Marine Biology Commons^™

Host Density Dependence And Environmental Factors Affecting Laurel Wilt Disease Incidence, Robin A. Choudhury, H. L. Er, M. Hughes, J. A. Smith, G. E. Pruett, J. Konkol, R. C. Ploetz, J. J. Marois, K. A. Marois, A. H. C. Van Bruggen

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Host size, density, and distribution, in addition to climate, can affect the likelihood a pathogen will invade and saturate landscapes. Laurel wilt, caused by the vector‐borne pathogen Raffaelea lauricola, has devastated populations of native Lauraceae in the Southeastern US, and continues to spread. We surveyed 87 plots in six coastal islands in South Carolina, Georgia, and North Florida, and one inland site (Archbold Biological Station) in South Florida for laurel wilt‐affected and non‐affected individual plants belonging to the genus Persea. The coastal island sites were surveyed once in 2008 or 2009, and the inland site was surveyed eight …

Trophic Structure And Sources Of Variation Influencing The Stable Isotope Signatures Of Meso- And Bathypelagic Micronekton Fishes, Travis M. Richards, Tracey Sutton, R. J.David Wells

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

To better understand spatiotemporal variation in the trophic structure of deep-pelagic species, we examined the isotope values of particulate organic matter (POM) (isotopic baseline) and seven deep-pelagic fishes with similar diet compositions but contrasting vertical distributions across mesoscale features in the Gulf of Mexico using stable isotope and amino acid compound-specific isotope analyses. Species examined included four migratory (Benthosema suborbitale, Lepidophanes guentheri, Melamphaes simus, Sigmops elongatus) and three non-migratory zooplanktivorous fishes (Argyropelecus hemigymnus, Cyclothone obscura, Sternoptyx pseudobscura). Isotopic values of POM increased with depth, with meso- and bathypelagic samples characterized by higher δ C and δ N values relative to …

Functional Review And Macrostructure Of The Caecum In Ardeidae, Lola R. Mildren

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Situated on the lower digestive tract, caeca typically project cranially from the juncture of the small and large intestine. Recent studies have proposed that the role of caeca in the avian system is to act as fermentation chambers to synthesize vitamins, modulate gut microflora, and absorb nutrients; however, functionality differs with diet. Caeca are a typical characteristic of the avian gastrointestinal tract, with varying sizes and shapes, or even rudimentary or absent in some species. Caeca are notably singular and relatively small in Ardeids. Morphometric consistency in the number and presence of caeca on the lower intestinal tract of Ardeids …

Impact Of Terrestrial Input On Deep-Sea Benthic Archaeal Community Structure In South China Sea Sediments, Dengxun Lai, Brian P. Hedlund, Wei Xie, Jingjing Liu, Tommy J. Phelps, Chuanlun Zhang, Peng Wang

Life Sciences Faculty Research

© Copyright © 2020 Lai, Hedlund, Xie, Liu, Phelps, Zhang and Wang. Archaea are widespread in marine sediments and play important roles in the cycling of sedimentary organic carbon. However, factors controlling the distribution of archaea in marine sediments are not well understood. Here we investigated benthic archaeal communities over glacial-interglacial cycles in the northern South China Sea and evaluated their responses to sediment organic matter sources and inter-species interactions. Archaea in sediments deposited during the interglacial period Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 1 (Holocene) were significantly different from those in sediments deposited in MIS 2 and MIS 3 of the …

Potential Effect Of Bio-Surfactants On Sea Spray Generation In Tropical Cyclone Conditions, Breanna L. Vanderplow, Alexander Soloviev, Cayla W. Dean, Brian K. Haus, Roger Lukas, Muhammad Sami, Isaac Ginis

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Despite significant improvement in computational and observational capabilities, predicting intensity and intensification of major tropical cyclones remains a challenge. In 2017 Hurricane Maria intensified to a Category 5 storm within 24 h, devastating Puerto Rico. In 2019 Hurricane Dorian, predicted to remain tropical storm, unexpectedly intensified into a Category 5 storm and destroyed the Bahamas. The official forecast and computer models were unable to predict rapid intensification of these storms. One possible reason for this is that key physics, including microscale processes at the air-sea interface, are poorly understood and parameterized in existing forecast models. Here we show that surfactants …

Management Of Invasive Species In Nigeria : Lessons From European Countries, Abubakar Manu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Potential Virus-Mediated Nitrogen Cycling In Oxygen-Depleted Oceanic Waters, M. Consuelo Gazitúa, Dean R. Vik, Simon Roux, Ann C. Gregory, Benjamin Bolduc, Brittany Widner, Margaret R. Mulholland, Steven J. Hallam, Osvaldo Ulloa, Matthew B. Sullivan

OES Faculty Publications

Viruses play an important role in the ecology and biogeochemistry of marine ecosystems. Beyond mortality and gene transfer, viruses can reprogram microbial metabolism during infection by expressing auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) involved in photosynthesis, central carbon metabolism, and nutrient cycling. While previous studies have focused on AMG diversity in the sunlit and dark ocean, less is known about the role of viruses in shaping metabolic networks along redox gradients associated with marine oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). Here, we analyzed relatively quantitative viral metagenomic datasets that profiled the oxygen gradient across Eastern Tropical South Pacific (ETSP) OMZ waters, assessing whether OMZ …

Adaptive Divergence, Neutral Panmixia, And Algal Symbiont Population Structure In The Temperate Coral Astrangia Poculata Along The Mid-Atlantic United States, Hannah E. Aichelman, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Astrangia poculata is a temperate scleractinian coral that exists in facultative symbiosis with the dinoflagellate alga Breviolum psygmophilum across a range spanning the Gulf of Mexico to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Our previous work on metabolic thermal performance of Virginia (VA) and Rhode Island (RI) populations of A. poculata revealed physiological signatures of cold (RI) and warm (VA) adaptation of these populations to their respective local thermal environments. Here, we used whole-transcriptome sequencing (mRNA-Seq) to evaluate genetic differences and identify potential loci involved in the adaptive signature of VA and RI populations. Sequencing data from 40 A. poculata individuals, including 10 …

Marine Wild-Capture Fisheries After Nuclear War, Kim J. N. Scherrer, Cheryl S. Harrison, Ryan F. Heneghan, Eric Galbraith, Charles G. Bardeen, Joshua Coupe, Jonas Jägermeyr, Nicole S. Lovenduski, August Luna, Alan Robock, Jessica Stevens, Samantha Stevenson, Owen B. Toon, Lili Xia

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Nuclear war, beyond its devastating direct impacts, is expected to cause global climatic perturbations through injections of soot into the upper atmosphere. Reduced temperature and sunlight could drive unprecedented reductions in agricultural production, endangering global food security. However, the effects of nuclear war on marine wild-capture fisheries, which significantly contribute to the global animal protein and micronutrient supply, remain unexplored. We simulate the climatic effects of six war scenarios on fish biomass and catch globally, using a state-of-the-art Earth system model and global process-based fisheries model. We also simulate how either rapidly increased fish demand (driven by food shortages) or …

Differences In Algal, Gastropod, And Arthropod Coverage Surrounding Pisaster Ochraceus And Other Asteroids In Humboldt County, California, Desa Smith, Jana Lott, Savannah Williams, Shayan Farzadpour

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

Predation within the intertidal zone, specifically regarding the predator-prey interaction between sea stars in Class Asteroidea and their food source, contributes to a large biodiversity of organisms. In this experiment, we compared the percent coverage of algae and shelled organisms within a quadrat surrounding three types of predatory sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus, Dermasterias imbricata, and Lepasterias hexactis) to determine their habitat based on predatory behavior. Our data showed a significant difference in algae and shelled organism coverage between different species of sea star; shelled organism percent coverage was less than algae percent coverage in all species of sea stars. The …

Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) Neurocranium, Connor Depriest, Nadia Abeido, David Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

9.0 cm in length. Neurocranium scan of an Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar). Collected from Two Bills Seafood on 04/09/20 by Nadia Abeido and Connor Depriest.

Anthropogenic Change On The Distribution Of Marine Megafauna And Their Prey, Baylie Fadool

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Anthropogenic change is impacting the distribution and survival of marine megafauna and their prey. Humans are changing every aspect of the marine environment, with effects reaching as large as changing the composition of marine environments to directly overexploiting species through the fishing industry. The role that marine megafauna play in balancing ecosystems, including as top apex predators, leads to detrimental results in the absences and population declines of these species. Migrations and declines due to threats on marine apex predator species will alter their environments by causing mesopredator release and changes in community structure, which is often associated with reduced …

A Putative Chordate Luciferase From A Cosmopolitan Tunicate Indicates Convergent Bioluminescence Evolution Across Phyla, Michael Tessler, Jean P. Gaffney, Anderson G. Oliveira, Andrew Guarnaccia, Krista C. Dobi, Nehaben A. Gujarati, Moira Galbraith, Jeremy D. Mirza, John S. Sparks, Vincent A. Pieribone, Robert J. Wood, David F. Gruber

Publications and Research

Pyrosomes are tunicates in the phylum Chordata, which also contains vertebrates. Their gigantic blooms play important ecological and biogeochemical roles in oceans. Pyrosoma, meaning “firebody”, derives from their brilliant bioluminescence. The biochemistry of this light production is unknown, but has been hypothesized to be bacterial in origin. We found that mixing coelenterazine—a eukaryote-specific luciferin—with Pyrosoma atlanticum homogenate produced light. To identify the bioluminescent machinery, we sequenced P. atlanticum transcriptomes and found a sequence match to a cnidarian luciferase (RLuc). We expressed this novel luciferase (PyroLuc) and, combined with coelenterazine, it produced light. A similar gene was recently predicted from a …

Brown Spot In Table Grape Redglobe Controlled In Study With Sulfur Dioxide And Temperature Treatments, Cassandra A. Young, Robin A. Choudhury, Carlos H. Crisosto, W. Douglas Gubler

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Brown spot is a postharvest disease of grapes caused by Cladosporium species in the San Joaquin Valley of California. It spreads during cold storage and transport, resulting in severe economic losses to late table grape cultivars, which are grown mainly for export to countries such as China and Mexico. We examined the effect of temperature and sulfur dioxide (SO2) treatments on fungal growth and infection of Redglobe berries by three Cladosporium species: Cladosporium ramotenellum, C. cladosporioides and C. limoniforme. Redglobe is especially popular for export. Fungal colonies growing on potato dextrose agar in petri plates stored at −2°C grew slower …

Red Lionfish (Pterois Volitans) Neurocranium, Matthew B. Edwards, David W. Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Neurocranium from a Lionfish (Pterois volitans) collected from whole foods supermarket on 11/9/2020

A Brain-Infecting Parasite Impacts Host Metabolism Both During Exposure And After Infection Is Established, Lauren E. Nadler, Erik Bengston, Erika J. Eliason, Cameron Hassibi, Siri H. Helland-Riise, Ida B. Johansen, Garfield T. Kwan, Martin Tresguerres, Andrew V. Turner, Kelly L. Weinersmith, Øyvind Øverli, Ryan F. Hechinger

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Datasets

1. Metabolic costs associated with parasites should not be limited to established infections. Even during initial exposure to questing and attacking parasites, hosts can enact behavioural and physiological responses that could also incur metabolic costs. However, few studies have measured these costs directly. Hence, little is known about metabolic costs arising from parasite exposure.
2. Further, no one has yet measured whether and how previous infection history modulates metabolic responses to parasite exposure.
3. Here, using the California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) and its brain-infecting parasite (Euhaplorchis californiensis), we quantified how killifish metabolism, behaviour, and osmoregulatory phenotype changed upon acute …

Escolar (Lepidocybium Flavobrunneum) Neurocranium, Meredith M. Pratt, Katerina D. Sawickij, David W. Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Neurocranium prep of escolar Lepidocybium flavobrunneum obtained from longlining vessel.

Differential Survival Of Nursery‐Reared Acropora Cervicornis Outplants Along The Florida Reef Tract, Robert Van Woesik, Raymond B. Banister, Erich Bartels, David S. Gilliam, Elizabeth A. Goergen, Caitlin Lustic, Kerry Maxwell, Amelia Moura, Erinn M. Muller, Stephanie Schopmeyer, R. Scott Winters, Diego Lirman

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

In recent decades, the Florida reef tract has lost over 95% of its coral cover. Although isolated coral assemblages persist, coral restoration programs are attempting to recover local coral populations. Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Acropora cervicornis is the most widely targeted coral species for restoration in Florida. Yet strategies are still maturing to enhance the survival of nursey‐reared outplants of A. cervicornis colonies on natural reefs. This study examined the survival of 22,634 A. cervicornis colonies raised in nurseries along the Florida reef tract and outplanted to six reef habitats in seven geographical subregions between 2012 …

A Brain-Infecting Parasite Impacts Host Metabolism Both During Exposure And After Infection Is Established, Lauren E. Nadler, Erik Bengston, Erika J. Eliason, Cameron Hassibi, Siri H. Helland-Riise, Ida B. Johansen, Garfield T. Kwan, Martin Tresguerres, Andrew V. Turner, Kelly L. Weinersmith, Øyvind Øverli, Ryan F. Hechinger

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

1. Metabolic costs associated with parasites should not be limited to established infections. Even during initial exposure to questing and attacking parasites, hosts can enact behavioural and physiological responses that could also incur metabolic costs. However, few studies have measured these costs directly. Hence, little is known about metabolic costs arising from parasite exposure.
2. Furthermore, no one has yet measured whether and how previous infection history modulates metabolic responses to parasite exposure.
3. Here, using the California killifish Fundulus parvipinnis and its brain‐infecting parasite Euhaplorchis californiensis, we quantified how killifish metabolism, behaviour and osmoregulatory phenotype changed upon acute exposure to parasite …

Nest Moisture Content Affects Loggerhead Hatchling Size And Neonate Development, Kelly M. Detmer

Scientific Communication News

No abstract provided.

Reducing Host Dna Contamination In 16s Rrna Gene Surveys Of Anthozoan Microbiomes Using Pna Clamps, Alicia M. Reigel, Sarah M. Owens, Michael E. Hellberg

Faculty Publications

Efforts to study the microbial communities associated with corals can be limited by inefficiencies in the sequencing process due to high levels of host amplification by universal bacterial 16S rRNA gene primers. Here, we develop an inexpensive peptide nucleic acid (PNA) clamp that binds to a target sequence of host DNA during PCR and blocks amplification. We then test the ability of this PNA clamp to mitigate host contamination and increase overall microbial sequence coverage on samples from three coral species: the gorgoniansEunicea flexuosaandGorgonia ventalina,and the scleractinianPorites panamensis. The 20-bp PNA clamp was designed using DNA fromE. flexuosa. Adding the …

Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions During Intraseasonal Oscillations In The Northern Indian Ocean, Heather Leigh Roman-Stork

Theses and Dissertations

The Indian Ocean and the monsoon system are dynamically complex. In the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS), surface circulation is strongly influenced by the monsoons and notable local eddying that modulates the East India Coastal Current (EICC). In this study, the role of freshwater transported from the BoB into the SEAS in determining both the timing of monsoon onset and the strength of the ensuing monsoon is examined. It is found that the long-term decrease in moisture flux from the sea surface and freshwater transport into the SEAS, along with a rise in upper ocean heat …

Deep Sea Isopods From The Western Mediterranean: Distribution And Habitat, Joan E. Cartes, Diego F. Figueroa

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Isopods are a highly diversified group of deep-sea fauna, with a wide variety of shapes which must reflect a similar great variety of adaptations to the deep environments. The deep Mediterranean, however, has a low diversity of isopods related to its oligotrophy, the thermal stability of deep-water masses (∼12.8 °C below 150 - 200 m) and rather homogeneous geomorphology. The main factor defining isopod habitats in the Balearic Basin is insularity vs mainland influence. Desmosomatidae and Ischnomesidae, examples of epibenthic species (with lack of paddle-shaped legs and non/low-natatory capacity) are mainly linked to mainland areas with higher % organic matter …

Trace Metals And The Environment: Studying The Behaviour Of Iceland’S Glacially Sourced Trace Metals, Owen Bailey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Trace metal contamination in marine ecosystems is a problem for every trophic level, from zooplankton up to humans. The mobility and uptake availability of these metals depend on such environmental parameters as salinity, temperature, and pH, among others. To explore the effects of varying parameters on dissolved metal behaviour, I studied the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, into which the Breidamerkurjökull glacier deposits trace metals from volcanic ash through glacial melt. In this study I develop and follow a sampling procedure to analyze trace metal concentrations in the lagoon, while additionally discussing the behaviour and impact of trace metals, focusing on cadmium, …

Cruise Report: Ex-17-11 Gulf Of Mexico 2017 (Rov And Mapping), Michael P. White, Brian R. C. Kennedy, Diva Amon, Charles G. Messing, Alexandra M. Avila

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

From November 29, 2017 to December 21, 2017, the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) and partners conducted a telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline data and information and to improve knowledge about unexplored and poorly understood deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico 2017 (EX-17-11) expedition was part of a series of expeditions between 2017 and 2018 that explored deepwater areas in the Gulf of Mexico. During 23 days at sea, 17 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives were completed off the Western Florida Escarpment and in …

First Insights Into The Vertical Habitat Use Of The Whitespotted Eagle Ray Aetobatus Narinari Revealed By Pop‐Up Satellite Archival Tags, L. R. Brewster, B. V. Cahill, M. N. Burton, C. Dougan, J. S. Herr, L. Issac Norton, S. A. Mcguire, M. Pico, E. Urban-Gedamke, K. Bassos-Hull, J. P. Tyminski, R. E. Hueter, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Mahmood S. Shivji, N. Burnie, M. J. Ajemian

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari is a tropical to warm‐temperate benthopelagic batoid that ranges widely throughout the western Atlantic Ocean. Despite conservation concerns for the species, its vertical habitat use and diving behaviour remain unknown. Patterns and drivers in depth distribution of A. narinari were investigated at two separate locations—western North Atlantic (Islands of Bermuda) and Eastern Gulf of Mexico (Sarasota, Florida, USA). Between 2010 and 2014, seven pop‐up satellite archival tags (PSATs) were attached to A. narinari using three methods: a through‐tail suture; external tail‐band; and through‐wing attachment. Retention time ranged from 0–180 days, with tags attached via …

Water Quality Assessment In The Occurrence Of Acanthaster Spp. (Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish, Cots) On Coral Reefs In Menjangan Island, Bali, Indonesia, Novia Arinda Pradisty, Eghbert Elvan Ampou, Rizki Hanintyo

Makara Journal of Science

Aquatic stressors are known to cause biological impairment that can result in biodiversity loss in several Marine Protected Areas (MPA), including in Menjangan Island, West Bali National Park. The objectives of this study were to correlate the changes in water quality parameters with the biological effect of Crown-of-Thorns starfish (CoTS) population dynamics and to assess the most applicable parameters for continuous environmental monitoring. Field observations and surveys were conducted three times in 2017, during the wet season, dry season and season transition, in order to assess the effect of seasonal variability. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) was performed to determine the relationship …

Consequences Of Plume Encounter On Larval Fish Growth And Condition In The Gulf Of Mexico, Kelia E. Axler, Su Sponaugle, Frank Hernandez, Carla Culpepper, Robert K. Cowen

Faculty Publications

© Inter-Research 2020. Freshwater input into nearshore continental shelf waters from coastal river-estuarine plumes can greatly alter the physical and trophic environments experienced by fish larvae. However, the biological consequences of plume encounter on larval fish survival remain equivocal, largely due to the extreme variability of these systems but also because traditional sampling techniques alone are too coarse to effectively characterize the dynamic biophysical environment at spatiotemporal scales relevant to individual larvae. Using a multidimensional approach, we simultaneously collected in situ imagery and net samples of larval fishes and zooplankton from the Mobile Bay plume (Alabama, USA) and ambient continental …

Tree Mode Of Death And Mortality Risk Factors Across Amazon Forests, Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, Oliver Phillips, Roel Brienen, Sophie Fauset, Martin Sullivan, Timothy Baker, Kuo-Jung Chao, Ted Feldpausch, Emanuel Gloor, Niro Higuchi, Jeanne Houwing-Duistermaat, Jon Lloyd, Haiyan Liu, Yadvinder Malhi, Beatriz Marimon, Ben Hur Marimon Junior, Abel Monteagudo-Mendoza, Lourens Poorter, Marcos Silveira, Emilio Vilanova Torre, Esteban Alvarez Dávila, Jhon Del Aguila Pasquel, Everton Almeida, Patricia Alvarez Loayza, Ana Andrade, Luiz E. O. C. Aragão, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Eric Arets, Luzmila Arroyo, Gerardo A. Aymard C., Michel Baisie, Christopher Baraloto, Plínio Barbosa Camargo, Jorcely Barroso, Lilian Blanc, Damien Bonal, Frans Bongers, René Boot, Foster Brown, Benoit Burban, José Luís Camargo, Wendeson Castro, Victor Chama Moscoso, Jerome Chave, James Comiskey, Fernando Cornejo Valverde, Antonio Lola Da Costa, Nallaret Davila Cardozo, Anthony Di Fiore, Aurélie Dourdain, Terry Erwin, Gerardo Flores Llampazo, Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira, Rafael Herrera, Eurídice Honorio Coronado, Isau Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Eliana Jimenez-Rojas, Timothy Killeen, Susan Laurance, William Laurance, Aurora Levesley, Simon L. Lewis, Karina Liana Lisboa Melgaço Ladvocat, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez, Thomas Lovejoy, Patrick Meir, Casimiro Mendoza, Paulo Morandi, David Neill, Adriano José Nogueira Lima, Percy Nuñez Vargas, Edmar Almeida De Oliveira, Nadir Pallqui Camacho, Guido Pardo, Julie Peacock, Marielos Peña-Claros, Maria Cristina Peñuela-Mora, Georgia Pickavance, John Pipoly Iii, Nigel Pitman, Adriana Prieto, Thomas A. M. Pugh, Carlos Quesada, Hirma Ramirez-Angulo, Simone Matias De Almeida Reis, Maxime Rejou-Machain, Zorayda Restrepo Correa, Lily Rodriguez Bayona, Agustín Rudas, Rafael Salomão, Julio Serrano, Javier Silva Espejo, Natalino Silva, James Singh, Clement Stahl, Juliana Stropp, Varun Swamy, Joey Talbot, Hans Ter Steege, John Terborgh, Raquel Thomas, Marisol Toledo, Armando Torres-Lezama, Luis Valenzuela Gamarra, Geertje Van Der Heijden, Peter Van Der Meer, Peter Van Der Hout, Rodolfo Vasquez Martinez, Simone Aparecida Vieira, Jeanneth Villalobos Cayo, Vincent Vos, Roderick Zagt, Pieter Zuidema, David Galbraith

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The carbon sink capacity of tropical forests is substantially affected by tree mortality. However, the main drivers of tropical tree death remain largely unknown. Here we present a pan-Amazonian assessment of how and why trees die, analysing over 120,000 trees representing > 3800 species from 189 long-term RAINFOR forest plots. While tree mortality rates vary greatly Amazon-wide, on average trees are as likely to die standing as they are broken or uprooted—modes of death with different ecological consequences. Species-level growth rate is the single most important predictor of tree death in Amazonia, with faster-growing species being at higher risk. Within species, …

Seasonal Movements And Habitat Use Of Juvenile Smooth Hammerhead Sharks In The Western North Atlantic Ocean And Significance For Management, Ryan K. Logan, Jeremy Vaudo, Lara L. Sousa, Mark Sampson, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Mahmood S. Shivji

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Upper trophic level predators dramatically impacted by fisheries include the large-bodied hammerhead sharks, which have become species of conservation concern worldwide. Implementing spatial management for conservation of hammerhead populations requires knowledge of temporal distribution patterns and habitat use, identification of essential habitat for protection, and quantification of interactions with human activities. There is little such information for the smooth hammerhead shark, Sphyrna zygaena. We used fin-mounted satellite tags to examine the movements and habitat use of juvenile smooth hammerheads, a demographic segment particularly threatened by exploitation. Six sharks were tagged off the US mid-Atlantic and tracked for 49–441 days …