Marine Biology Commons^™

Response Of Natural Estuarine Algal Communities To Nitrogen Additions, Christopher Schweitzer

OES Theses and Dissertations

Coastal eutrophication resulting from nutrient over-enrichment plagues coastal waterways worldwide. In addition to dissolved inorganic N, many marine microbes, including phytoplankton, have the capacity to use certain dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) compounds. However, while we know that many specific DON compounds are labile, the bulk of the DON pool in nature is uncharacterized. The bioavailability of DON to estuarine microbes currently remains unclear.

It is becoming evident that natural phytoplankton assemblages in estuarine waters are capable of using both inorganic and organic N compounds for growth, both of which are present in anthropogenic point and non-point source discharges. Methods for …

Environmental And Physiological Influences On Productivity And Carbon Isotope Discrimination In Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.), Meredith Leigh Mcpherson

OES Theses and Dissertations

A short-term longitudinal study was used to examine the relations of achievement motivation, general motivation, interest, and self-regulatory predictors to cognitive strategy use and academic performance. A total of 102 college undergraduates enrolled in their first college-level introductory psychology course completed an Achieving Tendency Scale of achievement motivation, the Motivated Strategies For Learning Questionnaire, and an Interest Profile in psychology during the first two weeks of the semester. At midterm they completed the Study Activity Survey of cognitive strategy use. At the end of the semester exam grades, total points earned in the course, and grade point average were obtained. …

Basin Isolation And Oceanographic Features Influencing Lineage Divergence In The Humbug Damselfish (Dascyllus Aruanus) In The Coral Triangle, Jeremy M. Raynal

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The Coral Triangle (CT) is a hotspot for marine species diversity as well as for intraspecific genetic diversity. Here, nuclear RAG2 and mitochondrial D-Loop genes were used to identify deep genetic divergence among Dascyllus aruanus (Linnaeus, 1758) populations across relatively short scales within the CT. Mitochondrial clades different by greater than 20 mutational steps were geographically isolated from one another across the distance between Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands, and also east and west across the Philippines. Evidence for population structure in the Sulu Sea and at the Lesser Sunda Islands is also identified. The results suggest that the …

Comparative Phylogeography Of The Emperor Snappers Lethrinus Lentjan And Lethrinus Harak (Lethrinidae: Percoidei) In The Coral Triangle, Andrew B. Hines

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Many questions remain regarding the origins of the well-known peak in marine biodiversity found in the Coral Triangle. Barriers to gene flow may promote lineage diversification and provide the potential for speciation contributing to the high biodiversity in this area. Population structure was examined in two species of Emperor Snappers (Lethrinidae), Lethrinus harak and Lethrinus lentjan. These species were selected because they share similar life-history traits and geographic distributions, but differ in their habitat preferences. Specimens were collected from within the Coral Triangle as well as other localities across the Indo-Pacific. To investigate phylogeographic patterns and structure a hypervariable …

Supplemental Feeding For Ecotourism Reverses Diel Activity And Alters Movement Patterns And Spatial Distribution Of The Southern Stingray, Dasyatis Americana, Mark John Corcoran, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Mahmood S. Shivji, Matthew Potenski, Demian D. Chapman, Guy Harvey

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Southern stingrays, Dasyatis americana, have been provided supplemental food in ecotourism operations at Stingray City Sandbar (SCS), Grand Cayman since 1986, with this site becoming one of the world’s most famous and heavily visited marine wildlife interaction venues. Given expansion of marine wildlife interactive tourism worldwide, there are questions about the effects of such activities on the focal species and their ecosystems. We used a combination of acoustic telemetry and tag-recapture efforts to test the hypothesis that human-sourced supplemental feeding has altered stingray activity patterns and habitat use at SCS relative to wild animals at control sites. Secondarily, we …

The Perfect Fit

Colby Magazine

From the classrooms and laboratories of Mayflower Hill, they found their niche in science. Microbiologist Carrie Harwood ’73, transplant surgeon Patrick Wood ’75, and marine biologist Paul Wade ’80 have passion for their professions.

The Great Mudpuppy Escape (Sort Of), Stephen Collins

Colby Magazine

The origin of unusual salamanders that inhabit parts of the Belgrade Lakes? We confess, a Colby professor was the culprit.

Synthesizing Larval Competence Dynamics And Reef-Scale Retention Reveals A High Potential For Self-Recruitment In Corals, Joana Figueiredo, Andrew H. Baird, Sean R. Connolly

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Many organisms have a complex life-cycle in which dispersal occurs at the propagule stage. For marine environments, there is growing evidence that high levels of recruitment back to the natal population (self-recruitment) are common in many marine organisms. For fish, swimming behavior is frequently invoked as a key mechanism allowing high self-recruitment. For organisms with weak-swimming larvae, such as many marine invertebrates, the mechanisms behind self-recruitment are less clear. Here, we assessed whether the combination of passive retention of larvae due to re-circulation processes near reefs, and the dynamics of settlement competence, can produce the high levels of self-recruitment previously …

Testing Of Great Bay Oysters For Two Protozoan Pathogens, New Hampshire Fish And Game Department, Douglas E. Grout

PREP Reports & Publications

Two protozoan pathogens, Haplosporidium nelsoni (MSX) and Perkinsus marinus (Dermo), are known to be present in Great Bay oysters. With funds provided by the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP), the Marine Fisheries Division of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (NHF&G) continues to assess the presence and intensity of both of these disease conditions in oysters from the major beds within the Great Bay estuarine system. Histological examinations of Great Bay oysters have also revealed other endoparasites.

Rapid Change In Shallow Water Fish Species Composition In An Historically Stable Antarctic Environment, Bradley A. Buckley

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, is home to a unique marine biota with an ecology that has evolved in this frigid environment over millions of years. The region is one of the least disturbed, and possibly the last pristine, marine ecosystem on Earth. Here, the results of three seasons of fishing in the shallow nearshore waters of McMurdo Sound are reported. A shift in the composition of small fish species at one site, Inaccessible Island, has been observed in just five years. The shift in shallow water species composition occurred during a period that followed the maturation of a commercial fishery for …

Environews #5, Feb 4/13: The Sea Turtle's Story, Richard Philp

Data and Test Instruments

Sea turtles have been under seige for decades. All species are either threatened or endangered. The threats to sea turtles and efforts to try and protect them are discussed. Several relevant photos by the author are included.

Behavioural Salinity Preferences Of Juvenile Green Sturgeon Acipenser Medirostris Acclimated To Fresh Water And Full-Strength Salt Water, J. B. Poletto, D. E. Cocherell, A. P. Klimley, J. J. Cech Jr., N. A. Fangue

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

To quantify the salinity preference of juvenile green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris, two groups of A. medirostris [140 days post hatch (dph); total length (L_T) 38.0–52.5 cm] were acclimated to either near fresh water (mean ± S.E. salinity = 3.2 ± 0.6) or full-strength salt water (34.1 ± 1.2) over 8 weeks. Following acclimation, the two groups were divided into experimental and control groups, where experimental A. medirostris from both freshwater and saltwater acclimations were individually introduced (200–220 dph) into a rectangular salinity-preference flume (maximum salinity gradient: 5–33). Control A. medirostris were presented with only their acclimation …

Covariance Localization With The Diffusion-Based Correlation Models, Max Yaremchuk, Dmitry A. Nechaev

Faculty Publications

Improving the performance of ensemble filters applied to models with many state variables requires regularization of the covariance estimates by localizing the impact of observations on state variables. A covariance localization technique based on modeling of the sample covariance with polynomial functions of the diffusion operator (DL method) is presented. Performance of the technique is compared with the non-adaptive (NAL) and adaptive (AL) ensemble localization schemes in the framework of numerical experiments with synthetic covariance matrices in a realistically inhomogeneous setting. It is shown that the DL approach is comparable in accuracy with the AL method when the ensemble size …

Phase Ii Of Tidal Marsh Restoration At Steedman Woods Reserve At York, Maine, David M. Burdick, Chris Peter, Gregg Moore

Jackson Estuarine Laboratory

No abstract provided.

State Of Our Estuaries 2013, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership

PREP Reports & Publications

Every three years the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) produces this condition and environmental trends report in an effort to provide communities and citizens with an informed and comprehensive evaluation of what is being observed in our estuaries. This report presents our assessment of 22 key indicators of the health of our bays: 15 of which are classified as having cautionary or negative conditions or trends, while 7 show positive conditions or trends. The overall assessment shows that there is reason to be concerned about the health of our estuaries, and that increased efforts to study and restore our estuaries …

Ctizen: What You Can Do To Help Improve Our Estuaries, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership

PREP Reports & Publications

The need to keep our Seacoast rivers, lakes, marshes and Great Bay free of pollution is something we can all agree on. As the Community for Clean Water, PREP works to unite and encourage you, your friends and family to take simple steps to reduce water pollution caused by our every day actions. This guide has some tips, stories of those who are working on solutions and ways you can get involved. We’re not here to save the world, but together we’re confi dent that we can all do our part to keep the places we love around the Seacoast …

Characterization Of The Heart Transcriptome Of The White Shark (Carcharodon Carcharias), Vincent P. Richards, Haruo Suzuki, Michael J. Stanhope, Mahmood S. Shivji

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background: The white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is a globally distributed, apex predator possessing physical, physiological, and behavioral traits that have garnered it significant public attention. In addition to interest in the genetic basis of its form and function, as a representative of the oldest extant jawed vertebrate lineage, white sharks are also of conservation concern due to their small population size and threat from overfishing. Despite this, surprisingly little is known about the biology of white sharks, and genomic resources are unavailable. To address this deficit, we combined Roche-454 and Illumina sequencing technologies to characterize the first …

Phytoplankton In Virginia Lakes And Reservoirs, Harold G. Marshall

Virginia Journal of Science

This study involves a phytoplankton summer/autumn survey in 46 Virginia lakes and reservoirs during 2010-2012. A total of 307 taxa were identified which included several filamentous and colonial cyanabacteria in bloom concentrations. With the exception of one natural lake, the other sites sampled represent impoundments created decades ago, with the majority presently classified as meso- or eutrophic. Among the cyanobacteria were 6 known toxin producers (Anabaena circinalis, Anabaena spiroides, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Limnothrix redekei, and Microcystis aeruginosa). The study characterizes phytoplankton populations in these aging freshwater habitats taken from a large number …

Policy Guide For Municipal Leaders And Legislators, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership

PREP Reports & Publications

This Guide for Municipal Leaders and Legislators, is a companion to the full 2013 State of Our Estuaries Report, and focuses more specifically on what state and local leaders can do to improve environmental conditions in the estuaries. It provides a short list of priority policy options for decision-makers to consider, as well as model efforts from our own communities that can be replicated in support of our environmental health and economic vitality.

Fall 2013, Nova Southeastern University

Currents

No abstract provided.