Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Elevating Dissolved Oxygen—Reflections On Developing And Using Long-Term Data, Nancy N. Rabalais Jan 2021

Elevating Dissolved Oxygen—Reflections On Developing And Using Long-Term Data, Nancy N. Rabalais

Gulf and Caribbean Research

This prospectus took me about as long to generate as my 36—year record of working on the issue of northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) oxygen deficiency, or so I felt. There was so much to cover, but I focused on the issue of hypoxia on the Louisiana continental shelf from the early 1980s to present and my participation in the research and outreach. Not that I was ignoring other aspects of my academic research career (e.g., stone crab populations and their differences in physiology and larval development along the nGOM coast; settlement of crab megalopae, especially blue crabs, on artificial …


Oldest Indo-Pacific Lionfish (Pterois Volitans/P. Miles) Recorded From The Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico, Raven D. Blakeway, Alexander Q. Fogg, Glenn A. Jones Jan 2021

Oldest Indo-Pacific Lionfish (Pterois Volitans/P. Miles) Recorded From The Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico, Raven D. Blakeway, Alexander Q. Fogg, Glenn A. Jones

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) were first detected off the coast of Florida in the 1980s, with aquaria release being the most likely mechanism for introduction. Since then, lionfish have proliferated through the Western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Here, we report the oldest lionfish aged on record in the Western Atlantic, removed from Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) in the GOM. In August 2018, a research expedition removed 745 lionfish from FGBNMS, of which a subset were retained for age and growth estimation. The oldest lionfish was a 10 y old male, …


A Sea Turtle Population Assessment For Florida's Big Bend, Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Ryan M. Chabot, Ryan C. Welsh, Cody R. Mott, Jeffrey R. Guertin, Brian M. Shamblin, Blair E. Witherington Jan 2021

A Sea Turtle Population Assessment For Florida's Big Bend, Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Ryan M. Chabot, Ryan C. Welsh, Cody R. Mott, Jeffrey R. Guertin, Brian M. Shamblin, Blair E. Witherington

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Coastal waters of Florida’s Big Bend, Gulf of Mexico (GOM) once supported one of the largest sea turtle fisheries in the United States. To fill an information gap in this region on abundance and distribution of sea turtles, we used vessel—based distance sampling and active capture methods to characterize current foraging aggregations near the St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve. Over 10 sampling periods between 2012—2018, we completed 513 km of transects and recorded 819 turtles among 4 species—green turtle (Chelonia mydas, n = 624), Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii, n = 147), loggerhead (Caretta caretta, …


Review: Formation And Metabolic Function Of Coral Rubble Biofilms In The Reef Ecosystem, Andres Sanchez-Quinto, Luisa I. Falcon Jan 2021

Review: Formation And Metabolic Function Of Coral Rubble Biofilms In The Reef Ecosystem, Andres Sanchez-Quinto, Luisa I. Falcon

Gulf and Caribbean Research

When coral dies, their calcareous skeletons constitute coral rubble in conjunction with the cementing activity of coralline algae and bacteria, creating a secondary reef structure which takes from years to decades to form. Healthy coral reefs differ from coral—rubble dominated reefs in microbial taxonomic composition and metabolic functional roles. The metabolisms of healthy reefs are dominated by autotrophic pathways, where carbon and nitrogen fixation dominate, while the metabolism of rubble—dominated reefs predominate in degradation of organic matter. Nitrogen fixation is 3 orders of magnitude lower in rubble—dominated reefs than in healthy reefs. Coral—rubble harbors a vast diversity of microbes that …


Patterns Of Dispersion, Movement And Feeding Of The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, And The Potential Implications For Grazing Impact On Live Seagrass, Adrianna Parson, Joseph M. Dirnberger, Troy Mutchler Jan 2021

Patterns Of Dispersion, Movement And Feeding Of The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, And The Potential Implications For Grazing Impact On Live Seagrass, Adrianna Parson, Joseph M. Dirnberger, Troy Mutchler

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus is a known grazer of both living and dead tissue of turtlegrass, Thalassia testudinum, occasionally denuding large areas of seagrass. Field studies have attempted to assess effects of herbivory on seagrass by enclosing urchins at various densities. However, it is unclear how unrestricted urchins affect seagrass at lower densities more typically observed in the field. This study describes movement, feeding, and distribution of L. variegatus within beds of T. testudinum in St. Joseph Bay, Florida (USA) to quantify this urchin’s impact as a seagrass grazer. Urchins were absent from portions of seagrass beds closest to …