Marine Biology Commons^™

Atlantic Sailfish (Istiophorus Albicans) Distribution Off The East Coast Of Florida From 2003 To 2018 In Response To Sea Surface Temperature, Meredith M. Pratt

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

The Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) ranges from 40°N to 40°S in the Western Atlantic Ocean and has great economic and recreational value for sport fishers. Off the east coast of Florida, recreational fishing boats often target this species due to its size, speed and strength. This project aimed to determine the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and the distribution of Atlantic sailfish caught and released over a fifteen-year period (2003 to 2018). Tagging information was collected from The Billfish Foundation and NOAA who have the most extensive programs for billfish. Using the time and location of each …

Accounting For The Influence Of Temperature And Location When Predicting Seagrass (Halophila Ovalis) Photosynthetic Performance, Nicole E. Said, Kathryn Mcmahon, Paul Lavery

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

We show that the effect of temperature on photosynthesis of a widely distributed and ecological important seagrass species was not consistent among locations, with some evidence of acclimation to the local temperature range. This has important implications for modelling seagrass productivity and the impacts of light reduction on seagrass ecosystems. Reduced light availability is one of the main pressures negatively impacting on seagrass meadows worldwide. Our knowledge of seagrass photosynthetic characteristics is critical to predicting and managing impacts of light reducing activities but suffers from two critical information gaps: first, data is overwhelmingly derived from studies of leaf tissue and …

Assessing The Significance Of Substrate Color And Temperature On Balanus Glandula Growth And Survivorship, Nhi Phan

CMC Senior Theses

The body temperatures of intertidal species are strongly dependent on the temperature of their external environment. This study sought to understand the impact of a substrate’s color and subsequent temperature on Balanus glandula in order to predict the potential effects of warming temperatures from climate change on intertidal species. Barnacles were allowed to settle and grow on three differently colored plates and were photographically monitored over the course of eleven weeks. Settlement and survivorship were recorded on-site, while growth was tracked utilizing digital imaging software. It was hypothesized that barnacles on peach plates would perform the best since the ambient …

Variation In Coral Thermotolerance Across A Pollution Gradient Erodes As Coral Symbionts Shift To More Heat-Tolerant Genera, Melissa S. Naugle, Thomas A. Oliver, Daniel J. Barshis, Ruth D. Gates, Cheryl A. Logan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Phenotypic plasticity is one mechanism whereby species may cope with stressful environmental changes associated with climate change. Reef building corals present a good model for studying phenotypic plasticity because they have experienced rapid climate-driven declines in recent decades (within a single generation of many corals), often with differential survival among individuals during heat stress. Underlying differences in thermotolerance may be driven by differences in baseline levels of environmental stress, including pollution stress. To examine this possibility, acute heat stress experiments were conducted on Acropora hyacinthus from 10 sites around Tutuila, American Samoa with differing nutrient pollution impact. A threshold-based heat …

Benthic Microalgae Response To A Warming Climate And Shift In Foundational Vegetation Species In A Saltmarsh-Mangrove Ecotone, Gabriela Canas

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ecotone in Northeast Florida is experiencing rapid change as mangroves begin to encroach northward into saltmarsh dominated coastal wetlands. This is especially prevalent within the boundaries of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve where studies are attempting to understand the consequences of more mangroves. Although we are beginning to understand some of the implications of this shift in dominant vegetation, the true effects and the accompanying sustained climatic warming effects on the resilience of wetland habitats and their associated communities remains unknown. Primary producers such as benthic microalgae (BMA) are important food sources in both mangrove and …

The Role Of Symbiotic Algae In The Acclimatization Of Oculina Arbuscula To Ocean Acidification, Erin M. Arneson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Ocean acidification (OA) caused by CO₂ emissions is projected to decrease seawater pH to 7.6 by 2100. Scleractinian corals are at risk because excess H⁺ in seawater binds to carbonate (CO₃^2-), reducing its availability for CaCO₃ skeletons. The energy demand for skeletal growth increases as pH decreases because corals must actively purge excess H⁺ from their seawater sourced calcifying fluid to maintain high calcification rates. In scleractinian corals it is hypothesized that photosynthesis by symbiotic algae is critical to meet this increased energy demand. To test this hypothesis, I conducted laboratory and field …

Journal Of Ecology 2021 Global Rainfall-Seagrass Resilience-Swan River, Chanelle L. Webster, Kathryn M. Mcmahon, Paul S. Lavery, Simone Strydom, Marta Sánchez Alarcón, Kieryn L. Kilminster, Katherine Bennet, Sian Mcnamara

Research Datasets

The excel file contains: summary of daily maximum precipitation from global rainfall analysis, monthly change in seagrass indicators (biomass, leaf density etc); water quality data including salinity, temperature and light data. There are also .nc files containing precipitation data from 1979-2019.

Thermal Stress-Related Spatiotemporal Variations In High-Latitude Coral Reef Benthic Communities, Nicholas P. Jones, Joana Figueiredo, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

High-latitude coral reef communities have been postulated as the first areas to undergo reorganisation under climate change. Tropicalisation has been identified in some high-latitude communities and is predicted in others, but it is unclear how the resident benthic taxa are affected. We conducted a long-term (2007–2016) assessment of changes to benthic community cover in relation to thermal stress duration on the Southeast Florida Reef Tract (SEFRT). Thermal stress events, both hot and cold, had acute (thermal stress duration affected benthic cover that year) and chronic (thermal stress duration affected benthic cover the following year) impacts on benthic cover. Chronic heat …

Uncovering The Role Of Symbiodiniaceae Assemblage Composition And Abundance In Coral Bleaching Response By Minimizing Sampling And Evolutionary Biases, Timothy D. Swain, Simon Lax, Vadim Backman, Luisa A. Marcelino

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background

Biodiversity and productivity of coral-reef ecosystems depend upon reef-building corals and their associations with endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae, which offer diverse functional capabilities to their hosts. The number of unique symbiotic partners (richness) and relative abundances (evenness) have been hypothesized to affect host response to climate change induced thermal stress. Symbiodiniaceae assemblages with many unique phylotypes may provide greater physiological flexibility or form less stable symbioses; assemblages with low abundance phylotypes may allow corals to retain thermotolerant symbionts or represent associations with less-suitable symbionts.

Results

Here we demonstrate that true richness of Symbiodiniaceae phylotype assemblages is generally not discoverable from …

Steady Heartbeat: Field And Laboratory Studies Indicate Unexpected Resilience To High Temperatures For The Ribbed Mussel Geukensia Demissa, Ashlyn N. Smith Ms.

Honors College Theses

Salt marshes are important ecosystems found along the coast of Georgia. Salt marshes are hosts to diverse organisms that interact with each other to promote many ecosystem services, such as storm buffering and flooding, and absorption of excess nutrients. Among these diverse organisms is the ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa. Mussels are a foundation species in this intertidal landscape, and without them the whole salt marsh would be negatively affected. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the thermal stress response of G. demissa to rising temperatures. Mussels were collected from three locations that were landlocked, close to a …

Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Analysis Of Mangrove Ecosystems Using Gis, Kayla Caldwell

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is accelerating beyond what is natural due to excessive emissions from human activities. The sea level has been rising for many years and is currently at a rate of 3.6 mm/yr. Mangroves are known to only keep pace with a sea level rate of less than 1.2 mm/yr. Mangroves are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels if they are not able to keep pace through vertical sediment accretion or inland migration. To test the vulnerability of the south Florida mangrove ecosystems to sea level rise, this study analyzed changes in the mangrove forest coverage of the Oleta River …

Natural Variation And Evolutionary Responses To Climate Change Stressors In Marine Invertebrates, Joanna Sarah Griffiths

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Our rapidly changing climate is putting many species at risk of extinction and there is an urgent need to understand how species will respond to these changes. In this dissertation, I evaluate how three species of marine invertebrates (corals, oysters, and copepods) respond to stressful conditions in their current environments and how plasticity and evolutionary adaptation could alter their response to future climate change stressors. I first employed a space for time study to elucidate population differences in the response of cold-water corals, Balanophyllia elegans, to future ocean acidification. I found evidence that upwelling history (natural low pH exposure) influences …

Urgent Need For Coral Demography In A World Where Corals Are Disappearing, Peter J. Edmunds, Bernhard Riegl

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coral reefs have long attracted attention because of their biological and economic importance, but this interest now has turned to examining the possibility of functional extirpation. Widespread declines in coral abundances have fueled the shift in motivation for studying reefs and catalyzed the proliferation of monitoring to record the changes underway. Despite appreciation of monitoring as a scientific endeavor, its primary use has continued to be the quantification of cover of coral, macroalgae, and a few other space holders. The limitations of coral cover in evaluating the consequences of changing coral abundance were highlighted decades ago. Yet neglect of the …

No Evidence Of Fine Scale Thermal Adaption In Green Turtles, Taylor Apter

Scientific Communication News

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Climate Change On The Migration Phenology Of New England’S Anadromous River Herring And American Shad, Charles K. Cobb

Honors Theses

Anadromous fish play important roles in food webs and nutrient cycling in both aquatic and marine ecosystems. As a result of climate change however, anadromous fish’s migration timing has begun to change, with potentially deleterious consequences to both anadromous fish, and the species that depend on them. Western coastal US studies have linked earlier anadromous fish returns to warming marine temperatures and changes in river flow regimes, but the exact temperatures thresholds that anadromous fish respond to, and the relative importance of temperatures and river flows, remain somewhat unknown. Additionally, there has been relatively little research on anadromous fish phenology …

Science, Diplomacy, And The Red Sea's Unique Coral Reef: It's Time For Action, Karine Kleinhaus, Ali Al-Sawalmih, Daniel J. Barshis, Amatzia Genin, Lola N. Grace, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Yossi Loya, Anders Meiborn, Eslam O. Osman, Jean-Daniel Ruch, Yonathan Shaked, Christian R. Voolstra, Assaf Zvuloni, Maoz Fine

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Rapid ocean warming due to climate change poses a serious risk to the survival of coral reefs. It is estimated that 70–90 percent of all reefs will be severely degraded by mid-century even if the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Climate Agreement is achieved. However, one coral reef ecosystem seems to be more resilient to rising sea temperatures than most others. The Red Sea’s reef ecosystem is one of the longest continuous living reefs in the world, and its northernmost portion extends into the Gulf of Aqaba. The scleractinian corals in the Gulf have an unusually high tolerance for the …

Assessing The Hierarchy Of Long-Term Environmental Controls On Diatom Communities Of Yellowstone National Park Using Lacustrine Sediment Records, Victoria Chraibi, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

An ecosystem’s ability to maintain structure and function following disturbance, defined as resilience, is influenced by a hierarchy of environmental controls, including climate, surface cover, and ecological relationships that shape biological community composition and productivity. This study examined lacustrine sediment records of naturally fishless lakes in Yellowstone National Park to reconstruct the response of aquatic communities to climate and trophic cascades from fish stocking. Sediment records of diatom algae did not exhibit a distinct response to fish stocking in terms of assemblage or algal productivity. Instead, 3 of 4 lakes underwent a shift to dominance by benthic diatom species from …

Standardized Short-Term Acute Heat Stress Assays Resolve Historical Differences In Coral Thermotolerance Across Microhabitat Reef Sites, Christian R. Voolstra, Carol Buitrago-López, Gabriela Perna, Anny Cárdenas, Benjamin C. C. Hume, Nils Rädecker, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coral bleaching is one of the main drivers of reef degradation. Most corals bleach and suffer mortality at just 1–2°C above their maximum monthly mean temperatures, but some species and genotypes resist or recover better than others. Here, we conducted a series of 18‐hr short‐term acute heat stress assays side‐by‐side with a 21‐day long‐term heat stress experiment to assess the ability of both approaches to resolve coral thermotolerance differences reflective of in situ reef temperature thresholds. Using a suite of physiological parameters (photosynthetic efficiency, coral whitening, chlorophyll a , host protein, algal symbiont counts, and algal type association), we assessed …

What If The Key To Climate Change Is Hiding Under The Sea?, Shira Feder

Capstones

“We know more about outer space than we do the ocean,” says Vicki Ferrini, a research scientist at Columbia University with over 20 ocean expeditions under her belt. And as the woman leading Seabed 2030, the charge to map the world’s oceans—which are 85% unexplored—she knows how vital this is to combat climate change and exactly how she’s going to do it. Read it here: https://medium.com/@shira.feder/what-if-the-key-to-climate-change-is-hiding-under-the-sea-4503565c33a2

The Effects Of Seasonal Variations, El Niño-Southern Oscillation, And Climate Change On The Tuna-Dolphin Association, Caitlynn Birch, Michael D. Scott, Zhi-Yong Yin, Lisa T. Ballance

Theses

Tuna and dolphins swim together in the waters of the eastern tropical Pacific, and this association has long benefitted tuna fishermen and intrigued scientists. Although the tuna-dolphin association is often referred to as a “mystery,” much is known about the association. Yellowfin tuna are primarily caught with spotted dolphins and, to a lesser extent, spinner dolphins; historically the spotted dolphin has borne the brunt of the bycatch mortality. The tuna-dolphin association is thought to be a product of the distinct oceanography of the ETP: a shallow mixed layer, a thick oxygen minimum zone, and warm surface waters. As the mixed …

Salt Marsh Health And Biomass Responses To A Changing Environment, Gwen Joelle Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Coastal salt marshes are important ecosystems not only for their aesthetic beauty but also for their ecosystem services that they provide including improving water quality, providing protection from storm surges and hurricanes, and carbon sequestration. With climate change, including drought, warmer temperatures and sea-level rise, these systems are going to be impacted. Understanding how salt marshes will respond, or already have responded, to climate change will help us be better prepared for the future. By scripting a model to project how marshes may migrate with sea-level rise, I discover that salt marshes within Beaufort and Jasper counties, South Carolina will …

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 …

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, …

Rapid Assessment Of Post-Hurricane Michael Impacts On A Population Of The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus In Seagrass Beds Of Eagle Harbor, Port Saint Joseph Bay, Florida, Roberta Challener, James B. Mcclintock, Raymond Czaja Jr., Christopher Pomory

Gulf and Caribbean Research

No abstract provided.

Changing Oceanic Conditions On The Foraging Patterns Of Cassin’S Auklets, Ptychoramphus Aleuticuschanging Oceanic Conditions On The Foraging Patterns Of Cassin’S Auklets, Ptychoramphus Aleuticus, Clare Flynn

Pomona Senior Theses

Cassin’s auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) reproductive success has been monitored on Southeast Farallon Island (SEFI) for the past 45 years. Their productivity has varied with oceanic conditions. The purpose of this study is to connect how oceanic conditions affect Cassin’s auklet foraging behaviors. The California Current System (CCS) can normally maintain high plankton productivity, and thus high seabird productivity, because of coastal upwelling. I hypothesized that lower upwelling and/or higher sea surface temperatures (SSTs) lead Cassin’s auklets to spend more time on intensive foraging behaviors such as flying and diving, and have less time to spend resting. I also hypothesized that …

High-Frequency Temperature Variability Mirrors Fixed Differences In Thermal Limits Of The Massive Coral Porites Lobata, Daniel J. Barshis, Charles Birkeland, Robert J. Toonen, Ruth D. Gates, Jonathon H. Stillman

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Spatial heterogeneity in environmental characteristics can drive adaptive differentiation when contrasting environments exert divergent selection pressures. This environmental and genetic heterogeneity can substantially influence population and community resilience to disturbance events. Here, we investigated corals from the highly variable back-reef habitats of Ofu Island in American Samoa that thrive in thermal conditions known to elicit widespread bleaching and mortality elsewhere. To investigate the relative importance of acclimation versus site of origin in shaping previously observed differences in coral tolerance limits at Ofu Island, specimens of the common Indo-Pacific coral Porites lobata from locations with differing levels of thermal variability were …

Synergistic Effects Of Temperature And Salinity On The Gene Expression And Physiology Of Crassostrea Virginica, Hollis Jones

LSU Master's Theses

Crassostrea virginica, the eastern oyster, forms reefs that provide critical services and benefits to the resiliency of the surrounding ecosystem. Changes in environmental conditions, including salinity and temperature, can dramatically alter the services oysters provide by affecting their population dynamics. Climate warming may further exacerbate the effects of salinity changes as precipitation events increase in frequency, intensity, and duration. Temperature and salinity independently and synergistically influence gene expression and physiology in marine organisms. We used comparative transcriptomics, physiology, and a field assessment experiment to investigate whether Louisianan oyster are changing their phenotypes to cope with increased temperature and salinity …

An Overview Of Factors Affecting Distribution Of The Atlantic Surfclam (Spisula Solidissima), A Continental Shelf Biomass Dominant, During A Period Of Climate Change, Eileen E. Hoffman, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klink, Daphne M. Munroe, Roger Mann, Dale B. Haidvogel, Diego A. Narváez, Xinzhong Zhang, Kelsey M. Kuykendall

Faculty Publications

The Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) is a dominant member of the biological community of the Middle Atlantic Bight continental shelf and a commercially harvested species. Climate warming is affecting the biology and distribution of this species, which provides an opportunity to investigate the processes and conditions that are restructuring this fishery and the implications for ecological and socioeconomic systems. A Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) developed for the surfclam fishery provides a mechanistic description of the surfclam's response to climate change and understanding of the cascade of effects initiated by changes in oceanographic conditions that ultimately appear as social and economic …

Dermal Mycobacteriosis And Warming Sea Surface Temperatures Are Associated With Elevated Mortality Of Striped Bass In Chesapeake Bay, Maya L. Groner, John M. Hoenig, Roger Pradel, Rémi Choquet, Wolfgang K. Vogelbein, David T. Gauthier, Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Temperature is hypothesized to alter disease dynamics, particularly when species are living at or near their thermal limits. When disease occurs in marine systems, this can go undetected, particularly if the disease is chronic and progresses slowly. As a result, population-level impacts of diseases can be grossly underestimated. Complex migratory patterns, stochasticity in recruitment, and data and knowledge gaps can hinder collection and analysis of data on marine diseases. New tools enabling quantification of disease impacts in marine environments include coupled biogeochemical hydrodynamic models (to hindcast key environmental data), and multievent, multistate mark-recapture (MMSMR) (to quantify the effects of environmental …

Thresholds And Drivers Of Coral Calcification Responses To Climate Change, Niklas Kornder, Bernhard Riegl, Joana Figueiredo

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Increased temperature and CO₂ levels are considered key drivers of coral reef degradation. However, individual assessments of ecological responses (calcification) to these stressors are often contradicting. To detect underlying drivers of heterogeneity in coral calcification responses, we developed a procedure for the inclusion of stress–effect relationships in ecological meta‐analyses. We applied this technique to a dataset of 294 empirical observations from 62 peer‐reviewed publications testing individual and combined effects of elevated temperature and pCO₂ on coral calcification. Our results show an additive interaction between warming and acidification, which reduces coral calcification by 20% when pCO₂ levels exceed …