Casitas: A Location-Dependent Ecological Trap For Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus Argus,
2015
Old Dominion University
Casitas: A Location-Dependent Ecological Trap For Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus Argus, Benjamin C. Gutzler, Mark J. Butler Iv, Donald C. Behringer
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Casitas are artificial shelters used by fishers to aggregate Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) for ease of capture. However, casitas may function as an ecological trap for juvenile lobsters if they are attracted to casitas and their growth or mortality is poorer compared with natural shelters. We hypothesized that juvenile lobsters may be at particular risk if attracted to casitas because they are less able than larger individuals to defend themselves, and do not forage far from shelter. We compared the nutritional condition, relative mortality, and activity of lobsters of various sizes in casitas and natural shelters in adult and …
Shortfalls And Solutions For Meeting National And Global Conservation Area Targets,
2015
Old Dominion University
Shortfalls And Solutions For Meeting National And Global Conservation Area Targets, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Martin Clarke, Robert J. Smith, Rachel E. Sykes, Jorn P. W. Scharlemann, Mike Harfoot, Graeme M. Buchanan, Ariadne Angulo, Andrew Balmford, Bastian Bertzky, Thomas M. Brooks, Kent E. Carpenter, 28 Others
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Governments have committed to conserving greater than or equal to 17% of terrestrial and greater than or equal to 10% of marine environments globally, especially "areas of particular importance for biodiversity" through "ecologically representative" Protected Area (PA) systems or other "area-based conservation measures", while individual countries have committed to conserve 3-50% of their land area. We estimate that PAs currently cover 14.6% of terrestrial and 2.8% of marine extent, but 59-68% of ecoregions, 77-78% of important sites for biodiversity, and 57% of 25,380 species have inadequate coverage. The existing 19.7 million km super(2) terrestrial PA network needs only 3.3 million …
Ecological Drivers And Habitat Associations Of Estuarine Bivalves,
2015
Old Dominion University
Ecological Drivers And Habitat Associations Of Estuarine Bivalves, C. Seabird Mckeon, Björn G. Tunberg, Cora A. Johnston, Daniel J. Barshis
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Community composition of the infaunal bivalve fauna of the St. Lucie Estuary and southern Indian River Lagoon, eastern Florida was sampled quarterly for 10 years as part of a long-term benthic monitoring program. A total of 38,514 bivalves of 137 taxa were collected and identified. We utilized this data, along with sediment samples and environmental measurements gathered concurrently, to assess the community composition, distribution, and ecological drivers of the infaunal bivalves of this estuary system. Salinity had the strongest influence on bivalve assemblage across the 15 sites, superseding the influences of sediment type, water turbidity, temperature and other environmental parameters. …
Fate And Behavior Of Silver Nanoparticles To The Estuarine Organisms, Prorocentrum Minimum And Crassostrea Virginica,
2015
University of South Carolina
Fate And Behavior Of Silver Nanoparticles To The Estuarine Organisms, Prorocentrum Minimum And Crassostrea Virginica, Shelby Victoria Butz
Theses and Dissertations
Nanoparticles are known to be entering the environment and are shown to have adverse effects on aquatic organisms (Fabrega et.al. 2011, Lapresta-Fernandez et.al. 2012, Matranga and Corsi 2012, Moore 2006). The purpose of this study was to quantify the uptake of AgNPs by two estuarine organisms and determine the associated toxic effects of accumulation. There are multiple procedures for nanoparticle (NP) synthesis that involve various core and surface materials, which result in various characteristics such as size, shape, and surface coating. In this study silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by a chemical reduction of silver salts and characterized in stock …
Empirical Modelling Of Solid-Blocking Effect In A Blazka Respirometer For Gag, A Large Demersal Reef Fish,
2015
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Empirical Modelling Of Solid-Blocking Effect In A Blazka Respirometer For Gag, A Large Demersal Reef Fish, Richard J. Kline, Daryl C. Parkyn, Debra J. Murie
School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications
The effect of solid-body blocking in a large (257 l) Blazka-style respirometer was examined in gag Mycteroperca microlepis. Gag ranging from 376-690 mm total length were tested at velocities from 10 to 91 cm s-1 . The solid blocking effect (SBE) due to fish size, swimming speed, and water temperature was investigated by direct measurement of flow velocity at the area of the fish’s maximum girth as compared to measurements at the rear (center) of the swimming chamber. Three models were compared as corrections for the SBE: the standard Bell and Terhune (BT), a novel modification of the Bell and …
Examining The Sensitivity Of Surface Chlorophyll To Upwelling Events Of Variable Frequency In The California Current System,
2015
University of South Carolina - Columbia
Examining The Sensitivity Of Surface Chlorophyll To Upwelling Events Of Variable Frequency In The California Current System, John Thomas Bartlett
Theses and Dissertations
Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS) spatially encompass approximately 1% of the ocean surface area, but are responsible for nearly 20% of global fisheries production. This significant biological production is primarily attributed to the nutrient-rich waters brought to the euphotic zone through a physical process called upwelling. In an attempt to understand the various physical and biological processes occurring on a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, the California Current System (CCS), one of the major EBUS, has been subject to a multitude of scientific studies over the past several decades. Recent modeling enhancements have enabled researchers to investigate mesoscale …
Exercise At Depth Alters Bradycardia And Incidence Of Cardiac Anomalies In Deep-Diving Marine Mammals,
2015
University of San Francisco
Exercise At Depth Alters Bradycardia And Incidence Of Cardiac Anomalies In Deep-Diving Marine Mammals, T. M. Williams, L. A. Fuiman, T. Kendall, P. Berry, B. Richter, S. R. Noren, Nicole Thometz, M. J. Shattock, E. Farrell, A. M. Stamper, R. W. Davis
Biology Faculty Publications
Unlike their terrestrial ancestors, marine mammals routinely confront extreme physiological and physical challenges while breath-holding and pursuing prey at depth. To determine how cetaceans and pinnipeds accomplish deep-sea chases, we deployed animal-borne instruments that recorded high-resolution electrocardiograms, behaviour and flipper accelerations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) diving from the surface to 4200 m. Here we report that both exercise and depth alter the bradycardia associated with the dive response, with the greatest impacts at depths inducing lung collapse. Unexpectedly, cardiac arrhythmias occurred in 473% of deep, aerobic dives, which we attribute to the interplay between …
Horseshoe Crab Research In Urban Estuaries: Challenges And Opportunities,
2015
Sacred Heart University
Horseshoe Crab Research In Urban Estuaries: Challenges And Opportunities, Jennifer Mattei, Mark L. Botton, Mark Beekey, Christina P. ColóN
Biology Faculty Publications
Horseshoe crabs rely on estuaries for food resources, places to spawn and for larvae and juveniles to develop and grow. Many of these estuaries are becoming increasingly urbanized and dominated by human activity. An urban estuary is characterized by armored shorelines, high nutrient loads, large fluctuations in algal and bacteria populations, increased levels of pollutants like heavy metals and pesticides, and seasonally low oxygen levels and pH. While urban estuaries are challenging for horseshoe crab survival and to researchers trying to study them, there are also opportunities for involving the public in research and increasing public awareness of the importance …
The Mismanagement Of Limulus Polyphemus In Long Island Sound, U.S.A.: What Are The Characteristics Of A Population In Decline?,
2015
Sacred Heart University
The Mismanagement Of Limulus Polyphemus In Long Island Sound, U.S.A.: What Are The Characteristics Of A Population In Decline?, Mark Beekey, Jennifer Mattei
Biology Faculty Publications
Over the past 15 years, horseshoe crabs in Connecticut have gone from being considered a nuisance species to a species of Greatest Conservation Need in 2015. This has happened through first, its discovery as an economically important species, second through research of its ecological role in coastal estuaries, and third, through education of the public concerning its role in the environment and their own health. To manage horseshoe crab populations successfully requires long term monitoring, research and education. The use of annual or biannual trawl data trends to assess the success of management decisions is limited due to the high …
Operationalizing Resilience For Adaptive Coral Reef Management Under Global Environmental Change,
2015
Australian Institute of Marine Science
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 …
Acclimation, Adaptation, Traits And Trade-Offs In Plankton Functional Type Models: Reconciling Terminology For Biology And Modelling,
2015
Old Dominion University
Acclimation, Adaptation, Traits And Trade-Offs In Plankton Functional Type Models: Reconciling Terminology For Biology And Modelling, Kevin J. Flynn, Michael St. John, John A. Raven, David O. F. Skibinski, J. Icarus Allen, Aditee Mitra, Eileen E. Hofmann
CCPO Publications
We propose definitions in terminology to enhance ongoing collaborations between biologists and modellers on plankton ecology. Organism "functional type" should refer to commonality in ecology not biogeochemistry; the latter is largely an emergent property of the former, while alignment with ecology is also consistent with usage in terrestrial science. Adaptation should be confined, as in genetics, to consideration of species inter-generational change; most so-called "adaptive" plankton models are thus acclimative, modifying vital rates in response to stimuli. Trait trade-off approaches should ideally only be considered for describing intra-generational interactions; in applications between generations, and certainly between unrelated species, such concepts …
Iron Supply And Demand In Antarctic Shelf Ecosystem,
2015
Old Dominion University
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 …
Understanding Ocean Acidification Impacts On Organismal To Ecological Scales,
2015
Old Dominion University
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 …
Predicting Carbon Isotope Discrimination In Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) From The Environmental Parameters- Light, Flow, And [Dic],
2015
Old Dominion University
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 …
Iron Deficiency Increases Growth And Nitrogen-Fixation Rates Of Phosphorus-Deficient Marine Cyanobacteria,
2015
Old Dominion University
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 …
New Tracer To Estimate Community Predation Rates Of Phagotrophic Protists,
2015
Old Dominion University
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 …
Induction Of Larval Settlement In The Reef Coral Porites Astreoides By A Cultivated Marine Roseobacter Strain,
2015
Roger Williams University
Induction Of Larval Settlement In The Reef Coral Porites Astreoides By A Cultivated Marine Roseobacter Strain, Koty H. Sharp
Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications
Successful larval settlement and recruitment by corals is critical for the survival of coral reef ecosystems. Several closely related strains of γ-proteobacteria have been identified as cues for coral larval settlement, but the inductive properties of other bacterial taxa naturally occurring in reef ecosystems have not yet been explored. In this study, we assayed bacterial strains representing taxonomic groups consistently detected in corals for their ability to influence larval settlement in the coral Porites astreoides. We identified one α-proteobacterial strain, Roseivivax sp. 46E8, which significantly increased larval settlement in P. astreoides. Logarithmic growth phase (log phase) cell cultures of Roseivivax …
Effects Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill On Deep Sea Fishes,
2015
University of North Florida
Effects Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill On Deep Sea Fishes, Arianne Ella Leary
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DWH) released about 4.4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), making it one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history. Additionally, the depth of the spill (i.e., 1500 meters) created a unique research opportunity because most oil spills occur at the surface and affect coastal rather than deepwater habitats. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the most toxic components of oil, and are often the focus of oil exposure studies. PAHs are quickly metabolized by vertebrates; therefore, indicators of biological responses to PAH exposure (PAH “biomarkers”) such as the levels …
The Role Of Artificial Structures In Facilitating Range Expansion Of The Introduced Barnacle Megabalanus Coccopoma In The Southeastern U.S.A.,
2015
Georgia Southern University
The Role Of Artificial Structures In Facilitating Range Expansion Of The Introduced Barnacle Megabalanus Coccopoma In The Southeastern U.S.A., Alicia M. Reigel
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
The barnacle Megabalanus coccopoma is a recent invader of the southeastern U.S.A. from the tropical eastern Pacific. In Georgia, M. coccopoma populations along the immediate coastline often suffer extensive mortality during the winter, but population rebuilding is common after these events suggesting that there may be nearby larval sources. I investigated the hypothesis that artificial structures (i.e., buoys, towers), occurring far enough offshore of Georgia for water temperatures to be moderated by the Gulf Stream, provide refuges for breeding adults of M. coccopoma and can serve as the larval source. I investigated this hypothesis by first developing thirteen microsatellite primer …
The Role Of Citizens In Detecting And Responding To A Rapid Marine Invasion,
2015
Northeastern University
The Role Of Citizens In Detecting And Responding To A Rapid Marine Invasion, Steven B. Scyphers, Sean P. Powers, J. Lad Akins, J. Marcus Drymon, Charles W. Martin, Zeb H. Schobernd, Pamela J. Schofield, Robert L. Shipp, Theodore S. Switzer
University Faculty and Staff Publications
Documenting and responding to species invasions requires innovative strategies that account for ecological and societal complexities. We used the recent expansion of Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) throughout northern Gulf of Mexico coastal waters to evaluate the role of stakeholders in documenting and responding to a rapid marine invasion. We coupled an online survey of spearfishers and citizen science monitoring programs with traditional fishery-independent data sources and found that citizen observations documented lionfish 1–2 years earlier and more frequently than traditional reef fish monitoring programs. Citizen observations first documented lionfish in 2010 followed by rapid expansion and proliferation in …
