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Articles 481 - 510 of 1425

Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology

Microbial Analysis Of Surfactant-Associated Bacteria In The Sea Surface Microlayer And Remote Sensing Of Associated Slicks, Georgia Parks Jul 2019

Microbial Analysis Of Surfactant-Associated Bacteria In The Sea Surface Microlayer And Remote Sensing Of Associated Slicks, Georgia Parks

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The sea-surface microlayer (SML) is the boundary layer at the air-sea interface where many biogeochemical processes occur. Many organisms (e.g., bacteria) produce surface active agents (surfactants) for life processes, which accumulate in the SML and dampen short gravity-capillary waves, resulting in sea surface slicks. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is capable of remotely sensing these features on the sea surface by measuring reflected backscatter from the ocean surface in microwaves. This study coordinates SAR overpasses with in situ SML and subsurface (SSW) microbial sample collection to guide subsequent analysis after 16s rRNA sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq. In April …

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An Index To Better Estimate Tropical Cyclone Intensity Change In The Western North Pacific, Woojeong Lee, Sung-Hun Kim, Pao-Shin Chu, Il-Ju Moon, Alexander Soloviev Jul 2019

An Index To Better Estimate Tropical Cyclone Intensity Change In The Western North Pacific, Woojeong Lee, Sung-Hun Kim, Pao-Shin Chu, Il-Ju Moon, Alexander Soloviev

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

A revised predictor called the net energy gain rate (NGR) is suggested by considering wind dependent drag coefficient based on the existing maximum potential intensity theory. A series of wind speed dependent NGR, known as NGR‐w, is calculated based on pre‐tropical cyclone (TC) averaged ocean temperatures from the surface down to 120 m (at 10‐m intervals) to include the TC‐induced vertical mixing for 13 years (2004–2016) in the western North Pacific. It turns out that the NGR50‐w (NGR‐w based on temperature averaged over top 50 m) has the highest correlation with 24‐h TC intensity …

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Some Environmental And Biological Determinants Of Coral Richness, Resilience And Reef Building In Galápagos (Ecuador), Bernhard Riegl, Matthew Johnston, Peter W. Glynn, Inti Keith, Fernando Rivera, Mariana Vera-Zambrano, Stuart Banks, Joshua Feingold, Peter J. Glynn Jul 2019

Some Environmental And Biological Determinants Of Coral Richness, Resilience And Reef Building In Galápagos (Ecuador), Bernhard Riegl, Matthew Johnston, Peter W. Glynn, Inti Keith, Fernando Rivera, Mariana Vera-Zambrano, Stuart Banks, Joshua Feingold, Peter J. Glynn

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Throughout the Galápagos, differences in coral reef development and coral population dynamics were evaluated by monitoring populations from 2000–2019, and environmental parameters (sea temperatures, pH, NO3−, PO43−) from 2015–19. The chief goal was to explain apparent coral community differences between the northern (Darwin and Wolf) and southern (Sta. Cruz, Fernandina, San Cristóbal, Española, Isabela) islands. Site coral species richness was highest at Darwin and Wolf. In the three most common coral taxa, a declining North (N)-South (S) trend in colony sizes existed for Porites lobata and Pocillopora spp., but not for Pavona spp. …

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Supplemental Fos Article Materials, Sarah Gumbleton, David W. Kerstetter, Amy Hirons, Christopher Blanar Jun 2019

Supplemental Fos Article Materials, Sarah Gumbleton, David W. Kerstetter, Amy Hirons, Christopher Blanar

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Datasets

This extended table documents the endoparasites found within great egrets, great blue herons, green herons, yellow-crowned night herons, black-crowned night herons and white ibis from this study and previous studies.

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Ocean Acidification Refugia In Variable Environments, Lydia Kapsenberg, Tyler Cyronak Jun 2019

Ocean Acidification Refugia In Variable Environments, Lydia Kapsenberg, Tyler Cyronak

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Climate change refugia in the terrestrial biosphere are areas where species are protected from global environmental change and arise from natural heterogeneity in landscapes and climate. Within the marine realm, ocean acidification, or the global decline in seawater pH, remains a pervasive threat to organisms and ecosystems. Natural variability in seawater carbon dioxide (CO2) chemistry, however, presents an opportunity to identify ocean acidification refugia (OAR) for marine species. Here, we review the literature to examine the impacts of variable CO2 chemistry on biological responses to ocean acidification and develop a framework of definitions and criteria that connects …

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Fallen Pillars: The Past, Present, And Future Population Dynamics Of A Rare, Specialist Coral–Algal Symbiosis, Andrea Chan, Cynthia L. Lewis, Karen L. Neely, Iliana B. Baums May 2019

Fallen Pillars: The Past, Present, And Future Population Dynamics Of A Rare, Specialist Coral–Algal Symbiosis, Andrea Chan, Cynthia L. Lewis, Karen L. Neely, Iliana B. Baums

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

With ongoing changes in climate, rare and ecologically specialized species are at increased risk of extinction. In sessile foundation fauna that reproduce asexually via fragmentation of existing colonies, the number of colonies does not reflect the number of genets and thus can obscure genotypic diversity. Colonies that are the product of fragmentation are not visually distinguishable from colonies that stem from sexual recruits. For this reason, molecular markers are necessary to assess genotypic variation and population structure in clonal organisms such as reef-building corals and their endosymbiotic dinoflagellates. For the rare Caribbean pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, and its endosymbiotic …

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A Review Of The Global Commercial Cephalopod Fishery, With A Focus On Apparent Expansion, Changing Environments, And Management, Corey Clark May 2019

A Review Of The Global Commercial Cephalopod Fishery, With A Focus On Apparent Expansion, Changing Environments, And Management, Corey Clark

HCNSO Student Capstones

Cephalopods are both important predators and prey in many marine environments and important fishery resources in many countries. The global fishery has expanded almost continuously from landings of 580,000 metric tonnes in 1950 to over 4 m.t. in 2007. Cephalopods are ecological opportunists with highly plastic biological characteristics and varied population dynamics. Nearly all commercially harvested species are short-lived and can reproduce quickly, enabling them to evolve more rapidly under high selection pressure relative to many fish competitors and predators. As a result, they may have the biological means to be successful under conditions of long-term global climate change. This …

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Outplanted Acropora Cervicornis Enhances The Fish Assemblages Of Southeast Florida, Ellen Dignon Goldenberg May 2019

Outplanted Acropora Cervicornis Enhances The Fish Assemblages Of Southeast Florida, Ellen Dignon Goldenberg

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Acropora cervicornis, commonly known as the staghorn coral has historically been a major contributor to reef structural complexity, providing habitat for many functionally important fish species throughout Florida and the Caribbean. Unfortunately, due to disease, bleaching, and local anthropogenic stressors, A. cervicornis populations have suffered drastic declines that have negatively impacted associated reef fish populations. In order to promote recovery, A. cervicornis fragments can be cultivated in nurseries and outplanted back onto reefs. This practice can effectively increase A. cervicornis abundance, but the long-term effects on local fish assemblages, and specifically functionally important grazing fishes, has not been assessed. …

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Nutrient Concentrations And Effects On Mill Run From Residential, Urban, And Industrial Stormwater Contamination, Melissa Carver May 2019

Nutrient Concentrations And Effects On Mill Run From Residential, Urban, And Industrial Stormwater Contamination, Melissa Carver

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Nutrients are introduced into the waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through various methods, mainly through point and non-point sources. Non-point sources would include agricultural means however, there are often other non-point sources that are often overlooked. Water runoff from stormwater is an important contributor to pollution entering various watersheds. Data was collected at 4 locations (the initial point of reference, residential, urban, and industrial) on Mill Run and 2 locations on Woodcock Creek, through surface water collection methods in dry and wet weather. Nitrate, Nitrite, Total Phosphorus, and Total Nitrogen were among the data collected. Total Phosphorus had an …

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Analysis Of "Observer Effect" In Logbook Reporting Accuracy For U.S. Pelagic Longline Fishing Vessels In The Atlantic And Gulf Of Mexico, Thomas J. Morrell May 2019

Analysis Of "Observer Effect" In Logbook Reporting Accuracy For U.S. Pelagic Longline Fishing Vessels In The Atlantic And Gulf Of Mexico, Thomas J. Morrell

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Commercial pelagic longline fishers within the U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean are required to report all fishing interactions per each gear deployment to NOAA’s Vessel Logbook Program of the Southeast Fisheries Science Center to quantify bycatch, increase conservation efforts, and avoid jeopardizing the existence of vulnerable species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). To provide additional accuracy, the Pelagic Observer Program (POP) of the SEFSC deploys professionally trained observers on longline vessels to produce a statistically reliable subset of longline fisheries data. A comparison of self-reported (“unobserved”) datasets versus observer-collected (“observed”) datasets showed a general consistency for …

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Options For Improving Dfad Recovery And Accountability To Minimize Marine Coastal Habitat Damage And Marine Litter, Adam Baske, M. Shiham Adam, David W. Kerstetter May 2019

Options For Improving Dfad Recovery And Accountability To Minimize Marine Coastal Habitat Damage And Marine Litter, Adam Baske, M. Shiham Adam, David W. Kerstetter

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

No abstract provided.

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The Sedimentology Of Cay Sal Bank - An Incipiently Drowned Carbonate Platform, Luis Ramirez Apr 2019

The Sedimentology Of Cay Sal Bank - An Incipiently Drowned Carbonate Platform, Luis Ramirez

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Sediment on Cay Sal Bank (CSB) is characterized by its coarse-grain size, poor sorting, predominance of skeletal fragments, and relatively depleted d18O isotope values. CSB is an incipiently drowned platform in close proximity to the Great Bahama Bank (GBB), a carbonate platform which is not incipiently drowned and characterized by fine-grained, non-skeletal sediment. The GBB has locally well-developed oolitic grainstone facies and coral reef margins, which are both lacking on CSB. Platform-top water depths on the GBB are typically 10 m or less, but CSB depth ranges between 7 and 30 m. CSB is devoid of mud, whereas …

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Determining How Risk Effects Predator-Prey Interactions Of Marine Communities In The Nearshore Environment Of South Bimini, The Bahamas, Kendall Brancart Apr 2019

Determining How Risk Effects Predator-Prey Interactions Of Marine Communities In The Nearshore Environment Of South Bimini, The Bahamas, Kendall Brancart

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Predators often have strong top-down effects on ecosystems and are considered a priority for conservation and management. Predator activity can influence prey distribution, abundance, and foraging behaviors and are likely to influence habitat by impacting ecological and environmental characteristics as well as presence of competitor species. There are knowledge gaps of the functional diversity of fish assemblages, non-consumptive predator effects, and environmental effects on fish assemblages. With this study, effects of top marine predators, such as sharks and great barracuda, on diversity and abundance of prey communities were examined in putative low (north side of South Bimini = lagoon) and …

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Assessment Of Heavy Metals In Subsistence-Harvested Alaskan Marine Mammal Body Tissues And Vibrissae, Pilar M. Ferdinando Apr 2019

Assessment Of Heavy Metals In Subsistence-Harvested Alaskan Marine Mammal Body Tissues And Vibrissae, Pilar M. Ferdinando

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The coastal, indigenous communities around Alaska have subsisted on marine animals for generations, often focusing on large apex predators such as seals, sea lions, and whales. Three species of pinnipeds (harbor seal, Steller sea lion, northern fur seal) and the northern sea otter have all undergone significant population declines since the 1970s, some regions more than others. Archived vibrissae (whiskers) and body tissues from these four species were available from the Bering Sea and throughout the Gulf of Alaska from the 1990s and early 2000s. Tissues from these species are exceedingly difficult to obtain; thus, the archived tissues provided a …

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Optimizing Restoration Site Selection Along The Florida Reef Tract For The Coral Species Acropora Cervicornis And Acropora Palmata, Samantha King Apr 2019

Optimizing Restoration Site Selection Along The Florida Reef Tract For The Coral Species Acropora Cervicornis And Acropora Palmata, Samantha King

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The decline of Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata populations and consequent listing as endangered species has prompted the need for restoration. Since financial resources are limited, optimal sites for restoration should not only be environmentally suitable for outplant survival, but also have a greater capacity to replenish surrounding reefs with larvae. However, in Florida coral larval dispersal patterns and reef connectivity remain poorly studied. Here, we measured long term larval survival and competency of A. cervicornis to calibrate a high resolution (100m) biophysical larval dispersal model of Acropora in the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). This model revealed that there is …

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Effects Of Deposited Sediment And Turbidity On Survival And Growth Of Orbicella Faveolata Recruits, Morgan Stephenson Apr 2019

Effects Of Deposited Sediment And Turbidity On Survival And Growth Of Orbicella Faveolata Recruits, Morgan Stephenson

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Corals are frequently exposed to elevated turbidity and deposited sediment caused from coastal construction, dredging, and/or beach renourishment. This study addresses the effects of turbidity and deposited sediment on the survival and growth of newly settled and 6-week-old Orbicella faveolata recruits and disentangles the effects of turbidity and deposited sediment. We conducted two experiments in which newly settled coral recruits were reared in one of ten different turbidity and deposited sediment treatments for five weeks (0 NTU/ 0 mg cm-2, 3.4 NTU/ 0 mg cm-2, 8.2 NTU/ 0 mg cm-2, 16 NTU/ 0 mg …

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Indirect Legacy Effects Of An Extreme Climatic Event On A Marine Megafaunal Community, Robert Nowicki, Michael Heithaus, Jordan Thompson, Derek Burkholder, Kirk Gastrich, Aaron Wirsing Apr 2019

Indirect Legacy Effects Of An Extreme Climatic Event On A Marine Megafaunal Community, Robert Nowicki, Michael Heithaus, Jordan Thompson, Derek Burkholder, Kirk Gastrich, Aaron Wirsing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

While extreme climatic events (ECEs) are predicted to become more frequent, reliably predicting their impacts on consumers remains challenging, particularly for large consumers in marine environments. Many studies that do evaluate ECE effects focus primarily on direct effects, though indirect effects can be equally or more important. Here, we investigate the indirect impacts of the 2011 “Ningaloo Niño” marine heatwave ECE on a diverse megafaunal community in Shark Bay, Western Australia. We use an 18‐year community‐level data set before (1998–2010) and after (2012–2015) the heatwave to assess the effects of seagrass loss on the abundance of seven consumer groups: sharks, …

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A Comparison Of Circle And J Hook Performance Within The Grenadian Pelagic Longline Fishery, Anthony G. Burns Apr 2019

A Comparison Of Circle And J Hook Performance Within The Grenadian Pelagic Longline Fishery, Anthony G. Burns

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The development and adaptation of gear technologies to local fisheries has been a management-oriented research strategy commonly used to mitigate the ecological effects of pelagic longline (PLL) gear on bycatch species. Grenada’s PLL fishery primarily targets yellowfin tuna, however while minimal, their bycatch of blue marlin and white marlin exceeds the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) allowed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). A switch to circle hooks may benefit these nontargeted, bycatch species by reducing catch rates and haulback mortality, as well as increasing post-release survival. To determine differences in performance, assessments of 16/0 circle …

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High-Resolution Habitat And Bathymetry Maps For 65,000 Sq. Km Of Earth’S Remotest Coral Reefs, Samuel J. Purkis, Arthur C. R. Gleason, Charlotte R. Purkis, Alexandra C. Dempsey, Philip Renaud, Mohamed Faisal, Steven Saul, Jeremy M. Kerr Apr 2019

High-Resolution Habitat And Bathymetry Maps For 65,000 Sq. Km Of Earth’S Remotest Coral Reefs, Samuel J. Purkis, Arthur C. R. Gleason, Charlotte R. Purkis, Alexandra C. Dempsey, Philip Renaud, Mohamed Faisal, Steven Saul, Jeremy M. Kerr

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

With compelling evidence that half the world’s coral reefs have been lost over the last four decades, there is urgent motivation to understand where reefs are located and their health. Without such basic baseline information, it is challenging to mount a response to the reef crisis on the global scale at which it is occurring. To combat this lack of baseline data, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation embarked on a 10-yr survey of a broad selection of Earth’s remotest reef sites—the Global Reef Expedition. This paper focuses on one output of this expedition, which is meter-resolution seafloor habitat …

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The Association Between Stomach Fullness And Vertical Migration Behavior In Deep-Pelagic Crustaceans And Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, With Notes On Microplastic Ingestion, Ryan P. Bos Apr 2019

The Association Between Stomach Fullness And Vertical Migration Behavior In Deep-Pelagic Crustaceans And Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, With Notes On Microplastic Ingestion, Ryan P. Bos

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents: 1) the first statistically rigorous support for the longstanding hypothesis that state of satiation modifies diel vertical migration patterns of deep-sea micronektonic crustaceans and fishes; and, 2) the first assessment of microplastic ingestion by deep-pelagic micronekton in the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida. Deep-sea pelagic crustaceans and fishes significantly contribute to abundance and biomass of pelagic ecosystems, are frequently consumed by commercially valuable fishery species, and serve to transport both nutrients and pollutants between shallow and deep waters. The results presented herein will be valuable for assessing risk associated with potential biomagnification of plastic through …

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Assessing Deep-Pelagic Shrimp Biomass To 3000 M In The Atlantic Ocean And Ramifications Of Upscaled Global Biomass, Alexander Vereshchaka, Anastasia Lunina, Tracey Sutton Apr 2019

Assessing Deep-Pelagic Shrimp Biomass To 3000 M In The Atlantic Ocean And Ramifications Of Upscaled Global Biomass, Alexander Vereshchaka, Anastasia Lunina, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

We assess the biomass of deep-pelagic shrimps in the Atlantic Ocean using data collected between 40°N and 40°S. Forty-eight stations were sampled in discrete-depth fashion, including epi- (0–200 m), meso- (200–800/1000 m), upper bathy- (800/1000–1500 m), and lower bathypelagic (1500–3000 m) strata. We compared samples collected from the same area on the same night using obliquely towed trawls and large vertically towed nets and found that shrimp catches from the latter were significantly higher. This suggests that vertical nets are more efficient for biomass assessments, and we report these values here. We further compared day and night samples from the …

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Factors Contributing To The Success Of Restored Oyster Reefs In The Choptank River Of The Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, Tara L. Bardar Mar 2019

Factors Contributing To The Success Of Restored Oyster Reefs In The Choptank River Of The Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, Tara L. Bardar

HCNSO Student Capstones

Populations of Crassostrea virginica, the Eastern oyster, have been declining since the late 1800s. While overharvesting is the primary cause of decline, the Eastern oyster is also facing the threat of disease and habitat loss. As oyster populations decline, habitat suitable for oyster spats declines as well, as these prefer to settle on the shells of other oysters that have formed reefs. Knowing this, oyster restoration projects have been focused around testing methods that will increase recruitment of spat and allow oyster reefs to form. A current and ongoing restoration project in the Choptank River of the Chesapeake Bay, …

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White Shark Genome Reveals Ancient Elasmobranch Adaptations Associated With Wound Healing And The Maintenance Of Genome Stability, Nicholas J. Marra, Michael J. Stanhope, Nathaniel K. Jue, Minghui Wang, Qi Sun, Paulina D. Pavinski Bitar, Vincent P. Richards, Aleksey S. Komissarov, Mike Rayko, Sergey Kliver, Bryce J. Stanhope, Chuck Winkler, Stephen James O'Brien, Agostinho Antunes, Salvador Jorgensen, Mahmood S. Shivji Mar 2019

White Shark Genome Reveals Ancient Elasmobranch Adaptations Associated With Wound Healing And The Maintenance Of Genome Stability, Nicholas J. Marra, Michael J. Stanhope, Nathaniel K. Jue, Minghui Wang, Qi Sun, Paulina D. Pavinski Bitar, Vincent P. Richards, Aleksey S. Komissarov, Mike Rayko, Sergey Kliver, Bryce J. Stanhope, Chuck Winkler, Stephen James O'Brien, Agostinho Antunes, Salvador Jorgensen, Mahmood S. Shivji

Biology Faculty Articles

The white shark (Carcharodon carcharias; Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) is one of the most publicly recognized marine animals. Here we report the genome sequence of the white shark and comparative evolutionary genomic analyses to the chondrichthyans, whale shark (Elasmobranchii) and elephant shark (Holocephali), as well as various vertebrates. The 4.63-Gbp white shark genome contains 24,520 predicted genes, and has a repeat content of 58.5%. We provide evidence for a history of positive selection and gene-content enrichments regarding important genome stability-related genes and functional categories, particularly so for the two elasmobranchs. We hypothesize that the molecular adaptive emphasis on genome stability …

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Identifying Causes Of Temporal Changes In Acropora Cervicornis Populations And The Potential For Recovery, Elizabeth Goergen, Alison L. Moulding, Brian K. Walker, David S. Gilliam Feb 2019

Identifying Causes Of Temporal Changes In Acropora Cervicornis Populations And The Potential For Recovery, Elizabeth Goergen, Alison L. Moulding, Brian K. Walker, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Corals, specifically the Atlantic staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, are under major threat as disturbance events such as storms and disease and predation outbreaks increase in frequency. Since its population declines due to a wide spread disease event in the early 1980s, limited long-term monitoring studies describing the impact of current threats and potential recovery have been completed. The aim of this study was to document the impacts of environmental (tropical storms, increased wind) and biological (disease and predation) threats on A. cervicornis to further understand its population dynamics and potential for recovery. Two high-density A. cervicornis patches (greater than …

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Report Of The Workshop Evaluating The Nature Of Midwater Mining Plumes And Their Potential Effects On Midwater Ecosystems, Jeffrey C. Drazen, Craig R. Smith, Kristina Gjerde, Whitlow Au, Jesse Black, Glenn Carter, Malcolm Clark, Jennifer M. Durden, Pierre Dutrieux, Erica Goetze, Steven Haddock, Mariko Hatta, Chris Hauton, Paul Hill, Julian Koslow, Astrid B. Leitner, Chris Measures, Audre Pacini, Frank Parrish, Thomas Peacock, Jessica Perelman, Tracey T. Sutton, Celine Taymans, Verena Tunnicliffe, Les Watling, Hiroyuki Yamamoto, Emily Young, Amanda F. Ziegler Feb 2019

Report Of The Workshop Evaluating The Nature Of Midwater Mining Plumes And Their Potential Effects On Midwater Ecosystems, Jeffrey C. Drazen, Craig R. Smith, Kristina Gjerde, Whitlow Au, Jesse Black, Glenn Carter, Malcolm Clark, Jennifer M. Durden, Pierre Dutrieux, Erica Goetze, Steven Haddock, Mariko Hatta, Chris Hauton, Paul Hill, Julian Koslow, Astrid B. Leitner, Chris Measures, Audre Pacini, Frank Parrish, Thomas Peacock, Jessica Perelman, Tracey T. Sutton, Celine Taymans, Verena Tunnicliffe, Les Watling, Hiroyuki Yamamoto, Emily Young, Amanda F. Ziegler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is developing regulations to control the future exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources including sulphide deposits near hydrothermal vents, polymetallic nodules on the abyssal seafloor, and cobalt crusts on seamounts. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea the ISA is required to adopt are taking measures to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects arising from mining-related activities. Contractors are required to generate environmental baselines and assess the potential environmental consequences of deep seafloor mining. Understandably, nearly all environmental research has focused on the seafloor where the most direct …

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Recurring Episodes Of Thermal Stress Shift The Balance From A Dominant Host-Specialist To A Background Host-Generalist Zooxanthella In The Threatened Pillar Coral, Dendrogyra Cylindrus, Cynthia Lewis, Karen L. Neely, Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty Jan 2019

Recurring Episodes Of Thermal Stress Shift The Balance From A Dominant Host-Specialist To A Background Host-Generalist Zooxanthella In The Threatened Pillar Coral, Dendrogyra Cylindrus, Cynthia Lewis, Karen L. Neely, Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Most scleractinian corals form obligate symbioses with photosynthetic dinoflagellates (family Symbiodiniaceae), which provide differential tolerances to their host. Previously, research has focused on the influence of symbiont composition and the dynamic processes of symbiont repopulation during single episodes of hyperthermal events, followed by years of less-stressful conditions. In contrast, this study characterized for the first time, the role of Symbiodiniaceae species changes in response to annually recurring hyperthermal events, a scenario soon expected to become the norm. Consecutive hyperthermal events during summer 2014 and 2015 along the Florida Reef Tract offered a unique opportunity to study bleaching susceptibility and recovery …

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Comparisons Of Five Dna Repair Pathways Between Elasmobranch Fishes And Humans, Lucia Llorente Jan 2019

Comparisons Of Five Dna Repair Pathways Between Elasmobranch Fishes And Humans, Lucia Llorente

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Although DNA repair capacity has been correlated with lifespan in terrestrial vertebrate species, it remains unknown how evolutionarily conserved the process is across all vertebrate taxa. In particular, chondrichthyan fishes have lifespans that range from 3-350 years and they are evolutionarily separated from modern humans Homo sapiens by approximately 400 million years. We hypothesized that chondrichthyan fishes would show significant homology in nuclear excision repair (NER) genes with humans, and that the expression of NER genes will correlate with the lifespan of the respective assessed species. For this study, DNA repair gene homology and expression was performed on the nurse …

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Depth-Dependent Environmental Drivers Of Microbial Plankton Community Structure In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Cole Easson, Jose Lopez Jan 2019

Depth-Dependent Environmental Drivers Of Microbial Plankton Community Structure In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Cole Easson, Jose Lopez

Biology Faculty Articles

The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is a dynamic marine ecosystem influenced by multiple natural and anthropogenic processes and inputs, such as the intrusion of warm oligotrophic water via the Loop Current, freshwater and nutrient input by the Mississippi River, and hydrocarbon inputs via natural seeps and industrial spills. Microbial plankton communities are important to pelagic food webs including in the GoM but understanding the drivers of the natural dynamics of these passively distributed microorganisms can be challenging in such a large and heterogeneous system. As part of the DEEPEND consortium, we applied high throughput 16S rRNA sequencing to investigate the …

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Species Richness, Diversity, And Abundance Of Sponge Communities In Broward County, Florida, 2000-2015, Jessica Price Dec 2018

Species Richness, Diversity, And Abundance Of Sponge Communities In Broward County, Florida, 2000-2015, Jessica Price

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Sponges (Porifera) are a major component of coral reef ecosystems. They outnumber coral species on the Florida Reef Tract, and in places, account for more living cover. Because coral reefs are a vital part of Florida’s economy, it is important to understand how local sponge assemblages vary spatially and temporally, especially as corals continue to decline. However, long-term observations of sponge assemblages (species richness, diversity and abundance) are lacking. To address this, annual photoquadrats were analyzed from a series of 25 sites off Broward County between 2000 and 2015. Variations in sponge assemblages were then compared to several natural and …

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Peruvian Pinnipeds As Archivists Of Enso Effects, Mickie Rae Edwards Dec 2018

Peruvian Pinnipeds As Archivists Of Enso Effects, Mickie Rae Edwards

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Environmental fluctuations in the eastern Pacific Ocean are reflected in the tissues of some of its most vulnerable apex predators, the Peruvian fur seal (PFS) Arctocephalus australis ssp.and the South American sea lion (SASL) Otaria byronia.These large pinnipeds live in sympatry along the Pacific coastline of South America and forage within the neritic waters over the continental shelf. The coastal waters off Peru are a region of great environmental fluctuations due to periodic, oscillating El Niño- La Niña- Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, which result in ecosystem-wide food web changes. Pinniped vibrissae (whiskers) are continuously growing keratinous tissues and …

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