Marine Biology Commons^™

Interspecific Differences In The Flow Regimes And Drag Of North Pacific Skate Egg Cases, Kayla C. Hall, Jaida N. Elcock, Gerald R. Hoff, Duane E. Stevenson, Adam P. Summers, Cassandra M. Donatelli

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Skates are a diverse group of dorso-ventrally compressed cartilaginous fishes found primarily in high-latitude seas. These slow-growing oviparous fishes deposit their fertilized eggs into cases, which then rest on the seafloor. Developing skates remain in their cases for 1-4 years after they are deposited, meaning the abiotic characteristics of the deposition sites, such as current and substrate type, must interact with the capsule in a way to promote long residency. Egg cases are morphologically variable and can be identified to species. Both the gross morphology and the microstructures of the egg case interact with substrate to determine how well a …

Plastic And Evolved Responses In The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, To Environmental Variation In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Kyle Sirovy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Climate change and other anthropogenic impacts are causing rapid alterations to many of the world’s most productive coastal ecosystems and there is an urgent need to understand how species will respond to these environmental changes. Organisms may respond through plasticity, evolution, or the evolution of plasticity. In this dissertation, I evaluate the role of plastic and evolved responses in the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, to environmental variation in the northern Gulf of Mexico. I use comparative transcriptomics, physiology, and morphology to examine the relative contribution of plastic and evolved responses for oysters exposed to low salinity and outplant sites …

A Review Of Impact Assessments For Deep-Sea Fisheries On The High Seas, Laura Kaikkonen, Lissette Victorero, Matthew Gianni, Teresa Amaro, Sofia Graça Aranha, Peter J. Auster, David M. Bailey, James Bell, Angelika Brandt, Jeff Drazen, Malcolm R. Clark, Cherisse Du Preez, Isa Elegbede Olalekan, Elva Escobar-Briones, Eva Giacomello, Kerry L. Howell, Andrew F. Johnson, Lisa Levin, Lucien Maloueki, Rosanna J. Milligan, Tina N. Molodtsova, Stephen Oduware, Tabitha R R Pearman, Christopher K. Pham, Sofia P. Ramalho, Ashley A. Rowden, Tracey Sutton, Michelle Taylor, Les Watling, Patience Whitten

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

The intensity of deep-sea fisheries on the high seas and the impacts on the marine environment call for effective measures to ensure that fishing does not compromise the commitments established for protecting biodiversity in the deep ocean by the United Nations. In order to prevent significant adverse impacts (SAIs) on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs), high seas fishing nations agreed to stop fishing activities where VMEs are known or likely to occur unless the fishing can be managed to prevent SAIs on VMEs. To determine whether fishing activities can be conducted in a sustainable manner that prevents impacts on VMEs, States …

Differentiation And Temperature Adaptation Of Pampus Echinogaster Based On Genome-Wide Snps, Yuan Li, Fangrui Lou, Shigang Liu, Hai Li, Jiali Xiang, Binbin Shan, Longshan Lin, Xuan Zhuang

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change and overfishing have led to the degradation of the quality and stock of Pampus echinogaster. Exploring the genetic structure and local adaptive evolutionary mechanisms of P. echinogaster is crucial for the management of this species. This population genomic study of nine geographical populations of P. echinogaster in China was conducted by specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq). A total of 935,215 SLAF tags were obtained, and the average sequencing depth of the SLAF tags was 20.80×. After filtering, a total of 46,187 high-consistency genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected. Based on all SNPs, the population size of the …

Evaluation Of Monthly And Seasonal Grazing Rates Of Ilyanassa Obsoleta On Benthic Microalgae In The North Inlet Estuary, Brittany Dearmitt

Theses and Dissertations

The eastern mud snail, Ilyanassa obsoleta, is found at densities of 100’s of individuals m^-2 on soft sediments in the intertidal zones of estuaries. These obligate deposit feeders consume microalgae, detritus, larvae, meiofauna, and macrofauna in the surface layers of sediments with possible trophic impacts on benthic microalgal (BMA) biomass. The goals of this study were to quantify mud snail grazing on BMA biomass, observe the variation in monthly and seasonal grazing rates, and evaluate the relationship between atmospheric temperatures and grazing rates. The sites for this experiment were two mudflats in Oyster Landing, North Inlet estuary, South …

Scalloped Hammerhead (Sphyrna Lewini) Jaw, Daria W. Ghegan, Brittney Dreyer, David Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Jaw prep from Sphyrna lewini (Scalloped Hammerhead) obtained from the NSU Fisheries and Avian Ecology

Polychlorinated Organic Contaminants In Baleen From North Pacific Ocean Whales, Briana R. Coulter

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Persistent organic pollutants (POP) have been detected and analyzed in various baleen whale tissues (blubber, muscles, liver, etc.) This study concentrated on detecting 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and 14 organochlorine pesticides from baleen, a baleen whale tissue never before analyzed for POPs. These data were used to investigate temporal and geographic trends by sampling at every 1 cm interval along the length of the baleen plate. Four species of baleen whales stranded in the North Pacific Ocean were included in this study: gray (n=2), humpback (n=2), minke (n=1), and blue (n=1) whales. Organic contaminant concentrations were analyzed with respect to …

Biomass Residues Improve Soil Chemical And Biological Properties Reestablishing Native Species In An Exposed Subsoil In Brazilian Cerrado, Thaís Soto Boni, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, Adriana Avelino Santos, Ana Maria Rodrigues Cassiolato, Kátia Luciene Maltoni

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Revegetation of exposed sub-soil, while a desirable strategy in the recovery processes, often fails due to extreme soil chemical properties, such as low organic matter and pH levels inhospitable to biological activities such as nutrients cycling and plant establishment. This is the case for approximately 800 ha of the Cerrado biome in Brazil, where erecting the embankment of a hydroelectric dam in the 1960’s stripped vegetation, soil, and subsoil layers thereby distorting the soil properties. This work evaluates the effectiveness of restoration management (RM) treatments, to restore the soil quality, including biological activity and chemical attributes. In a factorial scheme, …

‘Bunkering Down’: How One Community Is Tightening Social-Ecological Network Structures In The Face Of Global Change, Michele L. Barnes, Lorien Jasny, Andrew Bauman, Jon Ben, Ramiro Berardo, Örjan Bodin, Josh Eli Cinner, David A. Feary, Angela M. Guerrero, Fraser A. Januchowski-Hartley, John T. Kuange, Jacqueline D. Lau, Peng Wang, Jessica Zamborain-Mason

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

1. Complex networks of relationships among and between people and nature (social-ecological networks) play an important role in sustainability; yet, we have limited empirical understanding of their temporal dynamics.
2. We empirically examine the evolution of a social-ecological network in a common-pool resource system faced with escalating social and environmental change over the past two decades.
3. We first draw on quantitative and qualitative data collected between 2002 and 2018 in a Papua New Guinean reef fishing community to provide contextual evidence regarding the extent of social and environmental change being experienced. We then develop a temporal multilevel exponential random graph model using …

A Participatory Assessment Of Nitrified Urine Fertilizer Use In Swayimane, South Africa: Crop Production Potential, Farmer Attitudes And Smallholder Challenges, Benjamin C. Wilde, Eva Lieberherr, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, Alfred Odindo, Johan Siz

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Long-term nutrient mining of soil hampers agricultural production across Africa. However, emerging sanitation technologies afford a hygienically safe and ecologically sustainable solution to this development challenge by providing fertilizers derived from human excreta that could facilitate a socio-technical transition toward a more sustainable food system. To evaluate one such technology, nitrified urine fertilizer (NUF), we conducted participatory action research to assess the potential, from both a biophysical and social perspective, of NUF to serve as a soil fertilizer to support smallholder agricultural production in Swayimane, South Africa. To achieve this objective, we formed a stakeholder group comprised of a cooperative …

Fisheries Genomics Of Snapper (Chrysophrys Auratus) Along The West Australian Coast, Andrea Bertram, David Fairclough, Jonathan Sandoval-Castillo, Chris Brauer, Anthony Fowler, Maren Wellenreuther, Luciano B. Beheregaray

Fisheries Research Articles

The efficacy of fisheries management strategies depends on stock assessment and management actions being carried out at appropriate spatial scales. This requires understanding of spatial and temporal population structure and connectivity, which is challenging in weakly structured and highly connected marine populations. We carried out a population genomics study of the heavily exploited snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) along ~2600 km of the Australian coastline, with a focus on Western Australia (WA). We used 10,903 filtered SNPs in 341 individuals from eight sampling locations to characterize population structure and connectivity in snapper across WA and to assess if current spatial …

Formulating Decade Action Plan For Green And Quality Development In Bohai Sea, Shicheng Wang, Shuguang Liu, Hongsheng Yang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

As the only inland sea of China, Bohai Sea has been regarded as the integrated part of the national territorial space toward green and high-quality development in the new era. The comprehensive environmental treatment in Bohai Sea has achieved noticeable progress, but the problems remain. The trend of biological and ecological degradation of Bohai Sea has not been fundamentally curbed. Guided by President Xi Jinping thought on ecological civilization and on building a maritime community with a shared future, China should join into the Implementation Plan for the United Nations Decade of Marine Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), and manage …

Marine Ranching Version 3.0: History, Status And Prospects, Hongsheng Yang, Dewen Ding

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Since the 1930s, the construction of marine ranching has successively experienced the version 1.0 (traditional marine ranching) of farming-ranching and engineering, and the version 2.0 (marine ecological ranching) of ecologization and informatization, and now it is about to enter the version 3.0 (global aquatic ecological ranching) of digitalization and systematization, which covers seawater and fresh water. Marine ranching version 3.0 must adhere to the modern aquatic ecological ranching development concept of "ecology, precision, intelligence, integration", characterized by synchronous protection and utilization, expansion of scene and space, breakthrough in core technology, and innovation in development patterns. After establishing the whole industrial …

Quantitative Relationships Between River And Channel-Belt Planform Patterns, Tian Y. Dong, Timothy A. Goudge

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Channel planform patterns arise from internal dynamics of sediment transport and fluid flow in rivers and are affected by external controls such as valley confinement. Understanding whether these channel patterns are preserved in the rock record has critical implications for our ability to constrain past environmental conditions. Rivers are preserved as channel belts, which are one of the most ubiquitous and accessible parts of the sedimentary record, yet the relationship between river and channel-belt planform patterns remains unquantified. We analyzed planform patterns of rivers and channel belts from 30 systems globally. Channel patterns were classified using a graph theory-based metric, …

Characterizing Endogenous Dicer Products To Unravel Novel Rnai Biogenesis Pathways, Jacob Oche Peter

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

RNA interference (RNAi) is a pervasive gene regulatory mechanism in eukaryotes based on the action of multiple classes of small RNA (sRNA). Exploiting RNAi pathways in non-model systems have great potential for creating potent RNAi technologies. Here, we accessed RNAi-mediated control of gene expression in the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (T. urticae) using engineered dsRNA designed to modulate the host RNAi pathway and increase RNAi efficacy. Analysis of Dicer (Dcr) generated fragments revealed how exogenous RNAs access the host RNAi pathway in this animal, opening avenues for designing RNAi technology for their control. Further, some organisms …

A Revision Of The Feather Star Genera Poecilometra And Strotometra (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Charitometridae), Alois Romanowski, Charles Messing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The chiefly tropical, deep-water (>100 m) feather star family Charitometridae (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comatulida) currently consists of 34 species in eight genera and has not been revised since 1950. Recent molecular analyses and the discovery of both new specimens of known species and a new species prompted a morphological re-examination of those genera with abruptly expanded genital pinnules. As a result, Poecilometra is redescribed, and now includes four species, including two formerly placed in Strotometra, plus Poecilometra baumilleri n. sp Poecilometra scalaris is placed in synonymy under P. acoela. Strotometra is redescribed and S. hepburniana placed in synonymy under …

A High-Tech, Low-Cost, Internet Of Things Surfboard Fin For Coastal Citizen Science, Outreach, And Education, Philip J. Bresnahan, Tyler Cyronak, Robert J. W. Brewin, Andreas J. Andersson, Taylor Wirth, Todd R. Martz, Travis Courtney, Nathan Hui, Ryan Kastner, Andrew Stern, Todd Mcgrain, Danica Reinicke, Jon Richard, Katherine Hammond, Shannon Waters

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coastal populations and hazards are escalating simultaneously, leading to an increased importance of coastal ocean observations. Many well-established observational techniques are expensive, require complex technical training, and offer little to no public engagement. Smartfin, an oceanographic sensor–equipped surfboard fin and citizen science program, was designed to alleviate these issues. Smartfins are typically used by surfers and paddlers in surf zone and nearshore regions where they can help fill gaps between other observational assets. Smartfin user groups can provide data-rich time-series in confined regions. Smartfin comprises temperature, motion, and wet/dry sensing, GPS location, and cellular data transmission capabilities for the near-real-time …

Fisheries Management Paper No. 276: Western Australian Silverlip Pearl Oyster (Pinctada Maxima) Resource Harvest Strategy 2022 - 2026, Version 2.0, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

Harvest strategies for aquatic resources in Western Australia (WA) are formal documents that support decision making processes which are consistent with the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD; Fletcher 2002) and Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM; Fletcher et al. 2012). The objectives of ESD are reflected in the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (FRMA), Section 3, and the Aquatic Resources Management Act 2016 (ARMA), Section 9, which will replace the FRMA once enacted.

This Harvest Strategy aligns with DPIRD’s Harvest Strategy Policy for Aquatic Resources (Department of Fisheries 2015) and is consistent with national Harvest Strategy policies and guidelines (Sloan …

Developing A Miniature Smart Boat For Marine Research, Michael Isaac Eirinberg

Computer Engineering

This project examines the development of a smart boat which could serve as a possible marine research apparatus. The smart boat consists of a miniature vessel containing a low-cost microcontroller to live stream a camera feed, GPS telemetry, and compass data through its own WiFi access point. The smart boat also has the potential for autonomous navigation. My project captivated the interest of several members of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s (Cal Poly SLO) Marine Science Department faculty, who proposed a variety of fascinating and valuable smart boat applications.

A Review Of Current Sea Cucumber And Apostichopus Californicus Knowledge And A Proposal For Future Research And Fishery Management, Lily Haug

University Honors Theses

The sea cucumber species Apostichopus californicus is fished in the Pacific Northwest region of North America and has the potential to be an economically beneficial fisheries species. An understanding of their population levels must be present to sustainably regulate their harvest. Current fisheries in North America vary in their methodology and level of regulation. The current regulations are presented and their strengths and shortfalls are described. This review gathers research done on tropical sea cucumber species and presents that knowledge alongside that regarding Apostichopus californicus to suggest future research and fishery management strategies. A. californicus takes four years to sexually …