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Articles 1 - 30 of 41
Full-Text Articles in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Stream Fish Assemblage Dynamics And Barriers To Aquatic Connectivity In The Ichawaynochaway Creek Watershed, Georgia, Usa, Jake R. Duhé
Stream Fish Assemblage Dynamics And Barriers To Aquatic Connectivity In The Ichawaynochaway Creek Watershed, Georgia, Usa, Jake R. Duhé
LSU Master's Theses
Stream fishes in the southeastern United States are adapted to hydrological disturbances such as droughts. However, this region is projected to experience increasingly frequent and severe disturbances that will elevate water demands given increasing agricultural and urban development. Further, road-stream crossings (RSCs) are abundant features in these streams that can exacerbate drought-mediated stream fragmentation and impede movements by many aquatic organisms, including fishes, when poorly constructed. These compounding effects may adversely affect the diversity and abundances of resident stream fishes, but their interactions remain poorly understood, warranting rigorous testing of how droughts and RSCs influence stream fish dynamics. I assessed …
Co2 In Flowing Freshwaters: Macro Scale Database Compilation, Addressing Ph Bias In Co2 Estimates, And Quantifying Cross-Scale Interactions, Timothy R. Toavs
Co2 In Flowing Freshwaters: Macro Scale Database Compilation, Addressing Ph Bias In Co2 Estimates, And Quantifying Cross-Scale Interactions, Timothy R. Toavs
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation focuses on carbon dioxide (CO2) dynamics in flowing freshwaters, contributing to the growing body of knowledge about inland water carbon cycles. The research is structured into three main chapters, each progressing towards the objective of utilizing variability in flowing freshwaters to further understand carbon dynamics, anthropogenic land cover impacts, and potential impacts from a changing climate. Chapter one compiles a 30-year dataset of pCO2 measurements from flowing freshwater systems across the contiguous United States. This dataset, referred to as CDFLOW, includes over 750,000 pCO2 estimates from more than 35,000 locations. It serves …
Understanding Mechanisms For Coastal Marsh Sustainability In A Changing Climate, Ashley R. Booth
Understanding Mechanisms For Coastal Marsh Sustainability In A Changing Climate, Ashley R. Booth
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
In the Chenier Plain of Louisiana and Texas, coastal marshes are subject to high rates of relative sea level rise (RSLR), restricted sedimentation, and declining elevation attributed to subsidence and decades of intensive management. These marshes were created via mineral sedimentation but now largely accrete via organic matter accumulation. This organic matter accumulation (OMA) – or the balance between plant productivity and decomposition – is essential for maintaining elevation and thus long-term sustainability. However, management for elevation is complicated by a poor understanding of how abiotic factors like flooding and salinity impact processes driving OMA and elevation. To better understand …
Impact Of Containment And Elevation On Created Marsh Plant Community And Ecosystem Dynamics, Kevin R. Stoner
Impact Of Containment And Elevation On Created Marsh Plant Community And Ecosystem Dynamics, Kevin R. Stoner
LSU Master's Theses
Coastal marsh restoration is increasing globally, as marshes are impacted by anthropogenic impacts. Billions of dollars are allocated to marsh restoration in the Mississippi River delta where wetland loss rates are extremely high. The recovery of structural and functional attributes of created marshes varies by attribute measured and project. Here, two marshes created in 2018 and one natural marsh were used to examine how variations in hydrologic connectivity and marsh elevation influence subsurface hydrology and salinity, vegetation community structure, soil properties, accretion, and denitrification. I established a comparative field study in a created marsh contained within a higher elevation containment …
Spatial Mapping Of The Benthic Community And How It Is Used To Research Effects Of Dredging In Louisiana's Lake Borgne., Meghan Johnson
Spatial Mapping Of The Benthic Community And How It Is Used To Research Effects Of Dredging In Louisiana's Lake Borgne., Meghan Johnson
LSU Master's Theses
Benthic communities are vitally important for healthy aquatic ecosystems across Louisiana’s coast. Specifically in Lake Borgne, ecologically important species of fish like the Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) rely on benthic macrofauna as their main food source. The purpose of this study was to determine the spatial landscape of biodiversity and abundance of the benthic macrofauna community in Lake Borgne. Environmental conditions played a key role in community structure during the study period (fall 2021 through summer 2023) with a major drought occurring in 2023. In 2023, the decline in the abundance of most benthic invertebrates and in …
Effects Of Treated Effluent Discharge On Tree Water Use And Growth In A Cypress Swamp., Devin Schexnayder
Effects Of Treated Effluent Discharge On Tree Water Use And Growth In A Cypress Swamp., Devin Schexnayder
LSU Master's Theses
Inundated baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) trees generally respond to secondarily-treated and disinfected municipal effluent additions with increased growth rates and reduced mortality. Yet, the effects of effluent additions on the water-use and functional traits of inundated mature baldcypress are poorly understood. Because increased tree growth is associated with increased water use, effluent additions may affect the water budget in coastal swamps by increasing water uptake from the rhizosphere due to increased tree transpiration. I used sap flux density (fd) measurements to assess water-use traits and tree-level daily transpiration (E) in seven mature inundated baldcypress trees that had …
Rangewide Migratory Connectivity And Migration Ecology In Swainson's Warblers (Limnothlypis Swainsonii) Derived From Multisensor Geolocators, Garrett Rhyne
LSU Master's Theses
Successful conservation of Neotropical migratory passerines requires a detailed understanding of their annual cycle ecology, including wintering and breeding distributions, migratory pathways and stopovers, and migratory phenology. It is also important to evaluate the extent of geographic isolation between separate breeding populations during the nonbreeding season, known as migratory connectivity. Swainson’s Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii) is a species of conservation concern that, due to their secretive nature and selection of dense forest habitats, is poorly studied and lacks migratory information. Our objective was to track Swainson’s Warblers across their breeding populations (Mississippi Valley, Coastal Plains, and Appalachian) to detail …
Wave Attenuation Through Mangrove Forest Using Lidar Representation, Elizabeth Bogan
Wave Attenuation Through Mangrove Forest Using Lidar Representation, Elizabeth Bogan
LSU Master's Theses
Mangrove forests can be found along the world’s intertidal tropical and sub-tropical coastlines. These forested wetlands provide many ecosystem services, including supporting coastal food chains, trapping sediment, and shoreline stabilization. Mangroves are also known for flood damage mitigation by dissipating waves and surge during flooding events. Thus, coastal communities declare a vested interest in the performance of the forest to mitigate flood damage. Physical models using artificial mangrove structures have shown that red mangrove-dominated fringe forests can protect built infrastructure by reducing wave height due to increased drag. One way to estimate the contribution of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) prop …
Impact Of Sediment Diversion For Coastal Restoration On Nitrogen And Phosphorus Biogeochemical Cycling In Coastal Louisiana, Usa, Mercedes M. Pinzon Delgado
Impact Of Sediment Diversion For Coastal Restoration On Nitrogen And Phosphorus Biogeochemical Cycling In Coastal Louisiana, Usa, Mercedes M. Pinzon Delgado
LSU Master's Theses
Wetlands provide essential ecosystem services and functions, including improving surface water quality through nutrient removal. Louisiana experienced ~4,800 km2 of coastal wetland loss between 1932 and 2016 due to high relative sea level rise and reduced sediment input from the Mississippi River (MR). The 2023 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan aims to restore Louisiana's degraded coastline through restoration projects, including sediment diversions. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project will reconnect MR sediment-laden water with Barataria Basin degrading marshes. The diversion will also deliver nitrate (NO3-) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) to this basin, potentially negatively impacting water quality. …
Tracing Energy Pathways Through Coastal Wetland Food Webs, Katherine Loesser
Tracing Energy Pathways Through Coastal Wetland Food Webs, Katherine Loesser
LSU Master's Theses
Southeastern Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are important habitat for aquatic species, yet the spatial heterogeneity in habitat types and abundance of many basal energy sources makes it challenging to elucidate patterns of energy flow across the landscape mosaic. This ecosystem is experiencing substantial changes, both through anthropogenically-accelerated climate change and anthropogenic landscape modifications. Therefore, the overall goal of this thesis was to trace patterns of energy flow across coastal wetland landscapes to determine which basal energy pathways support aquatic food webs and if patterns of energy pathway dependence are altered by changes to the landscape. In the first part of this …
Silica Concentrations In Dominant Vegetation Species Of Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana, Danielle M. Soileau
Silica Concentrations In Dominant Vegetation Species Of Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana, Danielle M. Soileau
LSU Master's Theses
Coastal deltaic wetlands colonize dynamic environments and experience fluctuations of salinity, river connectivity, sediment dredging or deposition, and periods of inundation resulting in unique vegetation and soils. Louisiana’s coastline is experiencing enhanced loss of coastal deltaic wetlands in coastal basins where the Mississippi River no longer is connected to waterways and channels that would normally provide freshwater and sediments representing the abandonment phase of the delta cycle. There is a coastal basin in the central regions of the state, the Atchafalaya Bay, that is still in the active phase of delta cycle resulting in the growth of the Wax Lake, …
Evaluating Abiotic And Biotic Factors Affecting Plant Succession Processes At Malheur Lake, Beth Boos, Sammy L. King
Evaluating Abiotic And Biotic Factors Affecting Plant Succession Processes At Malheur Lake, Beth Boos, Sammy L. King
LSU Master's Theses
Arid wetlands are diverse systems that provide habitat for a variety of flora and fauna, including stopover and breeding habitat for migratory birds. In the western United States, these wetlands support a network of stopover sites on the Pacific Flyway, and due primarily to wetland loss and alterations, these areas are becoming more isolated. Malheur Lake is a shallow endorheic lake in eastern Oregon that supported a robust emergent marsh throughout most of the 20th century. However, following large scale flooding in the 1980s, emergent vegetation was extirpated and has only reestablished in small patches. Our objective was to …
Characterizing Habitat Suitability For Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser Oxyrinchus Desotoi) In Southern Louisiana, Jenna N. Brogdon
Characterizing Habitat Suitability For Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser Oxyrinchus Desotoi) In Southern Louisiana, Jenna N. Brogdon
LSU Master's Theses
A generalized additive modeling (GAM) framework was used to characterize fish-habitat relationships and develop habitat suitability maps to predict spatiotemporal and ontogenetic shifts in Gulf sturgeon distribution within an impacted estuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Lake Pontchartrain. Gulf sturgeon (n = 103) were fitted with acoustic transmitters in the Pearl River during the early summer and fall from 2013 to 2018, and an array of acoustic receivers (n = 81) was used to monitor Gulf sturgeon habitat use and movement in the estuary from 2016 to 2019. Daily presence data from the telemetry array were paired with environmental …
Wetland Soil Development Along Salinity And Hydrogeomorphic Gradients In Active And Inactive Deltaic Basins Of Coastal Louisiana, Amanda Fontenot
Wetland Soil Development Along Salinity And Hydrogeomorphic Gradients In Active And Inactive Deltaic Basins Of Coastal Louisiana, Amanda Fontenot
LSU Master's Theses
Coastal wetlands provide an abundance of ecosystem services that benefit society, such as essential habitat for commercial species, storm protection, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage. Louisiana faces rapid rates of relative sea level rise (natural subsidence and eustatic sea levels) that threaten wetland survival, which are amplified by a reduction of riverine sediment input. An important determining factor of marsh survival is the formation of wetland platform elevation, known as vertical accretion, which is determined by several processes including sediment deposition & erosion, below ground biomass (BGB) productivity, decomposition of organic matter, shallow & deep subsidence, and soil compaction. Feldspar …
Effects Of Freshwater Input On Nutrient Loading, Toxic Cyanobacteria Bloom Development And Cyanotoxin Production In Lake Pontchartrain Estuary, Louisiana, Callie L. Snow
LSU Master's Theses
Estuaries in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are undergoing profound alterations due to changes in climate and implementation of coastal restoration activities and these may lead to the increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms (HABs). The introduction of large volumes of nutrient-rich, fresh Mississippi River water into nutrient-poor Lake Pontchartrain Estuary is known to substantially change the chemistry and ecology of the estuary, and warm temperatures paired with the persistent nutrient loading into the estuary supports the proliferation of potentially toxic cyanobacteria blooms (CyanoHABs). Throughout 2019, a long-term opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway (BCS), initially from February to …
Blue Carbon In South Florida's Mangroves: The Role Of Large Roots And Necromass, Zoë I. Shribman
Blue Carbon In South Florida's Mangroves: The Role Of Large Roots And Necromass, Zoë I. Shribman
LSU Master's Theses
Blue carbon sequestration and storage in mangroves largely result from belowground biomass allocation in response to flooded anaerobic soil conditions and nutrient availability. Biomass allocation to belowground roots is a major driver of mangrove soil formation and organic matter accumulation leading to blue carbon storage potential. Belowground biomass sampling in mangroves is labor intensive, limiting data availability on biomass stocks, particularly for large roots (>20 mm diameter) and necromass (dead roots). The mangrove nutrient model (NUMAN) uses mostly literature values to parameterize a soil cohort approach to simulate depth distribution of root mass and organic carbon concentration. We evaluated …
Effects Of Wetland Management And Associated Abiotic Factors On Rare Plant Communities Of Spring-Fed Arid Wetlands, Antonio Cantu De Leija
Effects Of Wetland Management And Associated Abiotic Factors On Rare Plant Communities Of Spring-Fed Arid Wetlands, Antonio Cantu De Leija
LSU Master's Theses
Spring-fed arid wetlands support high biological productivity and are hotspots for endemism and distribution of rare plants, making them areas of high conservation value. These systems are driven by complex interactions among groundwater discharge and the geomorphic and climatic features of the setting, which provide gradients of edaphic conditions, particularly soil moisture and salinity that influence the presence and abundance of rare plant communities. However, spring-fed arid wetlands are at particular risk of increases in salinity and drier hydrological regimes due to anthropogenic activities. Such alterations to abiotic conditions may jeopardize the distribution and abundance of rare plants by exceeding …
Effects Of Salinity On Eastern Oysters: Locating Lower-Salinity Tolerant Populations And Defining Resource Zones Suitable To Restoration, Fisheries, And Aquaculture., Lauren Swam
LSU Master's Theses
Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) provide valuable ecosystem services and support a productive commercial industry in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Declining abundance from water quality changes and other factors drives development of management and restoration strategies focused on a comprehensive, metapopulation approach. Identifying oyster resource zones based on water quality combined with selective breeding of oysters adapted to specific conditions provides strategies to support aquaculture development and ensure resilient oyster populations and high production. Using 2015-2019 satellite-derived continuous salinity and temperature data for coastal Louisiana, this work created maps defining oyster resource zones supportive of (1) broodstock sanctuary …
Habitat Use And Morphology Of Birds In "Intact" Amazonia Under Changing Climate, Vitek Jirinec
Habitat Use And Morphology Of Birds In "Intact" Amazonia Under Changing Climate, Vitek Jirinec
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Neotropical forests contain the core of global avian diversity. Of these, the Amazon rainforest is the largest, but ~20% has already been lost to deforestation, inspiring research into the effects of clearing and fragmentation on forest birds. These studies have consistently shown that insectivorous birds that forage on or near the ground are the most sensitive species to forest disturbance. As a preamble to our study, we synthesized bird capture data collected over 40 years within continuous forest far from human disturbance. Remarkably, we found that terrestrial and near-ground insectivores have shown substantial abundance declines even within primary forest. The …
Plant Community Response To The Combined Effects Of Elevation, And Simulated Nutrient And Sediment Loading In Sagittaria Lancifolia-Dominated Wetlands, Donnie Day
LSU Master's Theses
Coastal wetlands are experiencing threats to their long-term sustainability brought about by the combined effects of relative sea-level rise and human modifications to hydrology, sediment delivery and nutrient loading. Restoration and management strategies can include adding sediment to the surface of deteriorating marshes to facilitate positive feedbacks among elevation, plant productivity, sediment trapping, and accretion; however, if delivered using nitrate-enriched river waters, belowground biomass and soil organic matter pools may be negatively affected, resulting in the acceleration of wetland loss. Overall, there is limited information on the combined effects of nutrient loading, sedimentation, and flooding dynamics in regulating feedbacks among …
Free-Floating Invasive Fern Affects Freshwater Marsh Ecosystem Structure: Changes To Water Quality And Chemistry, Aquatic Vegetation, Fish, And Invertebrates, Charles Wahl
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Aquatic invertebrates are important to the function freshwater marshes. They are vital to the transfer of energy from primary producers and organic matter to higher trophic levels. The structure of macroinvertebrate communities is directly associated with aquatic macrophyte diversity and abundance. Submerged macrophytes produce oxygen, are a food source, and provide physical habitat, which allows numerous aquatic organisms to exist. Introduction of the invasive free-floating aquatic fern giant salvinia, Salvinia molesta Mitchell, poses a risk to freshwater ecosystems through limited light penetration, decreased submerged macrophyte abundance, altered water quality and, changes in macroinvertebrate community structure and energy transfer. The objective …
Plant And Soil Responses To Sediment Deposition And Nutrient Enrichment In Healthy, Deteriorating, And Newly Created Coastal Marshes In Barataria Basin, Louisiana: Implications For Mississippi River Sediment Diversions, Gina N. Groseclose
LSU Master's Theses
To offset wetland loss in the Mississippi River Delta, sediment diversions that will re-introduce river water and sediment into wetlands are being planned for the lower Mississippi River. River diversions will also deliver high nutrient loads, which may reduce belowground plant productivity, reducing inputs of organic matter important for marsh accretion to keep pace with sea-level rise. However, belowground productivity responses to the combinatory effects of sediment and nutrients are unknown. To test the hypotheses that nutrient enrichment and sediment deposition interact to influence vegetation structure, belowground plant productivity and decomposition, and surface accretion, a field experiment was implemented in …
Fish Community Composition And Structure Near A Freshwater River Diversion In Southeastern Louisiana, Rachel L. Snider
Fish Community Composition And Structure Near A Freshwater River Diversion In Southeastern Louisiana, Rachel L. Snider
LSU Master's Theses
Gulf of Mexico estuaries, particularly in Louisiana, are among the world’s most productive, with landings of commercially- and recreationally-important species exceeding all other contiguous US states. Coastal wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate because they have been impounded from Mississippi River water and sediment. Although controversial, one proposed solution is to re-route the Mississippi River through diversions and siphons to supply the freshwater and sediments necessary to rebuild vanishing wetlands, particularly in Barataria Bay and Breton Sound, LA. This strategy is one approach outlined in the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan. This project aimed to describe the composition and structure …
Floodplain Forest Regeneration Dynamics In The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, Whitney Anne Kroschel
Floodplain Forest Regeneration Dynamics In The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, Whitney Anne Kroschel
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Floodplain forest species diversity is driven, in part, by variation in disturbance regime. Flood patterns create heterogeneity in microsite quality from small differences in elevation across a floodplain which, in turn, influence flood timing and duration. Differences in species’ regeneration niches in relation to hydrologic patterns can account for long-term coexistence of various species. In the past century floodplain forests have exhibited a wide range of changes in stand development and species composition as a result of altered hydrology in rivers and floodplains. I evaluated the role of regeneration in floodplain forest systems of the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley …
Plankton Dynamics In An Urban, Subtropical Lake Prior To Lake Restoration, Jennifer C. Pulsifer
Plankton Dynamics In An Urban, Subtropical Lake Prior To Lake Restoration, Jennifer C. Pulsifer
LSU Master's Theses
This research assessed plankton dynamics in two urban, subtropical lakes (University Lake and City Park Lake) shortly before a proposed and approved lake restoration project. Plankton dynamics were determined in University Lake by the dilution method to attempt to quantify growth rates of phytoplankton and grazing rates of zooplankton. Landry and Hassett’s (1982) dilution method has been widely used in marine systems to estimate rates of growth and grazing. In many marine systems, nutrients must be added to prevent nutrient limitation. However, it is assumed, due to the hypereutrophic conditions, that nutrients would not be a limitation in University Lake. …
Characterization Of Shallow Subsurface Hydrology In Large Fine-Grained Floodplains, Mary Grace Lemon
Characterization Of Shallow Subsurface Hydrology In Large Fine-Grained Floodplains, Mary Grace Lemon
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Floodplains are hydrologically dynamic, receiving water from overbank events, hyporheic flows, local precipitation, and regional groundwater sources. These sources are variously important contributors to the heterogeneous floodplain water pool that includes matrix water in soil micropores, mobile water in soil macropores, groundwater below the rooting zone, ephemeral to seasonal surface storage, and permanent surface water features such as oxbow lakes, sloughs, and other secondary channels. All sources may be ecologically relevant for floodplain vegetation, but the exact roles of each source in both controlling soil water and shallow groundwater recharge and in controlling floodplain water drainage are not well understood, …
Physical And Biological Factors Controlling The Fate Of Nitrate In A Louisiana Coastal Deltaic Floodplain, Alexandra Christensen
Physical And Biological Factors Controlling The Fate Of Nitrate In A Louisiana Coastal Deltaic Floodplain, Alexandra Christensen
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
The Mississippi River Delta is threatened by a growing pressure to support large human populations in the United States both with food production, navigation systems, and urban development in the Mississippi River Basin. Nitrate-nitrogen load in the Mississippi River, up to 100 Tg N yr-1 from agricultural and urban runoff, leads to phytoplankton blooms and hypoxia across the Louisiana continental shelf, creating dead zones of low dissolved oxygen threatening a significant commercial fishery. Along the coast and river corridors, floodplain ecosystems have the capacity to retain and remove nitrate. This dissertation explores the role of productive, actively growing coastal …
An Ecopath With Ecosim Analysis On Offshore Petroleum Platform Influences On Gulf Of Mexico Red Snapper, Valentin Gomez
An Ecopath With Ecosim Analysis On Offshore Petroleum Platform Influences On Gulf Of Mexico Red Snapper, Valentin Gomez
LSU Master's Theses
Offshore oil and gas platforms have had a significant presence in the Gulf of Mexico since the 1950s. An important secondary function of these structures is that they provide artificial habitat to fisheries, most notably Red snapper. Policy changes intended to reduce the risk associated with aging infrastructure have reduced the number of standing platforms from 4044 to 1867 from 2001 to 2018. The effect this loss of habitat has on Red snapper was tested by creating three scenarios of platform changes and modeling the perturbation from 2005 to 2050. The simulation was accomplished using the ecological model Ecopath with …
Effects Of Freshwater Inflow On Nekton Assemblages And Blue Crab Populations In Southeastern Louisiana, Caleb Benjamin Taylor
Effects Of Freshwater Inflow On Nekton Assemblages And Blue Crab Populations In Southeastern Louisiana, Caleb Benjamin Taylor
LSU Master's Theses
Estuaries along the northern Gulf of Mexico represent some of the most productive ecosystems in the world, providing vital habitat for many recreationally and commercially valuable species, including the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. The mixing of fresh river and saline ocean water in coastal estuaries contribute to this productivity. Dominated by large river influences and consisting of multiple estuaries, Louisiana contributes the largest commercial fishery in the Gulf of Mexico, and remains, on average, the largest supplier of blue crabs in the nation. However, across southeast Louisiana, freshwater flow is largely dependent on Mississippi River discharge, which is highly …
Role Of Coastal Environmental Conditions During Austral Winter On Plankton Community Dynamics And The Occurrence Of Pseudo-Nitzschia Spp. And Domoic Acid In Inhambane Province, Mozambique, Holly Kelchner
LSU Master's Theses
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasing globally in frequency, persistence, and geographic extent. HABs pose a threat to economic stability, and ecosystem and human health. To date no incidences of marine toxins produced by phytoplankton have been recorded in Mozambique, which may be due to the absence of a monitoring program and general awareness of the potential threat. This study is the first documentation of the occurrence of a neurotoxin, domoic acid (DA), produced by the diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia spp. along the east coast of Africa. The coast of Inhambane Province is a biodiversity hotspot where year-round Rhincodon typus (whale …