Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Estimating Growth And Mortality In Elasmobranchs: Are We Doing It Correctly?, Brian J. Moe

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The instantaneous mortality rate (M) is an important parameter in elasmobranch management and conservation, but is difficult to estimate directly. Thus, indirect estimates based on relatively easily obtained life history parameters are commonly used. Many indirect methods incorporate one or more parameters from the von Bertalanffy growth model (VBGM), which is often criticized for its inability to describe changes in growth associated with maturity. The Lester growth model (LGM) is a biphasic alternative to the VBGM that incorporates trade-offs between reproduction, growth, and survival, and may therefore more accurately estimate M. I used published data from 29 …

Seasonal Warm-Water Refuge And Sanctuary Usage By The Florida Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris) In Kings Bay, Citrus County, Florida, Danielle C. Sattelberger

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The largest Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) aggregation at a natural warm-water refuge occurs in Kings Bay, Crystal River, FL. Over the last 32 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of Florida have created a network of manatee protection areas within Kings Bay including a year-round refuge designation and seven Federal manatee sanctuaries during the winter manatee season (November 15 – March 31). Aerial survey data collected between 1983 and 2012 was used to examine the seasonal change in manatee distribution within Kings Bay in order to assess the effectiveness of current sanctuary sizes …

Evaluation Of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals In The Florida Coastal Pelagic Fish Complex Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Event, Rachel Hickey

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill event, there was a critical need to assess the effects of the oil and dispersant chemicals on the coastal pelagic fish complex in the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits. The objective of this study was to determine if spilled crude oil and dispersant chemicals have posed an ecological risk to the coastal pelagic fish complex through the detection of vitellogenesis. Crude oil containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dispersant chemicals and other estrogen-mimicking compounds are suspected to induce vitellogenin production in male and immature female fish, normally only produced by sexually mature …

Land-Based Coral Nurseries: A Valuable Tool For Production And Transplantation Of Acropora Cervicornis, Keri L. O'Neil

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral nurseries have become a popular and successful method to produce coral fragments for reef-restocking and restoration projects worldwide. Numerous in-situ coral nurseries have been established and many studies have focused on the most effective way to produce coral fragments in offshore nurseries. In contrast, production of coral fragments in land-based nurseries is rarely studied despite a growing knowledge of coral husbandry and coral aquaculture. Little data exist on the success of tank-raised corals when transplanted back into reef environments. This thesis presents the results of a study designed to assess the use of land-based coral nurseries in production of …

Histology And Ultrastructure Of Montastraea Cavernosa And Porites Astreiodes During Regeneration And Recruitment: Anthropogenic Stressors And Transplant Success, Dorothy-Ellen A. Renegar

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Corals combine photosynthesis and calcification in an intricate and delicately balanced relationship to form large biomineralized structures that are dominant features of tropical coastlines worldwide. Coral reefs have great scientific and economic importance but have recently experienced widespread decline attributed to increasing anthropogenic pressure on reef systems. Physical damage events, such as ship groundings, when coupled with existing nutrient stress and changing global climate present a poor outlook for successful natural recovery of reef communities. The main goal of the proposed research is to better understand how environmental factors, both local and global, affect the coral holobiont and influence overall …

Growth Of A Deep-Water, Predatory Fish Is Influenced By The Productivity Of A Boundary Current System, Hoang Minh Nguyen, Adam N. Rountrey, Jessica J. Meeuwig, Peter G. Coulson, Ming Feng, Stephen J. Newman, Anya M. Waite, Corey B. Wakefield, Mark G. Meekan

Fisheries Research Articles

The effects of climate change on predatory fishes in deep shelf areas are difficult to predict because complex processes may govern food availability and temperature at depth. We characterised the net impact of recent environmental changes on hapuku (Polyprion oxygeneios), an apex predator found in continental slope habitats (>200 m depth) by using dendrochronology techniques to develop a multi-decadal record of growth from otoliths. Fish were sampled off temperate south-western Australia, a region strongly influenced by the Leeuwin Current, a poleward-flowing, eastern boundary current. The common variance among individual growth records was relatively low (3.4%), but the …

Dynamics Of Marine Bacterial Community Diversity Of The Coastal Waters Of The Reefs, Inlets, And Wastewater Outfalls Of Southeast Florida, Alexandra Mandina Campbell, Jay Fleisher, Christopher D. Sinigalliano, James R. White, Jose V. Lopez

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coastal waters adjacent to populated southeast Florida possess different habitats (reefs, oceanic inlets, sewage outfalls) that may affect the composition of their inherent microbiomes. To determine variation according to site, season, and depth, over the course of 1 year, we characterized the bacterioplankton communities within 38 nearshore seawater samples derived from the Florida Area Coastal Environment (FACE) water quality survey. Six distinct coastal locales were profiled – the Port Everglades and Hillsboro Inlets, Hollywood and Broward wastewater outfalls, and associated reef sites using culture-independent, high-throughput pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 region. More than 227,000 sequences helped describe longitudinal taxonomic …

Dihydrolipoic Acid Conjugated Carbon Dots Accelerate Human Insulin Fibrillation, Sheba J. Kuruvilla, Shanghao Li, Lorenzo Sansalone, Blake Fortes, Ian Zheng, Patricia Blackwelder, Cyrus Pumilia, Miodrag Micic, Jhony Orbulescu, Roger M. Leblanc

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Protein fibrillation is believed to play an important role in the pathology and development of several human diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and type 2 diabetes. Carbon dots (CDs), as a new type of nanoparticle have recently been extensively studied for potential biological applications, but their effects on protein fibrillation remain unexplored. In reality, any application in biological systems will inevitably have “contact” between proteins and CDs. In this study, human insulin was selected as a model protein to study the effects of CDs on protein fibrillation, as proteins may share a common mechanism to form fibrils. Hydrophobic …

Migration Strategies Vary In Space, Time, And Among Species In The Smallfish Metacommunity Of The Everglades, J. Matthew Hoch, Eric R. Sokol, Aaron D. Parker, Joel C. Trexler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Spatial ecology and movement strategies of aquatic organisms may limit their response to human-caused drying of wetland habitats. We characterized the movement strategies of the most abundant species of fish in the wetlands of the Everglades (USA) to better understand how they cope with annual fluctuations in aquatic habitat size. Over a six-year period, we used a sampling method designed to measure the density, activity levels, and movement direction of small fishes. We estimated changes in displacement speed and directional bias to identify patterns of movement that different fishes use to disperse over the gradient of disturbance in this environment. …

3d Dynamics Of Freshwater Lenses In The Near-Surface Layer Of The Tropical Ocean, Alexander Soloviev, Cayla Whitney Dean, Atsushi Fujimura

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Convective rains in the Intertropical Convergence Zone produce lenses of freshened water on the ocean surface. Due to significant density differences between the freshened and saltier seawater, strong pressure gradients develop, resulting in lateral spreading of freshwater lenses in the form of gravity currents. Gravity currents inherently involve three-dimensional dynamics. As a type of organized structure, gravity currents may also interact with, and be shaped by, the ambient oceanic and atmospheric environment. Among the important environmental factors are background stratification and wind stress. Under certain conditions, a resonant interaction between a propagating freshwater lens and internal waves in the underlying …

A Catch Per Unit Effort (Cpue) Spatial Metric With Respect To The Western North Atlantic Pelagic Longline Fishery, Max Appelman

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Catch per unit effort (CPUE) is a quantitative method used to describe fisheries worldwide. CPUE can be presented as number of fish per 1000 hooks, number of fish per amount of fishing time, or with any unit of effort that best describes the fishery (e.g., search time, hooks per hour, number of trawls). CPUE is commonly used as an index to estimate relative abundance for a population. These indices are then applied within stock assessments so that fisheries managers can make justified decisions for how to manage a particular stock or fishery using options such as quotas, catch …

Computer Modeling The Incursion Patterns Of Marine Invasive Species, Matthew W. Johnston

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Not Available.

Biogeochemical Analysis Of Ancient Pacific Cod Bone Suggests Hg Bioaccumulation Was Linked To Paleo Sea Level Rise And Climate Change, Maribeth S. Murray, C. Peter Mcroy, L. K. Duffy, Amy Hirons, J. M. Schaaf, Robert P. Trocine, John Trefry

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Deglaciation at the end of the Pleistocene initiated major changes in ocean circulation and distribution. Within a brief geological time, large areas of land were inundated by sea-level rise and today global sea level is 120 m above its minimum stand during the last glacial maximum. This was the era of modern sea shelf formation; climate change caused coastal plain flooding and created broad continental shelves with innumerable consequences to marine and terrestrial ecosystems and human populations. In Alaska, the Bering Sea nearly doubled in size and stretches of coastline to the south were flooded, with regional variability in the …

Water Column Productivity And Temperature Predict Coral Reef Regeneration Across The Indo-Pacific, Bernhard Riegl, Peter W. Glynn, Evie A. Wieters, Samuel J. Purkis, C. D'Angelo, Joerg Wiedenmann

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Predicted increases in seawater temperatures accelerate coral reef decline due to mortality by heat-driven coral bleaching. Alteration of the natural nutrient environment of reef corals reduces tolerance of corals to heat and light stress and thus will exacerbate impacts of global warming on reefs. Still, many reefs demonstrate remarkable regeneration from past stress events. This paper investigates the effects of sea surface temperature (SST) and water column productivity on recovery of coral reefs. In 71 Indo-Pacific sites, coral cover changes over the past 1-3 decades correlated negative-exponentially with mean SST, chlorophyll a, and SST rise. At six monitoring sites …

Fdou Project 26a Part 5 Task 1 - Our Florida Reefs (Ofr) Survey Outreach Efforts, Brian K. Walker, Amanda Rose Costaregni

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

This report contains summaries of the OFR survey outreach activities completed in Miami-

Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Martin counties between October 1st, 2014 and February

2nd, 2015.

A total of seven presentations were given in Broward, Palm Beach, and Martin Counties.

These presentations were for groups such as dive clubs, underwater photography clubs, fishing clubs, and environmental professionals clubs. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts no survey presentations have been given in Miami-Dade County to-date. Summaries of these outreach presentations include the name of the club, location of the presentation, number of people reached, demographics, questions and responses during the …

Using The West Indian Manatee (Trichechus Manatus) As A Mechanism For Invasive Aquatic Plant Management In Florida, Aarin Conrad Allen, Edward O. Keith

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

West-Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus L.) are opportunistic, herbivorous aquatic mammals that occupy the warm, shallow coastal waters throughout the southeastern United States. Manatees are known to feed on large quantities of diverse plant types. Presently within the state of Florida, manatees are an endangered species facing environmental and anthropogenic threats. Several different organizations work to rescue and rehabilitate these animals for an eventual return to the wild. Also within Florida, invasive aquatic plants are becoming increasingly problematic, creating both negative economic and environmental impacts. Each year, efforts are made to control these exotic plant species through several different …

The Intended And Unintended Effects Of Fishing On Deep Sea Fish, David M. Bailey, Rosanna Milligan

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

No abstract provided.

Operationalizing Resilience For Adaptive Coral Reef Management Under Global Environmental Change, Kenneth R. N. Anthony, Paul A. Marshall, Ameer Abdulla, Roger Beeden, Christopher Bergh, Ryan Black, C. Mark Eakin, Edward T. Game, Margaret Gooch, Nicholas A. J. Graham, Alison Green, Scott F. Heron, Ruben Van Hooidonk, Cheryl Knowland, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Nadine Marshall, Jeffrey A. Maynard, Peter Mcginnity, Elizabeth Mcleod, Peter J. Mumby, Magnus Nystrom, David Obura, Jamie Oliver, Hugh P. Possingham, Robert L. Pressey, Gwilym Rowlands, Jerker Tamelander, David Wachenfeld, Stephanie Wear

HCAS Student Articles

Cumulative pressures from global climate and ocean change combined with multiple regional and local-scale stressors pose fundamental challenges to coral reef managers worldwide. Understanding how cumulative stressors affect coral reef vulnerability is critical for successful reef conservation now and in the future. In this review, we present the case that strategically managing for increased ecological resilience (capacity for stress resistance and recovery) can reduce coral reef vulnerability (risk of net decline) up to a point. Specifically, we propose an operational framework for identifying effective management levers to enhance resilience and support management decisions that reduce reef vulnerability. Building on a …

Growth, Injury, And Population Dynamics In The Extant Cyrtocrinid Holopus Mikihe (Crinoidea, Echinodermata) Near Roatan, Honduras, V. J. Syverson, Charles G. Messing, Karl Stanley, Tomasz K. Baumiller

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The crinoid order Cyrtocrinida is known mainly from Mesozoic fossils; its few surviving members, all from bathyal environments, are among the most peculiar living crinoids. Cyrtocrinids attributed to Holopus mikihe Donovan and Pawson, 2008, have been observed in large numbers via submersible off the western coast of Roatán, Honduras, on vertical and overhanging walls at depths between 430 and 640 m. Observations in 2012, 2013, and 2014 have permitted the first estimates of population structure, growth, and regeneration. Two size modes were observed; the flat barnacle-like “juvenile” stage resembles confamilial and co-occurring Cyathidium pourtalesiAméziane, 1999, whereas the larger “adults” …

Translocation Of Acropora Cervicornis Across Geographic Regions: Investigating Species Recovery And Restoration, Bradley Cody Bliss

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is the first known study to relocate Acropora cervicornis across multiple regions of the Florida Reef Tract. Since 2006, A. cervicornis has been listed as a threatened coral species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In response, restoration efforts utilizing coral nursery methods have been implemented throughout the Caribbean. The primary objective of this research was to determine the response of A. cervicornis colonies to being relocated between two coral nurseries separated by approximately 150km along the Florida Reef Tract. To accomplish this, a reciprocal transport was conducted between coral fragments with known genotypes from Broward County and …

Feeding Ecology And Habitat Utilization Of The Great Barracuda Sphyraena Barracuda (Edwards 1771) In Southeast Florida, Noah R. Hansen

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Great barracuda Sphyraena barracuda is a large predatory teleost found circumglobally, other than the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The species is commonly caught by both recreational and commercial fishermen as bycatch while targeting other, more economically or recreationally valuable fishes. This species also exhibits an ontogenetic shift in habitat, with juveniles inhabiting mangrove and seagrass habitats, while adults live near offshore reefs and associated structure.

This thesis consists of two separate studies of S. barracuda: 1) feeding ecology along an ontogenetic gradient and 2) habitat utilization of as derived through electronic tagging. The first chapter of this thesis describes the …

Ecology, Population Dynamics, And Sexual Characteristics Of Commensal Leucothoid Amphipods With The Sponge Cliona Varians In The Florida Keys (Crustacea: Amphipoda), Stephanie Lynn Andringa

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent observations have identified a new species of leucothoid amphipod, Leucothoe “sp. F,” associated with the sponge Cliona varians. This project examined the relationship between this amphipod and its sponge host at three sites in the Florida Keys with differing hydrodynamic regimes. Ninety-eight sponge samples with a total of 2,030 amphipods were collected between December 2011 and September 2012. Leucothoe “sp. F” is currently a common species in the Florida Keys strongly associated with C. varians; its distribution strongly coincides with open tidal currents from the Gulf of Mexico. Seasonality, depth, and tidal regimes not only influence population …

Caffeine Elicits Time Dependent Biphasic Response Of Functional Recovery In Carassius Auratus Hemilabyrinthectomy Lesion Model, Bethany Brockhoff

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Caffeine is one of the most popular psychostimulant drugs worldwide. Its effects are exerted through a variety of complex mechanisms, apparently primarily via interactions with adenosine A1 and A2A receptors. This drug has also been proven to elicit neuroprotective responses in a number of different brain disorders of the Central Nervous System (CNS), as well as provide enhancement of cognitive abilities. Moreover, a biphasic set of functional and structural neurological changes are often found in these receptors among diverse vertebrates. I investigated the effects of chronic caffeine exposure on functional recovery of the dorsal light reflex (DLR) in hemilabyrinthectomized common …

Mathematical Modeling Of Emiliania Huxleyi And A Host-Specific Virus, Julia Middleton

Honors Theses

The world’s oceans provide the basis for life on the planet. One microscopic algae, the coccolithophores, and Emiliania huxleyi in particular, is a major source of carbon drawdown in the context of the global carbon cycle and account for a significant amount of the primary production in oceanic ecosystems. We know that the oceans are packed with marine viruses and they have an important role in the rise and fall of plankton populations but current mathematical models do not accurately account for virus-host interactions when predicting plankton blooms. Therefore I am using model optimization and comparison techniques to evaluate current …

Iron Supply And Demand In Antarctic Shelf Ecosystem, D. J. Mcgillicuddy Jr., Peter N. Sedwick, Michael S. Dinniman, K. R. Arrigo, T. S. Bibby, B. J. W. Greenan, Eileen E. Hofmann, John M. Klinck, W. O. Smith Jr., S. L. Mack, C. M. Marsay, B. M. Sohst, G. L. Van Dijken

OES Faculty Publications

The Ross Sea sustains a rich ecosystem and is the most productive sector of the Southern Ocean. Most of this production occurs within a polynya during the November-February period, when the availability of dissolved iron (dFe) is thought to exert the major control on phytoplankton growth. Here we combine new data on the distribution of dFe, high-resolution model simulations of ice melt and regional circulation, and satellite-based estimates of primary production to quantify iron supply and demand over the Ross Sea continental shelf. Our analysis suggests that the largest sources of dFe to the euphotic zone are wintertime mixing and …

Predicting Carbon Isotope Discrimination In Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) From The Environmental Parameters- Light, Flow, And [Dic], Meredith L. Mcpherson, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill

OES Faculty Publications

Isotopic discrimination against ¹³C during photosynthesis is determined by a combination of environmental conditions and physiological mechanisms that control delivery of CO₂ to RUBISCO. This study investigated the effects of light, flow, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration, and its speciation, on photosynthetic carbon assimilation of Zostera marinaL. (eelgrass) using a combination of laboratory experiments and theoretical calculations leading to a mechanistic understanding of environmental conditions that influence leaf carbon uptake and determine leaf stable carbon isotope signatures δ¹³C. Photosynthesis was saturated with respect to flow at low velocity ~ 3 cm s^-1, but …

Understanding Ocean Acidification Impacts On Organismal To Ecological Scales, Andreas J. Andersson, David I. Kline, Peter J. Edmunds, Stephen D. Archer, Nina Bednarsek, Robert C. Carpenter, Meg Chadsey, Philip Goldstein, Andrea G. Grottoli, Thomas P. Hurst, Andrew L. King, Janet E. Kübler, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Katherine R.M. Mackey, Bruce A. Menge, Adina Paytan, Ulf Riebesell, Astrid Schnetzer, Mark E. Warner, Richard C. Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

Ocean acidification (OA) research seeks to understand how marine ecosystems and global elemental cycles will respond to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry in combination with other environmental perturbations such as warming, eutrophication, and deoxygenation. Here, we discuss the effectiveness and limitations of current research approaches used to address this goal. A diverse combination of approaches is essential to decipher the consequences of OA to marine organisms, communities, and ecosystems. Consequently, the benefits and limitations of each approach must be considered carefully. Major research challenges involve experimentally addressing the effects of OA in the context of large natural variability in seawater …

New Tracer To Estimate Community Predation Rates Of Phagotrophic Protists, Alexander B. Bochdansky, Melissa A. Clouse

OES Faculty Publications

Predation of eukaryotic microbes on prokaryotes is one of the most important trophic interactions on Earth, representing a major mortality term and shaping morphology and composition of prokaryotic communities. Here we introduce and validate a new tracer to determine predation rates on prokaryotes. Minicells of Escherichia coli marked with a bright green fluorescent protein (GFP) vector have many operational advantages over previously used prey analogs such as fluorescently labeled bacteria. GFP-minicells are similar in size to naturally occurring bacteria from a variety of environments including the oligotrophic open ocean and the deep sea. They are relatively stable against microbial and …

Iron Deficiency Increases Growth And Nitrogen-Fixation Rates Of Phosphorus-Deficient Marine Cyanobacteria, Nathan S. Garcia, Feixue Fu, Peter N. Sedwick, David A. Hutchins

OES Faculty Publications

Marine dinitrogen (N²)-fixing cyanobacteria have large impacts on global biogeochemistry as they fix carbon dioxide (CO₂) and fertilize oligotrophic ocean waters with new nitrogen. Iron (Fe) and phosphorus (P) are the two most important limiting nutrients for marine biological N₂ fixation, and their availabilities vary between major ocean basins and regions. A long-standing question concerns the ability of two globally dominant N₂-fixing cyanobacteria, unicellular Crocosphaera and filamentous Trichodesmium, to maintain relatively high N₂-fixation rates in these regimes where both Fe and P are typically scarce. We show that under P-deficient …

Feasibility Of Using Biofuel By-Products As A Sustainable Nutritional Resource For Aquaculture Production Of Litopenaeus Vannamei, Erik David Demicco

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Many different algal species can provide an acceptable protein ingredient, with good digestibility, for shrimp feeds. Compared to fish meal, similar protein, carbohydrate, and lipid levels can be found in select algal species. Traditional shrimp diets in aquaculture rely on fish meal and fish oil from pelagic fish fisheries. A reduction or elimination of these ingredients would reduce the dependency of shrimp aquaculture on offshore fisheries and increase economic competiveness. Biofuel production produces algal by-products of potential use to aquaculturists that might reduce or eliminate the need for fisheries products in shrimp feed. Established uses for by-products from biofuel production …