PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT SITE, AND THE CONTENT DOES NOT REFLECT THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION.
Species are experiencing a suite of novel stressors from anthropogenic activities that have impacts at multiple scales. Vulnerability assessment is one tool to evaluate the likely impacts that these stressors pose to species so that high-vulnerability cases can be identified and prioritized for monitoring, protection, or mitigation. Commonly used semi-quantitative methods lack a framework to … Read more
The response of runoff and sediment loading in the Apalachicola River under projected climate change scenarios and land use land cover (LULC) change is evaluated. A hydrologic model using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool was developed for the Apalachicola region to simulate daily runoff and sediment load under present (circa 2000) and future conditions … Read more
Suspended sediments, or total suspended solids (TSS), are an important factor for oyster habitat. While high concentrations of suspended sediments can cause a reduction of oyster density, some level of suspended sediment is required to supply oysters with necessary nutrients. In this study, characteristics of TSS variations in response to sea level rise (SLR) at … Read more
Nutrient inputs have degraded estuaries worldwide. We investigated the sources and effects of nutrient inputs by comparing water quality at shallow (< 2m deep) nearshore (within 200 m) locations in a total of 49 Chesapeake subestuaries and Mid-Atlantic coastal bays with differing local watershed land use. During JulyOctober, concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), dissolved ammonium, ... Read more
This book provides a snapshot of representative modeling analyses of coastal hypoxia and its effects. Hypoxia refers to conditions in the water column where dissolved oxygen falls below levels that can support most metazoan marine life (i.e., 2 mg O2 l-1). The number of hypoxic zones has been increasing at an exponential rate since the … Read more
While 15N-labeled nitrogen (N) compounds have been used to quantify N uptake rates by plankton communities for decades, accurately ascribing those rates to individual populations or species has been a challenge. Here, we apply sorting flow cytometry combined with species-specific immuno-detection of a harmful alga, Aureococcus anophagefferens, to contrast the nutritional ecology of this alga … Read more
A shift towards ecosystem-based management in recent decades has led to new analytical tools such as end-to-end marine ecosystem models. End-to-end models are complex and typically simulate full ecosystems from oceanography to foodwebs and fisheries, operate on a spatial framework, and link to physical oceanographic models. Most end-to-end approaches allow multiple ways to implement human … Read more
The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most ecologically and economically valuable marine ecosystems in the world and is affected by a variety of natural and anthropogenic phenomena including climate, hurricanes, coastal development, agricultural runoff, oil spills, and fishing. These complex and interacting stressors, together with the highly dynamic nature of this ecosystem, present … Read more
Disturbance and biotic resistance are important factors driving plant invasions, but how these factors interact for plants with different modes of colonization (i.e., sexual and asexual) is unclear. We evaluated factors influencing the invasion of nonnative Phragmites australis, which has been rapidly expanding in brackish tidal wetlands in Chesapeake Bay. We conducted a survey of … Read more
We use a regional comparison of Phragmites australis (common reed) subsp. americanus, P. australis subsp. berlandieri and introduced P. australis (possibly five sublineages) in the Chesapeake Bay, the St Lawrence River, Utah and the Gulf Coast to inform a North American perspective on P. australis invasion patterns, drivers, impacts and research needs. Our regional assessments … Read more