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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Drivers Of Extracellular Polysaccharide Production By A Mat-Forming Diatom, Kaitlin A. Stansbury
Drivers Of Extracellular Polysaccharide Production By A Mat-Forming Diatom, Kaitlin A. Stansbury
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Microbial biofilms are held together by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which can be secreted by many organisms. EPS production can facilitate intercellular communication and inter-guild microbial mutualisms, intraspecific gamete exchange, nutrient sequestration, and desiccation resistance. Benthic microbial mats (periphyton) of the Florida Everglades and other karstic wetlands contain abundant EPS generated by mat-producing filamentous blue-green algae and many other species of mat-dwelling algae, cyanobacteria, and bacteria, including the most abundant Everglades diatom, Mastagloia calcarea. The benthic diatom genus Mastogloia is characterized by several morphological and physiological features that foster production of a ‘halo’ of EPS around the frustule, but the …
Changes In Soil Microbial Functioning In Coastal Wetlands Exposed To Environmental Stressors And Subsidies, Shelby M. Servais
Changes In Soil Microbial Functioning In Coastal Wetlands Exposed To Environmental Stressors And Subsidies, Shelby M. Servais
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Environmental perturbations are ubiquitous features of ecosystems and shape ecological structure and function. Climate change will alter the intensity and frequency of disturbances and expose ecosystems to novel combinations of useful inputs (subsidies) and harmful inputs (stressors). Coastal wetlands are particularly vulnerable to changing environmental conditions and are increasingly exposed to effects of interacting subsidies and stressors. In particular, the Florida Coastal Everglades, which has experienced accelerated change due to a history of water management practices, is vulnerable to new disturbances associated with climate change. The low-lying Florida Everglades faces multiple disturbances from storm surge, nutrient enrichment, and sea-level rise …