Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Present Limits To Heat-Adaptability In Corals And Population-Level Responses To Climate Extremes, Bernhard Riegl, Samuel J. Purkis, Ashraf S. Al-Cibahy, Mohammed A. Abdel-Moati, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Climate change scenarios suggest an increase in tropical ocean temperature by 1–3°C by 2099, potentially killing many coral reefs. But Arabian/Persian Gulf corals already exist in this future thermal environment predicted for most tropical reefs and survived severe bleaching in 2010, one of the hottest years on record. Exposure to 33–35°C was on average twice as long as in non-bleaching years. Gulf corals bleached after exposure to temperatures above 34°C for a total of 8 weeks of which 3 weeks were above 35°C. This is more heat than any other corals can survive, providing an insight into the present limits …

Severe 2010 Cold-Water Event Caused Unprecedented Mortality To Corals Of The Florida Reef Tract And Reversed Previous Survivorship Patterns, Diego Lirman, Stephanie Schopmeyer, Derek Manzello, Lewis J. Gramer, William F. Precht, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Kenneth Banks, Brian Barnes, Erich Bartels, Amanda Bourque, James Byrne, Scott Donahue, Janice Duquesnel, Louis Fisher, David S. Gilliam, James C. Hendee, Meaghan E. Johnson, Kerry Maxwell, Erin Mcdevitt, Jamie Monty, Digna Rueda, Rob Ruzicka, Sara Thanner

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background

Coral reefs are facing increasing pressure from natural and anthropogenic stressors that have already caused significant worldwide declines. In January 2010, coral reefs of Florida, United States, were impacted by an extreme cold-water anomaly that exposed corals to temperatures well below their reported thresholds (16°C), causing rapid coral mortality unprecedented in spatial extent and severity.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Reef surveys were conducted from Martin County to the Lower Florida Keys within weeks of the anomaly. The impacts recorded were catastrophic and exceeded those of any previous disturbances in the region. Coral mortality patterns were directly correlated to in-situ and satellite-derived …

Boynton-Delray Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Program, Thomas P. Carsey, Charles M. Featherstone, Kelly D. Goodwin, Christopher D. Sinigalliano, S. Jack Stamates, Jia-Zhong Zhang, John Proni, Joseph R. Bishop, Cheryl J. Brown, Madeleine M. Adler, Patricia Blackwelder, Husain Alsayegh

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

This report discusses a sequence of six cruises in the vicinity of the Boynton-Delray (South Central) treated-wastewater plant outfall plume (26°27'43"N, 80°2'32"W), the Boynton Inlet (26°32'43"N, 80°2'30"W), and the Lake Worth Lagoon, Palm Beach County, Florida. The sampling cruises took place on June 5-6, 2007; August 28-29, 2007; October 18-19, 2007; February 14 and 18, 2008; May 19-20, 2008; and July 11-13, 2008. Water was sampled at 18 locations at the surface, middle, and near the seafloor (where there was sufficient depth) for a total of 45 samples; these samples were analyzed for a variety of nutrients and related parameters. …

A Molecular Assessment Of Speciation And Evolutionary History Of The Globally Distributed Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus Narinari), Vincent P. Richards, Marcy Henning, Wayne Witzell, Mahmood S. Shivji

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

The spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari), a species of conservation concern (Near Threatened IUCN category) is commonly associated with coral reef ecosystems worldwide where it is likely to play an important predatory role. Currently described as a single, circumglobally distributed species, geographic differences in parasite diversity have led to suggestions that A. narinari may constitute a species complex. There has been no systematic evidence to support this suggestion, however. If multiple species of spotted eagle ray exist, each will likely posses decreased geographic ranges and population sizes, altering the impacts of threats and requiring separate assessments of conservation …

Study Of The Far Wake Of A Large Ship, M. Gilman, Alexander Soloviev, H. Graber

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

A large dataset of high-resolution photographic images of far wakes of a volunteer observing ship (Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas) has been acquired under various meteorological conditions and ship operation modes. This work presents the description of instrumentation, methodology, and the results of the experiment. Environmental and ship operation factors that affect appearance and geometric properties of ship wakes in photographic and satellite-based radar images have been analyzed. The photo imagery reveals an asymmetry of the wake depending on wind direction relative to the ship course. In addition, a good agreement between the averaged shape of the wakes …

Nudibranch Predators Of Octocorallia, Eric Brown

HCNSO Student Capstones

Nudibranchs are soft-bodied marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs which lack a shell and mantle cavity. The basic body plan is bilaterally symmetrical with an expanded notum, but in regards to other physical characteristics they exhibit a wide range of forms. Compared to other molluscs, evolutionarily the head and body became flattened and streamlined and tentacles have been lost or shifted to different areas of the body. Nudibranchs are found in many variations of size and color; despite the fact that these animals in general are noted for flamboyant colors and prominent external anatomical structures, many species rely upon a more cryptic …

A New Species Of Leucothoid Amphipod, Anamixis Bananarama, Sp. N., From Shallow Coral Reefs In French Polynesia (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Leucothoidae), James Darwin Thomas, Traudl Krapp-Shickel

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Both leucomorph and anamorph developmental stages of Anamixis bananarama sp. n., are illustrated and described from shallow back reef environments of Moorea, French Polynesia. Distinguished by vestigial fi rst gnathopods that persist in post-transformational adult males, this is the second species in the genus to exhibit this unusual character. In other features such as coxae and second gnathopods A. bananarama sp. n. resembles other Pacific Plate endemics of Anamixis known from the region. Specific host association is not documented but suspected to be small calcareous asconoid sponges associated with coral rubble.

The Effect Of Air Temperature On The Incubation Period And Hatching Success Of In Situ Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta Caretta) Clutches In Broward County, Florida, Lucy Teal Kawana, Curtis M. Burney, Louis Fisher

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

The survival rates of pre-emergent sea turtle hatchlings are critically dependent upon temperature. This study aims to determine if changes in air temperature have influenced the incubation time and/or the survivorship of the pre-emergent loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) hatchlings for past sea turtle nesting seasons in Broward County. Air temperature data within the hatching seasons of 1999 to 2009 was obtained from the NOAA National Climatic Data Center’s Fort Lauderdale beach station. The loggerhead sea turtle hatching data collected by the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program from the same time period was examined to assess the …

Alternate Trophic Pathways Support Enhanced Bathypelagic Biomass Over A Mid-Ocean Ridge System, Tracey Sutton, Jeanna M. Hudson, Joel C. Hoffman, Tone Falkenhaug, Odd Aksel Bergstad, M. Heino

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

A classic paradigm of oceanic ecology is that pelagic animal biomass decreases exponentially with depth. Results of a muti-year study of the distribution and ecology of the pelagic fauna over the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), from Iceland to the Azores, revealed that water column biomass maxima can occur at deep meso- and bathypelagic depths (>750 m). Further, topographic association of the deep-pelagic fauna occurs at some locations. For example, bathypelagic fish abundance and biomass maxima were observed within the benthic boundary layer (<200 m above the bottom) during the 2004 G.O. Sars MAR-ECO expedition. Results of a pelagic food-web model over the MAR suggest that alternate trophic pathways contribute significantly to this deep biomass maxima. Consumption of decapod crustacea and gelatinous zooplankton represented major portions of the total consumption by pelagic fishes. Stable isotope analysis of 63 species, from zooplankton to large benthic predators, suggest short food chains and high trophic efficiency may account for enhanced deep-pelagic biomass.

Distribution And Trophic Ecology Of Bathylagus Euryops (Teleostei: Microstomatidae) Along The Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Christopher J. Sweetman, Tracey Sutton

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

The distribution and trophic ecology of many deepwater fishes in the North Atlantic are well documented, particularly for commercially important species. However, few studies based on large-scale latitudinal and vertical gradients have been performed. In June 2004, the MAR-ECO (Census of Marine Life) research expedition aboard the R/V G.O. Sars sampled the deep-pelagic fauna over the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge with the objective of quantitatively assessing the nekton associated with the ridge from Iceland to the Azores. Catch data revealed Bathylagus euryops to be the biomass dominant species and ranked 3rd in total abundance. Generally considered to be a relatively stable …

Vertical Distribution Of Deep-Pelagic (0-3000 M) Fishes Over The Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone Region Of The Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, April B. Cook, Tracey Sutton, John K. Galbraith, M. Vecchione

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

Only a tiny fraction of the world’s largest volume of living space, the ocean’s midwater biome, has ever been sampled. As part of the International Census of Marine Life field project, MAR-ECO, a discrete-depth trawling survey was conducted in 2009 aboard the NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow to examine pelagic assemblage structure and distribution over the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The bottom topography in this region ranges from 4500 m in the channel to 700-800 m on top of adjacent seamounts. Sampling was conducted at 11 stations from 0-3000 m using a Norwegian “Krill” trawl with …

Suppression Subtractive Hybridization Pcr Isolation Of Cdnas From A Caribbean Soft Coral, Jose V. Lopez, Angela Ledger, Lory Z. Santiago-Vázquez, Mihai Pop, Dan D. Sommer, Llanie K. Ranzer, Robert A. Feldman, Russell G. Kerr

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Transcriptomic studies of marine organisms are still in their infancy. A partial, subtracted expressed sequence tag (EST) library of the Caribbean octocoral Erythropodium caribaeorum and the sea fan Gorgonia ventalina has been analyzed in order to find novel genes or differences in gene expression related to potential secondary metabolite production or symbioses. This approach entails enrichment for potential non-"housekeeping" genes using the suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. More than 500 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated after cloning SSH products, which yielded at least 53 orthologous groups of proteins (COGs) and Pfam clusters, including transcription factors …

Caribbean Acropora Restoration Guide: Best Practices For Propagation And Population Enhancement, Meaghan E. Johnson, Caitlin Lustic, Erich Bartels, Iliana B. Baums, David S. Gilliam, Elizabeth Anne Larson, Diego Lirman, Margaret W. Miller, Ken Nedimyer, S. Schopmeyer

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Modification Of Turbulence At The Air-Sea Interface Due To The Presence Of Surfactants And Implications For Gas Exchange. Part I: Laboratory Experiment, Alexander Soloviev, S. Matt, Mikhail Gilman, H. Huhnerfuss, Brian K. Haus, D. Jeong, I. Savelyev, Mark A. Donelan

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Books and Book Chapters

The air-sea gas transfer of gases like CO2 is substantiallydetermined bythe properties of the aqueous diffusion sublayer and free-surface turbulent boundarylayer. Little is known about the effect of surfactants on turbulence in the near-surface layer of the ocean. In order to investigate the effect of surfactants on turbulent exchanges below the air-sea interface, we have conducted a series of laboratoryexperiments at the UM RSMAS Air-Sea Interaction Saltwater Tank (ASIST) facility. Results from these experiments demonstrate that the surfactant monolayer suppresses turbulence and reduces drag below the water surface and increases the surface drift velocity. This effect is important for parameterization …

Distance Education At The Oceanographic Center 2011, Nova Southeastern University

Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Oceanographic Center Overview, Nova Southeastern University

Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Modification Of Turbulence At The Air-Sea Interface Due To The Presence Of Surfactants And Implications For Gas Exchange. Part Ii: Numerical Simulations, Silvia Matt, Atsushi Fujimara, Alexander Soloviev, Shin Hyung Rhee

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Books and Book Chapters

We conducted high-resolution non-hydrostatic numerical simulations to study the effect of surfactants on near-surface turbulence. Laboratory experiments at the UM RSMAS ASIST facility presented in a companion paper report a reduction of turbulence below the air-sea interface and an increase of the surface drift velocity in the presence of surfactants. We implement the effect of surfactants as a rheological, viscoelastic boundary condition at the surface. Our numerical experiments are consistent with the results of the laboratory experiments. We also simulated the effect of surfactants on the temperature difference across the thermal molecular sublayer (cool skin) and on gas transfer velocity. …

Sailfish Habitat Utilization And Vertical Movements In The Southern Gulf Of Mexico And Florida Straits, David W. Kerstetter, Shannon Michael Bayse, Jenny Fenton, John E. Graves

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) were deployed on 19 sailfish Istiophorus platypterus captured in the southern Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits between 2005 and 2007 on commercial pelagic longline gear (n = 18) and recreational rod-and-reel gear (n = 1). The data from three tags indicated mortality events and were excluded from subsequent analyses. All PSATs were programmed to collect pressure (depth), temperature, and light-level data for 10 d at approximately 90-s intervals. These transmitted point data subsequently allowed the reconstruction of vertical movement patterns. The remaining 16 PSAT data sets indicate that sailfish are primarily associated …

Summer 2011, Nova Southeastern University

Currents

No abstract provided.

Ecological Design Of Marine Construction For Socio-Economic Benefits: Ecosystem Integration Of A Pipeline In Coral Reef Area, Sylvain Pioch, Philippe Saussola, Kirk Kilfoyle, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

It is critical to understand that an ecosystem integration of construction requires a close Engineering/Biology partnership to meet socio-economic benefits in management goals. Biologists are not typically trained or licensed for the requisite engineering involved in construction. Likewise, non-biologists designing habitat often can lead to egregious results. For example, unintentionally constructing the wrong habitat, i.e., refuge for predators in a nursery area, or habitat that facilitates the spread of non-desirable species can increase, rather than ameliorate, the impact of construction. In recent years, Pioch and co-workers (unpublished) developed an alternative to the “classic” engineering approach to marine construction. This new …

Sampling Methods For Acropora Corals, Other Benthic Coral Reef Organisms, And Marine Debris In The Florida Keys: Field Protocol Manual For 2011-2012 Assessments, Steven Miller, Leanne M. Rutten, Mark Chiappone

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

The 2011-2012 sampling of Acropora corals, other coral reef benthic invertebrates, and marine debris in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) is being undertaken as a spatially intensive effort to provide updated population distribution and abundance information. The particular focus of surveys in the Florida Keys, as well as in the U.S. Caribbean (Puerto Rico and the U.S.V.I.), concerns the habitat distribution, colony density, size, condition, and population abundance of Acropora corals. Surveys in the Florida Keys also include assessments of urchins, mollusks, anemones, corallimorpharians, and marine debris. These additional assessments are relatively fast and easy to perform. Annual …

Spring 2011, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Wetland Assessment Methods, Kerstin Green

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

After many decades of being considered useless and often destroyed wetlands have become valued for the many functions they provide. To make informed wetland management decisions biologists have to develop practical, rapid, and inexpensive ways to assess biological conditions and functions. Ideally these assessment methods have to measure more than one attribute of the wetland to represent the overall condition of the biological community. For this project I conducted field assessments at mitigation sites in Pembroke Pines, Florida, to see how the newest method used in the State of Florida, the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM), compared to the older …

A Study To Minimize Or Eliminate Hardbottom And Reef Impacts From Anchoring Activities In Designated Anchorages At The Ports Of Miami And Palm Beach, Brian K. Walker

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Aggregations Of The Florida Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris) In The Port Everglades And Intracoastal Regions Of Fort Lauderdale, Florida., Jaime M. Goldman

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, is one of the most endangered marine mammals in United States waters. The Florida manatee is the only manatee that ranges into subtropical and temperate regions. During the winter months manatees adopt a “refuging strategy” where they aggregate at warm-water sources immediately following decreases in the ambient water temperature to below 20° C (68° F) in order to avoid cold stress syndrome (CSS). During the winter manatees aggregate in warm water refuges, including natural warm water springs and the effluent discharges of power plants.

The …

Distribution Of Zooplankton Densities Associated With The Florida Current And Subsurface, Amy Hirons, Jonathan Shenker, Alexander Soloviev

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

No abstract provided.

Caribbean Corals In Crisis: Record Thermal Stress, Bleaching, And Mortality In 2005, C. Mark Eakin, Jessica A. Morgan, Scott F. Heron, Tyler B. Smith, Gang Liu, Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, Bart J. Baca, Erich Bartels, Carolina Bastidas, Claude Bouchon, Marilyn Brandt, Andrew W. Bruckner, Lucy Bunkley-Williams, Andrew Cameron, Billy D. Causey, Mark Chiappone, Tyler R. L. Christensen, M. James C. Crabbe, Owen Day, Elena De La Guardia, Guillermo Diaz-Pulido, Daniel Diresta, Diego L. Gil-Agudelo, David S. Gilliam, Robert N. Ginsburg, Shannon Gore, Hector M. Guzman, James C. Hendee, Edwin A. Hernandez-Delgado, Ellen Husain, Christopher F. G. Jeffrey, Ross J. Jones, Eric Jordan-Dahlgren, Les S. Kaufman, David I. Kline, Philip A. Kramer, Judith C. Lang, Diego Lirman, Jennie Mallela, Carrie Manfrino, Jean-Philippe Marechal, Ken Marks, Jennifer Mihaly, W. Jeff Miller, Erich M. Mueller, Erinn M. Muller, Carlos A. Orozco Toro, Hazel A. Oxenford, Daniel Ponce-Taylor, Norman Quinn, Kim B. Ritchie, Sebastian Rodriguez, Alberto Rodriguez Ramirez, Sandra Romano, Jameal F. Samhouri, Juan A. Sanchez, George P. Schmahl, Burton V. Shank, William J. Skirving, Sascha C. C. Steiner, Estrella Villamizar, Sheila M. Walsh, Cory Walter, Ernesto Weil, Ernest H. Williams, Kimberly Woody Roberson, Yusri Yusuf

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background: The rising temperature of the world’s oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Satellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers’ field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior …

Development And Evaluation Of Methods For Surveying Fish Populations In Nearshore Waters, Philip Smith, Ian Burrett, David Bailey, Francis Neat, David Donnan, Katherine Dunlop, James Thorburn, Rosanna Milligan, Steve Bastiman, Jane Dodd

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

1. Nearshore areas provide critical habitat for a range of fish species targeted by commercial and recreational fisheries, both of which make an important contribution to local economies in rural areas. However, established trawl survey methods are not suited to many nearshore areas, owing to shallow depths, obstructions on the sea bed or vulnerable habitats, so there is a lack of information on fish abundance in these areas.
2. The aim of the present project was to develop and test survey methods applicable to Scottish inshore waters, focussing on baited underwater cameras, fish traps, systematic rod-and-line surveys and observations of fish bycatch …

Establishment Of An Acropora Cervicornis (Staghorn Coral) Nursery: An Evaluation Of Survivorship And Growth, Elizabeth Anne Larson

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is the first study to provide a detailed characterization of Acropora cervicornis transplants and donor colony survival on southeast Florida coral reefs. Since May 2006 this species has been listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. As populations continue to decline restoration efforts need to be evaluated to determine if there is an effort that could facilitate a population rebound. The overall goal of this project was to examine potential Acropora cervicornis restoration techniques along the entire Florida reef tract including Broward County, Miami Dade County, and Monroe County. For my thesis I used a …

Effects Of Bubbles And Sea Spray On Air–Sea Exchange In Hurricane Conditions, Alexander Soloviev, Roger Lukas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The lower limit on the drag coefficient under hurricane force winds is determined by the break-up of the air–sea interface due to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and formation of the two-phase transition layer consisting of sea spray and air bubbles. As a consequence, a regime of marginal stability develops. In this regime, the air–sea drag coefficient is determined by the turbulence characteristics of the two-phase transition layer. The upper limit on the drag coefficient is determined by the Charnock-type wave resistance. Most of the observational estimates of the drag coefficient obtained in hurricane conditions and in laboratory experiments appear to lie between …