement transformative governance strategies that safeguard the Earth's life-support systems, most critically at the ocean-land interface - the Margin. The seaward realm of the Margin is the new frontier for resource exploitation and colonization to meet the needs of coastal nations and humanity overall. Here, we spotlight the pivotal role of the Margin for planetary resilience and sustainability, highlight priority issues, and outline a research strategy which aims to: (a) better understand Margin social-ecological systems; (b) guide sustainable development of Margin resources; (c) design governance regimes to reverse unsustainable …

Iron Deficiency Increases Growth And Nitrogen-Fixation Rates Of Phosphorus-Deficient Marine Cyanobacteria, Nathan S. Garcia, Feixue Fu, Peter N. Sedwick, David A. Hutchins

OES Faculty Publications

Marine dinitrogen (N²)-fixing cyanobacteria have large impacts on global biogeochemistry as they fix carbon dioxide (CO₂) and fertilize oligotrophic ocean waters with new nitrogen. Iron (Fe) and phosphorus (P) are the two most important limiting nutrients for marine biological N₂ fixation, and their availabilities vary between major ocean basins and regions. A long-standing question concerns the ability of two globally dominant N₂-fixing cyanobacteria, unicellular Crocosphaera and filamentous Trichodesmium, to maintain relatively high N₂-fixation rates in these regimes where both Fe and P are typically scarce. We show that under P-deficient …

The Relative Importance Of Methanogenesis In The Decomposition Of Organic Matter In Northern Peatlands, J. Elizabeth Corbett, Malak M. Tfaily, David J. Burdige, Paul H. Glaser, Jeffrey P. Chanton

OES Faculty Publications

Using an isotope-mass balance approach and assuming the equimolar production of CO₂ and CH₄ from methanogenesis (e.g., anaerobic decomposition of cellulose), we calculate that the proportion of total CO₂ production from methanogenesis varies from 37 to 83% across a variety of northern peatlands. In a relative sense, methanogenesis was a more important pathway for decomposition in bogs (80 ± 13% of CO₂ production) than in fens (64 ± 5.7% of CO₂ production), but because fens contain more labile substrates they may support higher CH4 production overall. The concentration of CO₂ produced from methanogenesis (CO …

Heterotrophic And Autotrophic Contribution To Dinitrogen Fixation In The Gulf Of Aqaba, Eyal Rahav, Barak Herut, Margaret R. Mulholland, Natalia Belkin, Hila Elifantz, Ilana Berman-Frank

OES Faculty Publications

We evaluated the seasonal contribution of heterotrophic and autotrophic diazotrophy to the total dinitrogen (N₂) fixation in the photic zone of a pelagic station in the northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. N₂ fixation rates were highest during a Trichodesmium bloom in winter (0.7 nmol N l^-1 d^-1), decreased 7-fold 1 wk later throughout the upper 200 m (~0.1 nmol N l^-1) d^-1), and were significantly coupled with both primary and bacterial productivity. N₂ fixation rates were generally higher in the upper 200 m (~0.4 nmol N l^{-1 …}

Casitas: A Location-Dependent Ecological Trap For Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus Argus, Benjamin C. Gutzler, Mark J. Butler Iv, Donald C. Behringer

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Casitas are artificial shelters used by fishers to aggregate Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) for ease of capture. However, casitas may function as an ecological trap for juvenile lobsters if they are attracted to casitas and their growth or mortality is poorer compared with natural shelters. We hypothesized that juvenile lobsters may be at particular risk if attracted to casitas because they are less able than larger individuals to defend themselves, and do not forage far from shelter. We compared the nutritional condition, relative mortality, and activity of lobsters of various sizes in casitas and natural shelters in adult and …

The Effect Of Parental Size On Spermatophore Production, Egg Quality, Fertilization Success, And Larval Characteristics In The Caribbean Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Argus, Mark J. Butler Iv, Alison Macdiarmid, Gaya Gnanalingam

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The average size of spiny lobsters (Decapoda; Palinuridae) has decreased worldwide over the past few decades. Market forces coupled with minimum size limits compel fishers to target the largest individuals. Males are targeted disproportionately as a consequence of sexual dimorphism in spiny lobster size (i.e. males grow larger than females) and because of protections for ovigerous females. Therefore, overexploitation of males has led to sperm limitation in several decapod populations with serious repercussions for reproductive success. In the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, little is known about the effect of reduced male size on fertilization success or the role …

Iron Supply And Demand In Antarctic Shelf Ecosystem, D. J. Mcgillicuddy Jr., Peter N. Sedwick, Michael S. Dinniman, K. R. Arrigo, T. S. Bibby, B. J. W. Greenan, Eileen E. Hofmann, John M. Klinck, W. O. Smith Jr., S. L. Mack, C. M. Marsay, B. M. Sohst, G. L. Van Dijken

OES Faculty Publications

The Ross Sea sustains a rich ecosystem and is the most productive sector of the Southern Ocean. Most of this production occurs within a polynya during the November-February period, when the availability of dissolved iron (dFe) is thought to exert the major control on phytoplankton growth. Here we combine new data on the distribution of dFe, high-resolution model simulations of ice melt and regional circulation, and satellite-based estimates of primary production to quantify iron supply and demand over the Ross Sea continental shelf. Our analysis suggests that the largest sources of dFe to the euphotic zone are wintertime mixing and …